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ADVICE ON MAKING A SUCCESSFUL SERVER?
Hey, I'm thinking of making a server. I've never actually made one before tho. Any advice?
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15
Don't listen to most of these people. Money is not the thing that will define whether your server is good or not. What you really need is to make connections to your first players, make them want to keep coming back.
I had a server a few years ago, it started small with 20 slots and only about 12 players on at any given time. I connected with my players, and they all genuinely liked me. They stuck around.
Next, I would suggest a reward for players who invite their friend(s). I had a board at spawn that had possible rewards for a player and his invited friend. They told me or a staff member who they invited, the invited confirmed it, and they got their reward. I probably got most of my dedicated players this way.
Don't be afraid to freakin advertise on all sites to do with minecraft servers. One dude said it would annoy people if you do, but how the heck does that work? Who gets annoyed if they see your server on more than a few websites?
Keep an eye on your staff, if you have any. Zero tolerance for rule breaking of any kind (I fired my head admin for supplying a "girl gamer" with unlimited diamonds).
Don't overdo the ranks. You don't need fifty different ranks between [beginner] and [elite] or whatever. Don't overdo the colors for the ranks either. It hurts my eyes...
You don't need good builders. I made my first spawn in the end. It was pretty much a floating platform with walkways to different sections (exit, info, dropparty, etc). after spawn it was a simple shopping area where players could buy land.
Have a test. This sounds weird, but using plugins, or having it so only if a staff is on to promote you, you can test new players on the rules they read to see if they actually read them. It is a good way to annoy people only there to grief to move on to an easier server. On my server, we had a sign saying "The secret word is: ghetto toaster" in the middle of the signs for the rules. To be promoted to the lowest rank that can leave spawn, players had to give us the secret word.
Devs? What the heck are you talking about? You don't need devs to run a freaking server. A good server isn't ranked by the number of plugins, custom or not. I had the basics: essentials, worldguard, worldedit, permissionsEx, blah blah blah. It doesn't take a programmer or dev to configure those. I took a whole day to configure them to my liking, but after that, I was pretty much an expert on ranks and permissions. If you want custom plugins, you can request them or something.
Good grammar, spelling, punctuation, word choice. The last thing I want to see when I enter what I hope is a good server is a sign saying. "Rulz is that way ---->" or "donate hear!" It is literally the easiest part of making a server. If you are unsure of a rule in language, look it up. No one likes a server that looks as though five minutes was put into it.
Don't have announcements spamming chat. I've seen servers were every ten seconds it would have huge, bold, red, capitalized announcements about donations or a website. Just put it so that every minute or two something modestly sized is displayed in chat.
Lastly, consider having a modded server. My server was a tekkit classic server, and people loved it because of all the crazy things that would happen due to mods. Don't think you need mods, but don't rule them out either.
So, don't think you need to be the same as everyone else, but don't think you have to be completely different from every other server. There is nothing wrong with a basic survival server devoid of prison, factions, towny, whatever. But, there is no rule that having one of those plugins means a bad server. Do what you want, don't listen to most of these dudes who think the most impeccable server is the one that is unlike any other.
I had a server a few years ago, it started small with 20 slots and only about 12 players on at any given time. I connected with my players, and they all genuinely liked me. They stuck around.
Next, I would suggest a reward for players who invite their friend(s). I had a board at spawn that had possible rewards for a player and his invited friend. They told me or a staff member who they invited, the invited confirmed it, and they got their reward. I probably got most of my dedicated players this way.
Don't be afraid to freakin advertise on all sites to do with minecraft servers. One dude said it would annoy people if you do, but how the heck does that work? Who gets annoyed if they see your server on more than a few websites?
Keep an eye on your staff, if you have any. Zero tolerance for rule breaking of any kind (I fired my head admin for supplying a "girl gamer" with unlimited diamonds).
Don't overdo the ranks. You don't need fifty different ranks between [beginner] and [elite] or whatever. Don't overdo the colors for the ranks either. It hurts my eyes...
You don't need good builders. I made my first spawn in the end. It was pretty much a floating platform with walkways to different sections (exit, info, dropparty, etc). after spawn it was a simple shopping area where players could buy land.
Have a test. This sounds weird, but using plugins, or having it so only if a staff is on to promote you, you can test new players on the rules they read to see if they actually read them. It is a good way to annoy people only there to grief to move on to an easier server. On my server, we had a sign saying "The secret word is: ghetto toaster" in the middle of the signs for the rules. To be promoted to the lowest rank that can leave spawn, players had to give us the secret word.
