$20 REWARD - Minecraft Hosting Providers

[MaximC]

Hi there.

In the near future, a group of us are starting a hosting provider, first specialising in Minecraft.

To ensure we provide the best service as possible, please comment below annoying issues you've had with hosting providers, or features which convinced you to purchase their services. (apart from low cost and fast servers)

The best response will get $20 USD, let me know what your throughs are.

 

[GoodFightt]

I suggest Clovux, I have had ZERO issues with them.

 

[mitunesman]

The biggest issue I've had personally is just the support. It's really hard to find a host that actually has decent support and competitive prices.

 

[MaximC]

Last bump before $20 is awarded![DOUBLEPOST=1603844653][/DOUBLEPOST]

The biggest issue I've had personally is just the support. It's really hard to find a host that actually has decent support and competitive prices.

Completely agree! Support will definitely be a priority.

 

[DamaTheDev]

Support. Always support. No contact or extremely slow responses. Get on top of this with a good service, and you'll do well.

 

[..Error404..]

The amount of hosting companies I've dealt with in the past just shows up so many issues so I'll list them here

First off

• Support is a big one within the question. You need good support that is able to answer tickets within couple of hours or less or even have a Live Support that allows users to communicate with support if they have a technical problem or a billing issue they can connect to the correct department. Over the years of me using hosting companies support is what they mainly lack on and sometimes for a small issue such as a Database Error was rectified after a Week of initial contact and this comes in at having support that has the right experience so making sure you have Technicians on hand that will easily be able to resolve a problem efficiently and also providing a good customer service for the client. Followed onto this you should also make sure you have your other departments be filled with agents that also have the correct experience such as WHMCS, VMPanels etc. If they don't have this experience then you may need to spend time on perfecting that. Even some companies I have worked in the past even had a Support Hotline that was 24/7 using a VOIP System that you may wanna look into
  
  
• Prices is another issue I have dealt with in the past. You don't want your prices to be too low to the fact you are not making money off the server but you also don't want to be too high but with this you need to make sure you can provide servers that are great for the price so do some market research and compare prices with your servers (AND DON'T OVERALLOCATE!). Not only that make sure your Plans are straight to the point and don't overcomplicate with technology jarga just put what facts need to be there on plans. You can put your other features elsewhere!
  
  
• Servers is another thing you need to look into. You do want a server that is powerful enough for the network and even making sure you have great protection and security. Have a look at some server providers or even if you are going to co-locate else where look into there systems and what they can provide for you and make sure you go to a provider that has very low downtime rates other wise explaining that to your SLA Agreement when clients are asking for refunds after you promised no downtime (unplanned) for over 24hours. Another issue is making sure your servers are good at providing the service you need so do testing on full load etc. and figure out what capacity or how many clients you can get on a machine (WITHOUT OVER-ALLOCATING) and obviously make sure you prepare for an Attack so make sure you hire a good System Admin to make sure the servers are secure and protected from DDOS Attacks (Either from the Provider or Adding More Protection *I'd Recommend) Another point on this is do market research of locations as well as I do see companies missing vital locations like AUS and ASIA but look into the servers a little and find out what your possible clients want location wise.
  
  
• Panel - Make sure your panel is at least friendly to people who may not know how to run a server and make it user-friendly and not just stock and also add features like Backups and maybe even a Built in FAQ or Tutorials Section or even a Supported Plugins Installer so even the people who don't know how to install plugins can install them much easier. The amount of hosts that I see who don't spend time making sure the panels are at least friendly to anyone it annoys me seeing panels that have missing features or even features that confuse people.
  
  
• Fees - The biggest anger I have seen around hosts is charging unnecessary fees for setup even though its automated. Look into systems like WHMCS Addons that automate systems and don't charge for support or anything like that. You should only add Fees for Addons that cost you guys. Don't make people unlike you for random fees.
  
  
• Connections - Make sure you work with staff and have bonding events that could help but not just that maybe even connect with your community with events or giveaways so clients don't just feel abandoned and paying you to host there server do something better and maybe allow the community to support each other. Just think Clients are paying you but are you giving them enough love?
  
  This should help but I may of left some other points off here but this is the main vital ones at least and if anyone wants to criticise these or even give feedback on this I am happy to evaluate this and add anything onto this.
  
