The SynStick™ Story
15+ years of community, two names, and one shared founder. SynStick and WarPulse were always separate communities, both started by the same person. In 2023, WarPulse brought SynStick into its family for the first time. Here's how a small TeamSpeak server for Nuclear Dawn and Minecraft grew into one of gaming's best-loved Factions servers, crossed paths with WarPulse years later, and is now stepping back into the spotlight as SynStick once again.
SynStick: Where It Started
Founded on January 18, 2011 by Shanka, SynStick launched as an independent multi-game community, running servers for Nuclear Dawn, Minecraft, DayZ, and more, with a TeamSpeak3 server keeping the crew connected. It's the name this whole community started with. Its Minecraft Factions server quickly became the main event: 100 player slots, an iConomy-powered economy, Disco Sheep and MCMMO plugins, and the kind of raids, claims, and base-building wars players still bring up years later. For a long stretch, SynStick was simply its own thing: independent, community-run, and proud of it. By the early 2020s, its original server operations had wound down, the servers going quiet before WarPulse brought the brand back to life in 2023.
WarPulse: Same Founder, Different Community
In 2014, Shanka stepped away from SynStick and founded WarPulse - derived from the SynStick roots, with its own servers, its own TeamSpeak3, and its own identity. In 2016, Shanka stepped away from WarPulse too, and Atlas took over. Atlas made the call to move off TeamSpeak and onto Discord, and the community numbers grew exponentially from there. By 2023, Atlas's WarPulse had grown into a network of servers, communities, and software projects like Dual Degrees and Odin. That year, it brought the SynStick brand back under the same roof. Now, as WarPulse turns its focus toward corporate and software ventures, SynStick steps forward as the community and game server arm of the WarPulse family: same crew, same mission, and the name it was always built on.
Why the name is changing
2011 – 2023
SynStick is its own community, with its own servers and name, founded by Shanka and built around a Minecraft Factions server that became the stuff of legend. Shanka's second project, WarPulse, grows on its own path under Atlas from 2016 onward.
2023
Atlas's WarPulse acquires the SynStick brand, reuniting two communities that share a founder but had spent almost a decade apart. For a while, the WarPulse name sits at the front while SynStick's servers and players settle into the family.
2026 onward
WarPulse steps back to focus on corporate and software ventures. SynStick - the name the community was built on - steps forward as its gaming and community arm. 15+ years on, one community, one name.
From gaming community to app studio
For a long time, WarPulse was the community: the servers, the Discord, the events, all under one roof. But as Atlas grew the network year after year, WarPulse started building more than servers: tools, software, and apps for its communities and beyond. By 2026, that side of things had grown into something that deserved its own identity: WarPulse LLC, an app and software studio.
That left the gaming side (the part that's always been about people, not products) without a name of its own out front. The answer was already there: SynStick, the name this corner of the family started with back in 2011. So WarPulse LLC steps back to focus on building apps and software, and SynStick steps forward as the community and game server arm of the WarPulse family: same crew, same Discord, same servers, just flying its original colours again.
New here? Welcome to SynStick - a multi-game community with 15+ years of history behind it, and something new in the works. Been part of the community for a while? Same crew, same vibe, same name it started with.
The Timeline
SynStick is born
Founded on January 18, 2011 by Shanka, SynStick launches as an independent, UK-based multi-game community, spinning up servers for Nuclear Dawn, Minecraft, DayZ, and Farming Simulator, plus a TeamSpeak3 server at ts.synstick.com for the crew to talk over voice.
The Factions server everyone remembers
SynStick's Minecraft Factions server at synstick.com becomes the heart of the community: 100 player slots, an iConomy-powered economy, Disco Sheep and MCMMO plugins, and relentless raiding, claiming, and base-building. Years later, players are still trying to bring its spawn back to life.
Shanka steps away, WarPulse begins
Shanka steps away from SynStick and founds WarPulse - a new gaming community derived from the SynStick roots, with its own servers, its own TeamSpeak3, and its own identity. Built on the same foundations, but a new name and a new direction.
Shanka steps back, Atlas steps up
For personal reasons, Shanka steps away from WarPulse. Atlas takes the reins, moves the community off TeamSpeak and onto Discord, and the numbers begin to grow exponentially. SynStick, already independent since Shanka left in 2014, carries on under its own steam.
SynStick: new games, new servers
Still flying solo, SynStick winds down its original Factions world and pivots into ARK: Survival Evolved and Rust, keeping up a steady stream of community events and giveaways.
SynStick: 7 Days to Die & a growing Discord
A dedicated 7 Days to Die co-op server joins the SynStick lineup, and the community's Discord becomes its new home base, still under its own banner, still its own thing.
SynStick winds down
SynStick's original server operations begin winding down in the early 2020s, the servers going quiet one by one. The name and the memories stay intact, but the active community largely goes dormant.
Atlas brings SynStick into the family
Under Atlas, WarPulse has grown into a network of servers, communities, and software projects like Dual Degrees and Odin. That year, WarPulse acquires the dormant SynStick brand and brings it back to life, bringing two communities founded by the same person under the same roof for the first time.
SynStick steps forward
WarPulse refocuses on its corporate and software ventures as WarPulse LLC, stepping back from the gaming spotlight. SynStick - the name this community was built on - steps forward as the community and game server arm of the WarPulse family. 15+ years of history, one name, one community.