The worst thing about minecraft.net downtime...

...is that I can't test my plugins either

 

if the server is hosted on your own machine you can set the server in offline mode in the Server. preferences file

 

It only accepts connections from localhost then? That's good to know.

 

No, it accepts connections without account verification.
This also means pirated users can connect.

 

On your own personal machine, you are probably the only one with access to the server, as your router will block that port.

 

Local plugin testing is much easier than remote too. You can just export the jar right to the plugins directory and reload, and Eclipse remembers your export path.

 

Sure is, thats the way I do it anyhow. And if you want friends or something to Connect to your server and test some stuff out, just open that port in your router.

 

So make the server not important and play on another server (with verification).

Fabian