Devs? What the heck are you talking about? You don't need devs to run a freaking server. A good server isn't ranked by the number of plugins, custom or not. I had the basics: essentials, worldguard, worldedit, permissionsEx, blah blah blah. It doesn't take a programmer or dev to configure those. I took a whole day to configure them to my liking, but after that, I was pretty much an expert on ranks and permissions. If you want custom plugins, you can request them or something.
Good grammar, spelling, punctuation, word choice. The last thing I want to see when I enter what I hope is a good server is a sign saying. "Rulz is that way ---->" or "donate hear!" It is literally the easiest part of making a server. If you are unsure of a rule in language, look it up. No one likes a server that looks as though five minutes was put into it.
Don't have announcements spamming chat. I've seen servers were every ten seconds it would have huge, bold, red, capitalized announcements about donations or a website. Just put it so that every minute or two something modestly sized is displayed in chat.
Lastly, consider having a modded server. My server was a tekkit classic server, and people loved it because of all the crazy things that would happen due to mods. Don't think you need mods, but don't rule them out either.
So, don't think you need to be the same as everyone else, but don't think you have to be completely different from every other server. There is nothing wrong with a basic survival server devoid of prison, factions, towny, whatever. But, there is no rule that having one of those plugins means a bad server. Do what you want, don't listen to most of these dudes who think the most impeccable server is the one that is unlike any other.
Ok, here is all the things that ACTUALLY make a good server. I will make a list, but truely, the overal thing is money. Don't deny this before you read below:
Hiring Devs: not everything on a server is done by you... Just the way you like it or choose it to be. Get good devs. I'm not saying to get plugins for you and to do you pex/groupmanager. I'm talking plugin-devs that will make custom plugins for your server. You usually don't find these free, so if you want to do it yourself, try to learn Script(a simple plugin making plugin, requires nothing but the willingness to go on the script help page and take a bit to figure it all out).
Everything custom: your not going to be the next faction, prison, Sky-block, towny, vanilla, or any other core plugin server. Think things that other servers don't have. Mix factions and prison. Add custom Vehicles to Gta. Add guns to Towny. Go wild. Custom minigames are generally very attractive, but what some people fail to realize is that many players are needed to play them, so they are good to be added in an already developed community(don't start with minigames!).
The right host: ok, so 90% of the MC population will go straight to ProHost. In my opinion, this is bad. ProHost is not cheap, and won't allow for custom ips(from what I know of) get decently cheap servers(you can get 1G for as low as $1 monthly(if your lucky)). Most $1 a gig won't have good others things, though. Don't use fade host, pro host, or anything else that will feature part of there name in your ip(see below). Make sure your host offers unlimited plugins, support, and anything else you think is useful.
Your ip: make sure you can have an ip that is simple(words), and easy to write down and remember. It's attractive(don't deny), and helps mor e than you think. Using an ip with a hosts name in it makes it longer, and can make people think you are inexperienced.
Get good builders and staff: get an Enjin website and open for applying. Be careful with giving out high ranks, and don't give staff any ingame advantage. Never OP anyone but a dev or an owner. Also, make sure your admins have some plugin knowledge incase you ever need them. For builders, test them on a creative world. Be very careful.
Advertising: If you've got lots of $$, you've got this one in the bag. You can hire famous youtubers to advertise for you, or pay for a high advertising spot on server lists. Truely, this is the biggest in a servers immediate success. You should start out small first, though. Make sure your server is ready for many players before a huge public release. This isn't a huge concern if your not using any money on advertising. You can advertise away if not. Either way, get votifier; it helps a LOT.
Hiring Devs: not everything on a server is done by you... Just the way you like it or choose it to be. Get good devs. I'm not saying to get plugins for you and to do you pex/groupmanager. I'm talking plugin-devs that will make custom plugins for your server. You usually don't find these free, so if you want to do it yourself, try to learn Script(a simple plugin making plugin, requires nothing but the willingness to go on the script help page and take a bit to figure it all out).
Everything custom: your not going to be the next faction, prison, Sky-block, towny, vanilla, or any other core plugin server. Think things that other servers don't have. Mix factions and prison. Add custom Vehicles to Gta. Add guns to Towny. Go wild. Custom minigames are generally very attractive, but what some people fail to realize is that many players are needed to play them, so they are good to be added in an already developed community(don't start with minigames!).
The right host: ok, so 90% of the MC population will go straight to ProHost. In my opinion, this is bad. ProHost is not cheap, and won't allow for custom ips(from what I know of) get decently cheap servers(you can get 1G for as low as $1 monthly(if your lucky)). Most $1 a gig won't have good others things, though. Don't use fade host, pro host, or anything else that will feature part of there name in your ip(see below). Make sure your host offers unlimited plugins, support, and anything else you think is useful.
