In Stoneworks Minecraft server, because the game world is to big (still finite though), people often use Nether for travel. Nether is the alternate "hell" that is mapped onto the Overworld and 1 block in there is equivalent to 7 blocks in Overworld. You can get in and out of there with Nether portals. But while attacks on civilian players are forbidden in Overworld, Nether is fair game. That makes it a tradeoff between speed and safety.

Proves once again Minecraft is the greatest game ever created.