  Enjoy this and I hope you do well in your company.

 

[MaximC]

REDACTED

Hey Deleted User 60850,

Overhead performance is something we haven't even considered yet! At this current moment, we're factoring that into our overhead costs and we will ensure that issue does not occur. We're looking into user able flags and java version selection also, you should be able to fully experience the server, not just some limited console.

That is an extremely good point, thank you very much!

Support. Always support. No contact or extremely slow responses. Get on top of this with a good service, and you'll do well.

Hello DamaTheDev,

200% mate. Support will be a major priority. Thank you!!

The amount of hosting companies I've dealt with in the past just shows up so many issues so I'll list them here

First off

• Support is a big one within the question. You need good support that is able to answer tickets within couple of hours or less or even have a Live Support that allows users to communicate with support if they have a technical problem or a billing issue they can connect to the correct department. Over the years of me using hosting companies support is what they mainly lack on and sometimes for a small issue such as a Database Error was rectified after a Week of initial contact and this comes in at having support that has the right experience so making sure you have Technicians on hand that will easily be able to resolve a problem efficiently and also providing a good customer service for the client. Followed onto this you should also make sure you have your other departments be filled with agents that also have the correct experience such as WHMCS, VMPanels etc. If they don't have this experience then you may need to spend time on perfecting that. Even some companies I have worked in the past even had a Support Hotline that was 24/7 using a VOIP System that you may wanna look into
  
  
• Prices is another issue I have dealt with in the past. You don't want your prices to be too low to the fact you are not making money off the server but you also don't want to be too high but with this you need to make sure you can provide servers that are great for the price so do some market research and compare prices with your servers (AND DON'T OVERALLOCATE!). Not only that make sure your Plans are straight to the point and don't overcomplicate with technology jarga just put what facts need to be there on plans. You can put your other features elsewhere!
  
  
• Servers is another thing you need to look into. You do want a server that is powerful enough for the network and even making sure you have great protection and security. Have a look at some server providers or even if you are going to co-locate else where look into there systems and what they can provide for you and make sure you go to a provider that has very low downtime rates other wise explaining that to your SLA Agreement when clients are asking for refunds after you promised no downtime (unplanned) for over 24hours. Another issue is making sure your servers are good at providing the service you need so do testing on full load etc. and figure out what capacity or how many clients you can get on a machine (WITHOUT OVER-ALLOCATING) and obviously make sure you prepare for an Attack so make sure you hire a good System Admin to make sure the servers are secure and protected from DDOS Attacks (Either from the Provider or Adding More Protection *I'd Recommend) Another point on this is do market research of locations as well as I do see companies missing vital locations like AUS and ASIA but look into the servers a little and find out what your possible clients want location wise.
  
  
• Panel - Make sure your panel is at least friendly to people who may not know how to run a server and make it user-friendly and not just stock and also add features like Backups and maybe even a Built in FAQ or Tutorials Section or even a Supported Plugins Installer so even the people who don't know how to install plugins can install them much easier. The amount of hosts that I see who don't spend time making sure the panels are at least friendly to anyone it annoys me seeing panels that have missing features or even features that confuse people.
  
  
• Fees - The biggest anger I have seen around hosts is charging unnecessary fees for setup even though its automated. Look into systems like WHMCS Addons that automate systems and don't charge for support or anything like that. You should only add Fees for Addons that cost you guys. Don't make people unlike you for random fees.
  
  
• Connections - Make sure you work with staff and have bonding events that could help but not just that maybe even connect with your community with events or giveaways so clients don't just feel abandoned and paying you to host there server do something better and maybe allow the community to support each other. Just think Clients are paying you but are you giving them enough love?
  
  This should help but I may of left some other points off here but this is the main vital ones at least and if anyone wants to criticise these or even give feedback on this I am happy to evaluate this and add anything onto this.
  
  Enjoy this and I hope you do well in your company.

Hi Error404,

You make very very good points. Everything you said is quite frankly, what will distinguish us from other hosting providers, if everything goes to plan that is haha! (fingers crossed)

I used to manage a network of servers around two years ago and our aim to provide a service that we would buy ourselves. I've swapped from hosts to hosts and each time they've all had individual issues (big or small) that annoyed us.

