Est. 2004 · 178.105.81.142
The Story
Two decades in one match. From the SBD clan’s home server through XIR to today.
Xanton’s Instant Rumble was originally the home server of the SBD clan — Silent But Deadly. When SBD split, some of its members formed the XIR clan in April 2005: Xtreme Instant Rumble. The server became home to XIR too. We all remained friends.
XIR was an international crew from Germany, the UK, the USA, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Croatia: highly ranked in the instagib rankings, but always for fun. The clan never officially disbanded. Life went the way it usually does: careers took off, families came along, and one by one people drifted out of touch. The server stayed.
We were a highly ranked clan, competitive players — but we always played for fun. Formed in April 2005, and, as the name suggested, we liked to play it to the extreme.
Why it became UT2004 — and why it stayed
At a glance UT2004 looked simple: drop into the match, run, hit. The depth sat elsewhere. The game shipped with UnrealEd — the very editor Epic built it with. That laid the whole engine open: anyone could build their own maps, write mutators, bend the rules. That is exactly what kept the server alive for two decades. A handful of stock arenas grew into an ever-expanding pool — hundreds of community maps, plus our own DM-XIR arenas, built by the people who played here. No match played like the last.
And if you just want to play a few rounds today, you don't need a campaign, cut-scenes, skill trees or load-outs to unlock first. You connect, you spawn, you fire. Everyone starts equal; what counts is aim, movement, map knowledge and timing — not the hours already sunk in. It isn't a lesser kind of shooter. It's simply a different one: fast, direct, no baggage.
Timeline
- 2003
Xanton has played Unreal Tournament since spring — first on a Mac demo, then buys his first PC ever, just for gaming.
- 2003
From UT2003 comes his own server: "Xanton’s Instant Rumble" — ZoomInstagib, low gravity, 125 % gamespeed. Not everyone liked it. Those who stayed are friends to this day.
- 2004
The server moves from UT2003 to UT2004 — the shape Instant Rumble still runs in today. That switch is why we count from here: Est. 2004.
- April 2005
The server had been home to the SBD clan (Silent But Deadly). After SBD splits, some of its members form XIR — Xtreme Instant Rumble. Everyone remains friends. The new clan is introduced on the forum on 1 May. The Duel server joins (Est. 2005).
Original forum post - May 2005
A burst of custom maps: SuddenDeath, ForgottenTombs, Walhalla, Unholy, Kross Of Doom, Cage, HeLLToWeR666 — all built within weeks.
- Aug 2005
A CTF server is added. The clan grows international — Germany, UK, Netherlands, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Croatia.
- Sep 2005
XIR invites clan members and friends to the “XIR and Friends” 1on1 tournament. The double-elimination format gives players a second chance after their first defeat.
Original forum post - Dec 2005
A Christmas package for everyone: all 125 maps then running on Instant Rumble and the Duel server are bundled with sounds, textures and other game assets in one installer. Players can use them offline without downloading each map separately.
Original forum post - Jan 2006
The forum celebrates 10,000 posts — less than a year after its first post in April 2005. Alongside the matches, it has become a shared meeting place.
Original forum post - 2006
One year of XIR. A new insta server (ICTF, IDM, ITDM, IBALL) with even more air movement and experimental mutators.
- 2007
The clan moves into Unreal Tournament 3: a new public UT3 server, "Xanton’s Instant Rumble".
- 2008
Forum, website and TeamSpeak move to a new server. The XIR soundpack dates from this year.
- 2009–2012
Still active: bots on Instant Rumble, new maps by Clive, match logs into 2012.
- 2026
Back online. Both servers run again — new hardware, a maintained Linux base, the same ports. And bots that now talk back.
How it started — in Xanton's own words, back then
„Soon I got familiar with UT2003 and started my own server. Called it ‘Xanton’s Instant Rumble’. I configured it as ZoomInstagib server with lowgrav on and a gamespeed of 125%. Some didn’t like it but most of the players who did are good friends of mine till today. Thank you guys!!!"
— XIR.Xanton
The clan
The names from back then. Roster from the old site — nicknames, roles and country, nothing more.
Clan leader
- XIR.Xanton DE
Mapper
- XIR.~xTaSeR~ DE
- XIR.CommandFick DE
- XIR.LSe7eN UK
- XIR.Death UK
Member
- XIR.Scout109 UK
- XIR.Gsero DE
- XIR.Croom DE
- XIR.Yorda UK
- XIR.<=Tok'ra=> UK
- XIR.Behemot CZ
- XIR.MacAlex DE
- XIR.Sajuuk_Kahn NL
- XIR.Dukeman CH
- XIR.SilverFox UK
- XIR.TDP UK
- XIR.EvO NL
- XIR.Sticklyman UK
Trial
- XIR.t.Zeraphine DE
- XIR.t.SteelBack UK
- XIR.t.-=ZømbiE=- DE
- XIR.t.Purger HR
- XIR.t.Bountykilla UK