It's not too bad if you know it can happen and more or less expect it. Nobody goes on 2b2t not expecting chaos.

Thankfully, there are other servers on which people play nice. And there's always the option to host your own with friends, which is my preferred option.

I'm sorry you had to experience someone else using exploits where they shouldn't. 2b2t is built specifically for chaos, which is why it was so fun to use hacked clients there. It is the norm, not the exception.

I have spent thousands of hours in Minecraft, often in survival worlds that spanned years, sometimes with friends, most of the time alone. The chaos of 2b2t was and is a very different thing, but that's why it was so fun. A specific place where there are no rules. The playing field is level: everyone can hack!

Sort of related, but the most emotional experience I ever had in VR was when I loaded up the world I had been working on for several years at that point (and which started with friends in it) in a VR mod. Being there, even at a terrible 20fps, brought tears to my eyes. I was literally walking in the houses I had built, traversing the paths I had laid, digging some more in the mines I had constructed. I was the conversation from three years prior, the memories of the relationship long gone, the hopefulness and glee of those roads built while watching Dr House for the 6th time.

Man, I wish I could turn back the clock to experience it all over again.