Thank you very much for your reply, it's been very helpful!

 

[Picturesque]

I would say making a FAQ page with domain information on how to transfer them, some recommended plugins to start. The usual questions that new people ask when they start a server. It'll make it easier for support too because you would probably see a lot of questions like that rolling in

Also, I would highly suggest having daily backups

Having a great panel as everyone mentioned.

Also, not sure if this has been implemented on Tebex but maybe having panels like this on your site https://www.spigotmc.org/resources/statscraft.32703/
Everyone loves seeing dashboards like this

Easily manageable MySQL databases rather than going to third party

Always use all the WHMCS addons available to you. I don't remember them atm it's been a long time but I know they are really useful.

Make prices cheap and affordable and don't over-allocate but also don't make it too cheap

 

[ZJump]

Please please please make sure you have a discord server with community support, it helps bring in so many people when they see that there is support available from the community and the official team. Pebblehost have done wonders with this. Also make sure that the panel is aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate with no broken buttons. Trust me, there's nothing worse than clicking on the button to turn your server off and it not doing anything

 

[MaximC]

I would say making a FAQ page with domain information on how to transfer them, some recommended plugins to start. The usual questions that new people ask when they start a server. It'll make it easier for support too because you would probably see a lot of questions like that rolling in

Also, I would highly suggest having daily backups

Having a great panel as everyone mentioned.

Also, not sure if this has been implemented on Tebex but maybe having panels like this on your site https://www.spigotmc.org/resources/statscraft.32703/
Everyone loves seeing dashboards like this

Easily manageable MySQL databases rather than going to third party

Always use all the WHMCS addons available to you. I don't remember them atm it's been a long time but I know they are really useful.

Make prices cheap and affordable and don't over-allocate but also don't make it too cheap

Hey Picturesque,

A FAQ page is already in the works to ensure our users have an array of information at their disposal. I've seen a lot of other hosting providers who either don't have one, or have very limited posts on a small range of common problems.

Daily backups is definitely a good point and is already a planned feature and with the panel, we will be using pterodactyl, with custom theming to ensure it's very very easy to use and navigate whilst including MySQL support.

Do you remember which WHMCS addons were useful?

Thank you for your comments, really appreciate it!

Please please please make sure you have a discord server with community support, it helps bring in so many people when they see that there is support available from the community and the official team. Pebblehost have done wonders with this. Also make sure that the panel is aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate with no broken buttons. Trust me, there's nothing worse than clicking on the button to turn your server off and it not doing anything

Hello ZJump,

We're already using Discord currently and we've planned how in which we will utilise it for support. Very good point!! As, Discord is becoming a very large part the Minecraft community. Before we launch, there will be a lot of user testing, to ensure there aren't any little annoying bugs that appear.

Thank you very much for your reply!

)

 

[madsiv]

Just a little comment.

I would probably go and look at TCAdmin, as it has been updated a lot lately, and I personally think it is still the best panel to this day.

Ptero is good, don't get me wrong. I just trust TCAdmin a bit more, as it seems more "stable" in terms of design function and most important support. It is customizable in so many places, along with great support for games/protocols and features.

Just my little coin, try something new and stand out from the rest of the hosting providers

 

[MaximC]

Just a little comment.

I would probably go and look at TCAdmin, as it has been updated a lot lately, and I personally think it is still the best panel to this day.

Ptero is good, don't get me wrong. I just trust TCAdmin a bit more, as it seems more "stable" in terms of design function and most important support. It is customizable in so many places, along with great support for games/protocols and features.

Just my little coin, try something new and stand out from the rest of the hosting providers

Hey there,

Thank you for your suggestion! Will check it out right now.

 

[NotDuckie]

Hi there.

In the near future, a group of us are starting a hosting provider, first specialising in Minecraft.

To ensure we provide the best service as possible, please comment below annoying issues you've had with hosting providers, or features which convinced you to purchase their services. (apart from low cost and fast servers)

The best response will get $20 USD, let me know what your throughs are.