Your ip: make sure you can have an ip that is simple(words), and easy to write down and remember. It's attractive(don't deny), and helps mor e than you think. Using an ip with a hosts name in it makes it longer, and can make people think you are inexperienced.
Get good builders and staff: get an Enjin website and open for applying. Be careful with giving out high ranks, and don't give staff any ingame advantage. Never OP anyone but a dev or an owner. Also, make sure your admins have some plugin knowledge incase you ever need them. For builders, test them on a creative world. Be very careful.
Advertising: If you've got lots of $$, you've got this one in the bag. You can hire famous youtubers to advertise for you, or pay for a high advertising spot on server lists. Truely, this is the biggest in a servers immediate success. You should start out small first, though. Make sure your server is ready for many players before a huge public release. This isn't a huge concern if your not using any money on advertising. You can advertise away if not. Either way, get votifier; it helps a LOT.
make your own spawn - people will firstly judge your server of your spawn , don't download a spawn that just makes you lazy , if you cannot build just post on the forums I'm sure someone will help you
plugins - choose the right plugins that match your server , don't go overboard adding plugins that conflict with other gamemodes unless it actually makes it better.
groups - don't be original in making group names . be creative use group names no one has used before , don't make the default group noob or scrub because people find that offensive and will just leave
kits - depending on the type of server keep the kits fluent what I mean is if the server is regular factions for instance don't go adding protection 10 to a kit because that will annoy the shi* out of people , keep it to prot 5 maximum and for op factions don't go adding protection 1000 to the best rank because that will make it pay to win , keep the kits rounded off only add little bits to each kit so regular members have a chance of killing higher ranked people.
forum - a server forum looks nice and makes things easier to run and keep an eye on problems / bugs people find.
advertisement , advertise your server on a the main good website , planetminecraft.com minecraft-server-list.com . minestatus , don't go overboard advertising on 20 websites that also annoys people
A server banner - a nice animated server banner gets peoples attention straight away when looking for a new server to play on , there are a few on youtube for free or you can pay a graphic artist a small fee for one.
staff - be careful chosing your staff , like the saying goes don't judge a book by its cover , people could be nice to you just to get staff then when you go offline they turn into an arse.
plugins - choose the right plugins that match your server , don't go overboard adding plugins that conflict with other gamemodes unless it actually makes it better.
groups - don't be original in making group names . be creative use group names no one has used before , don't make the default group noob or scrub because people find that offensive and will just leave
kits - depending on the type of server keep the kits fluent what I mean is if the server is regular factions for instance don't go adding protection 10 to a kit because that will annoy the shi* out of people , keep it to prot 5 maximum and for op factions don't go adding protection 1000 to the best rank because that will make it pay to win , keep the kits rounded off only add little bits to each kit so regular members have a chance of killing higher ranked people.
forum - a server forum looks nice and makes things easier to run and keep an eye on problems / bugs people find.
advertisement , advertise your server on a the main good website , planetminecraft.com minecraft-server-list.com . minestatus , don't go overboard advertising on 20 websites that also annoys people
A server banner - a nice animated server banner gets peoples attention straight away when looking for a new server to play on , there are a few on youtube for free or you can pay a graphic artist a small fee for one.
staff - be careful chosing your staff , like the saying goes don't judge a book by its cover , people could be nice to you just to get staff then when you go offline they turn into an arse.
Start small, use friends as testers and post it on PMC after everything is perfect!
Make an unique idea and try with friends if it will be a good idea.
Good Luck!
Make an unique idea and try with friends if it will be a good idea.
Good Luck!
SUCCESSFUL SERVER? Well it won't happen unless you spend a fortune on it, find developers if you don't know how to make plugins, get builders, hire staff members that aren't 8 year immature kids. And overall: If your looking to be SUCCESSFUL, you will need to dedicate yourself. That also means paying for hosting, which is cheap at start but as you grow it will become more costly. If your looking for a server with just a few friends, that is ok, you can get a 1-2 GB server from a hosting company which won't be that expensive, or you can host it yourself. But if you are looking to get Big, then you will pay a lot of money for it and still won't be an easy task.
He never said anything about a "Big server"
Depends on what your take on successful is, i consider my server successful and i didn't spend a fortune on it, i can't code (only configure) and i don't have builders.
