So my friend and I are wanting to start speedrunning, and figured that duos would be a fun category to run. The big things I want to know are:

1. How do you reset worlds to be able to have both players join, as making a bunch of mineplex worlds or something is...less than ideal. I saw players like cube1330x just go into a server, but I don't know how to access that.
2. Is there an ideal version? I believe drop rates were lowered in 1.17+, but are there any other significant differences between 1.16 and 1.17+?

2. ideal version is 1.16.1 and any version released after that is very bad. differences:

• 4x less ender pearls and 3x less string from bartering (1.16.2+)
• piglin brutes were added (1.16.2+)
• pie chart is broken (1.17+)
• strongholds generate deeper, no magma ravines (1.18+)

rant time

1.16.2+: 4x less pearls, 3x less string, less obsidian, less crying obsidian, no glowstone, less fire res, (less needed but potentially important) less iron, less soul sand, less leather, less fire charges, piglin brutes and therefore less piglins to trade with, most mods stop working (1.16.1 only), probably much more I can't think of rn

Also, I strongly unrecommend running duos for your first runs. Duos requires a lot of coordination and skill because resources like fire res and shields often cannot be used because one runner goes to the bastion and the other to the fortress. Additionally, issues come up with multiple players in the end, and it's realistically faster for one player to take all the resources upon leaving the nether and complete the run themselves, which can be boring for the "unused" player. Unless you're planning to two-player zero cycle, running solos is better.

Of course, if this is your first time running, go ahead. I don't think you guys are going to be trying for the world record and stuff like this doesn't matter much.

While it seems like I'm trying to stop you from running, I'm in no way doing that. I hope you enjoy speedrunning!