Leaving the server files up for maybe a few days after a subscription is over, so that the user can download them. At least pebblehost requires you to buy another subscription to get your files back[DOUBLEPOST=1604494565][/DOUBLEPOST]Also, I don't know if it is possible, but modifying jvm arguments would be amazing (or at least having some good ones(aikars flags) as default)

 

[MaximC]

Leaving the server files up for maybe a few days after a subscription is over, so that the user can download them. At least pebblehost requires you to buy another subscription to get your files back[DOUBLEPOST=1604494565][/DOUBLEPOST]Also, I don't know if it is possible, but modifying jvm arguments would be amazing (or at least having some good ones(aikars flags) as default)

Hey there,

Definitely a good idea, regarding leaving server files for three days before we delete them all. We'll look into that, possibly transferring them to an offsite server.

Modifying jvm arguments in what way?

 

[joerock777]

The one and only thing I want is decent specs (for higher versions) and cheap prices like $1-1.50 per GB ram. That’s the ONLY reason why I buy hosts

There should be an option for VPS’s & Dedicated Servers to be purchased too and not just minecraft and not expensive please please please because if you make your prices cheap and more people come, it will gain you more money in the long term (may be a while) but it will be worth it.

 

[MaximC]

The one and only thing I want is decent specs (for higher versions) and cheap prices like $1-1.50 per GB ram. That’s the ONLY reason why I buy hosts

There should be an option for VPS’s & Dedicated Servers to be purchased too and not just minecraft and not expensive please please please because if you make your prices cheap and more people come, it will gain you more money in the long term (may be a while) but it will be worth it.

Hey Joe!

For some reason, I didn't get a notification about this - so very sorry for my late reply!

We're trying our very hardest to have our prices as low as possible, not to mention that Australian hosting is a tad more expensive than your traditional American/European hosting. Nevertheless, the price which will be advertised will be our lowest!

In regards to VPS & Dedicated Servers, that's an avenue which we haven't fully decided upon as of yet - more information regards this will be out on a later date.

Thank you for your reply though!

 

[MaximC]

Shitty Prices
Not very transparent with the system information (cpu, ram)
Response time is shit for support
Support is little to nonexistent
Ticket system sucks, discord was always better.
Complicated upgrade process

Hello UrbanaJoker,

In regards to complicated upgrade process, what was difficult about that process? It actually surprises me that is a issue hosting providers have haha!

 

[Kuo]

Hosting providers now all provide the same thing. I won’t lie, there is no way you can offer something that for example PebbleHost or Mixml can’t.

As a business student now & a ex hosting provider. I’ve seen what I did wrong and what I did right. Having a USP (Unique selling point) is something I did terribly wrong. If you want to start out just with hosting mc servers. Find something that no one is offering & capitalise off it. Like I said every host will offer the same thing (locations, prices, panel features, support) and while some may be worse than others. It’s still the same. For me personally, The only advice or thing I can comment is this:

What you want your host to offer, will already be offered somewhere else at a lower price. Try and find something new to offer & market that. Do atleast 3 months of first & second hand research into the hosting scene and try and find something people want which other places don’t offer. Doing that can help your growth. But make sure to copyright it or license it into your name or the businesses name. As other places ARE GUARANTEED TO STEAL IT. Also look at who takes the most market share in the mc hosting scene. Then look at how they operate & try and influence yourself to operate better than they do. Also gain experience. Since you said you and a couple friends are trying to open a hosting company. Reach out to some of the bigger hosting companies, ask if they are in need of any support staff to help out FOR FREE (If you don’t understand why you should work for free, watch Devin Nash’s video on it. You will understand then). Lastly, don’t be afraid or scared of failure. It happens to the best of people, the most richest man in the world currently started off in a garage, now look where he is. He almost closed his business down due to being scared to fail. Also Timing is everything, some months might see you at a loss, some months might see you in a profit. If you operate for a long time & get customers to support you and your business on this forum, other forums & TrustPilot, potential customers will see these reviews and your replies and see if your business is a place they want to operate a server out of. SIDE NOTE - If you get any negative reviews, don’t try and fight it unless it’s blatantly a lie. Apologise, learn and fix the errors they had. Remember your customers will be the eyes and ears for bugs, errors or problems. It’s important to listen to them.

But best of luck with starting a hosting company! Hope to see it rise to the top