There's exploits out there that allow people to locate ores, strongholds, etc based apon map seeds, a plugin that would either hide or display the incorrect map seed would be awesome.
Yeah I don't think there's an API or w/e for it, no support for masking it, but it would be really useful
It is possible I think: Set the seed to for example '123'. You then use a world generator, that just takes another seed '321' and uses that to create a world. The user would see '123' as the seed, while the server generates like '321'. EDIT: I have this idea in my head for some time actually, but I forgot to post it.
so it is possible. The plugin would be a generator, that just uses the MC terrain generation and allows you to enter the seed. I think it actually already exists! *looks in chrome history* EDIT: *finds this* I am not sure if you can choose a different seed here, but if you can't I am sure it is not too hard to implement.
I saw a Plugin that uses the same seed but scrambles the ores, it only works on new worlds though. I'll try and find the Plugin. Keir
ChunkScrambler http://dev.bukkit.org/server-mods/chunkscrambler/ . Essentially uses a different (hidden) seed for the ore generation. Players can still generate a world offline with the same seed to reveal general terrain features, but not the ores. The map seed can be changed (after pre-generating the whole world, for example) to hide the true seed from the client, only problem is, biome are calculated client-side from the map seed, so they'll be scrambled as well.
the client needs the seed in order to generate biome colors and weather If you don't mind decompiling craftbukkit, you can always change the seed for the ore generator and stronghold generator. Then the player's client gets what it needs, and your ores and strongholds are safely hidden.