The only money (out of my own pocket) i ever spent on my server was the first 3 month hosting, i used a promo code at creeperhost and bought 3 months with 60% discount, that cost me about 40 US dollars. Since then donations keep the server alive, its up for a year now with an average of 70 players online and i made about 7.000 USD since it opened 1 year ago.
Depends on what your take on successful is, i consider my server successful and i didn't spend a fortune on it, i can't code (only configure) and i don't have builders.
The only money (out of my own pocket) i ever spent on my server was the first 3 month hosting, i used a promo code at creeperhost and bought 3 months with 60% discount, that cost me about 40 US dollars. Since then donations keep the server alive, its up for a year now with an average of 70 players online and i made about 7.000 USD since it opened 1 year ago.
I wrote a whole guide, took me a few hours and then I went to preview it and the host stopped working so I refreshed the page and nothing.... Well, you would of had a pretty great server if I got to post the guide. I'm not rewriting it so good luck. Sorry
I can't home host anyway lol
This will be a pretty big guide. Just read the sections.
Don't pay for hosting. Home host a server and figure out your server and how it works. Most hosting companies will be glad to transfer the server over for you. If not find another that will.
Start small, get a couple trustworthy friends on give them op and have them mess with the plugins in-game. If you want them to have control panel access get multicraft. First server is free!
Make sure everything looks good, nice, and professional. Nothing is off by 1 block, there aren't any misspellings, and the website looks good. (Like Mineplex)
Have a unique idea for your server. Factions will not work. There are probably thousands out there. Nor will Prison and survival is cutting it close. Make a kitpvp server with guns, make a gta server with drugs, make your own minigame.
Make a good server banner. When you're small a crappy one will probably work. Once you get a consistant amount of players either buy a good one or make a good animated one for your server. Make sure everything is spelt correctly and everything looks nice.
If you want help with something I'd be glad to help. Contact me on skype: flammablesports
Don't pay for hosting. Home host a server and figure out your server and how it works. Most hosting companies will be glad to transfer the server over for you. If not find another that will.
Start small, get a couple trustworthy friends on give them op and have them mess with the plugins in-game. If you want them to have control panel access get multicraft. First server is free!
Make sure everything looks good, nice, and professional. Nothing is off by 1 block, there aren't any misspellings, and the website looks good. (Like Mineplex)
Have a unique idea for your server. Factions will not work. There are probably thousands out there. Nor will Prison and survival is cutting it close. Make a kitpvp server with guns, make a gta server with drugs, make your own minigame.
Make a good server banner. When you're small a crappy one will probably work. Once you get a consistant amount of players either buy a good one or make a good animated one for your server. Make sure everything is spelt correctly and everything looks nice.
If you want help with something I'd be glad to help. Contact me on skype: flammablesports
Sorry but i disagree.
You can rent server for as low as 3USD a month... This way you learn just what you need for a real server, hosted and self-hosted are 2 very different things to learn i dont get the point of learning both unless u dont have 3 dollars a month to spend and if thats the case, you will never have a server cause everything in life costs money.
Making a self hosted server is a nightmare of its own, it is extremely hard to have a server running plus a Minecraft client on the same "normal pc" with normal consumer internet and have your friends join.. It will be so laggy its unplayable especially if your using plugins. You will be spending a ton of time dealing with port fowards and a bunch of common problems... You wont learn important things that way like mysql, ftp, admin panel management etc...
Just my 2 cents. I started with a small server and a discount for 3 months then upgrade as my playerbase got bigger. I now have a Hub Network with average 70 players a day ... so i know what im talking about.
You can rent server for as low as 3USD a month... This way you learn just what you need for a real server, hosted and self-hosted are 2 very different things to learn i dont get the point of learning both unless u dont have 3 dollars a month to spend and if thats the case, you will never have a server cause everything in life costs money.
Making a self hosted server is a nightmare of its own, it is extremely hard to have a server running plus a Minecraft client on the same "normal pc" with normal consumer internet and have your friends join.. It will be so laggy its unplayable especially if your using plugins. You will be spending a ton of time dealing with port fowards and a bunch of common problems... You wont learn important things that way like mysql, ftp, admin panel management etc...
Just my 2 cents. I started with a small server and a discount for 3 months then upgrade as my playerbase got bigger. I now have a Hub Network with average 70 players a day ... so i know what im talking about.
Just make a very small server for you and your friends.
Learn about plugins and how to configure them, then build from that.
Learn about plugins and how to configure them, then build from that.
Thanks for the advice
Advice: TRY USING LESS CAPS
Start small. Don't make a big server where players are spread out. One small server with a community can grow into a large one.
Get good staff like your friends or family, make a nice spawn, and be nice to everyone!
