Advice on Starting up and Owning a Minecraft Server

[Krythax]

Hello everyone, I have been a manager for many successful servers in the past and have quite a lot of experience with staff teams. However, I have never owned a server. I have very good server ideas and know what game modes work and what game modes don't work. I know there are some professional and experienced owners on this site and I would like your insight on owning servers.

I would say I am a perfectionist, I hate when I fail at something but I know that we all have to fail to become better at whatever it is. What I'm trying to say is, if I am going to create a server, I am going to make it the best I possibly can and that means spending hundreds on development.

I am not looking for step-by-step instructions here, I know everyone's story is different and I am asking yours.

Here are some questions of mine:
If you don't want to answer these down below then feel free to PM me or add me on Discord at Krythax#4954

• I know close to nothing about Java, how crucial is Java? Do you need to know it in and out or just the basics?
• Is it possible to hire sysadmins and developers to "get around" this or should I spend months learning that language?
• How big of a team do you suggest to start with? As in developers, sysadmins, and essential personal that are not Mods, Helpers, etc.
• How big of a budget do I need to start with? Let's just say to get 100-200 players on release.
• How important is the hosting company? Are main stream hosting companies like MCProHosting a viable option? (just the 1st name that came to mind)
• At what player base does the server start turning profitable?

I am mainly worried about my inexperience with coding, fixing bugs, and basically any backend work. I know how to manage a community and bring in players. Any advice?

Lastly, don't trash this thread, be professional, if you don't want to help me out then don't comment.
Discord: Krythax#4954

 

[Snowcone]

If you want to know a big suggestion. Don't cheap out on hosting. You can go a little cheaper on some other aspects, but if you don't have good hosting, and your getting lag in-game or anything like that, it will make the players just not want to play anymore.

 

[Inviss]

If you want to know a big suggestion. Don't cheap out on hosting. You can go a little cheaper on some other aspects, but if you don't have good hosting, and your getting lag in-game or anything like that, it will make the players just not want to play anymore.

Adding to this, I would recommend going with your own dedicated server and installing pterodactyl on it, as you can set up firewalls etc on it, which would improve your network security, aswell as giving you the option to host anything you need.

 

[Zero]

Those are just my personal tips and recommendations from what I have learned while working on my own Network in the last 11 months: if you have further questions, feel free to contact me. Discord: Seqentix#4207

1. You dont need Java knowledge, but I highly recommend to learn the basics so that you understand what your developers actually code for you and to understand how your server works.

2. As I said you don't need to learn Java, but you should have a basic knowledge. Not just about Java, also about Linux! If you know nothing about what you are doing you always have to rely on a Staff Member, which is fairly bad for a Server Owner since you should have the control over your server and know what you are doing!

3. The size of your Team strongly depends on the Server. I'd recommend to start with 4-6 Helpers, 2-3 Moderators, maybe 1-2 Admins / Managers. The amount of developers depends on the complexity of your gamemode.

4. The Budget should be flexible, you need quite a bit of money for a Server, lets say around 120-180$ for a good dedicated Server. Then you'll need GFX, Advertising, Developers, Builds and more. For a playerbase of 100-200 I'd say you need ~300-500$ +Server costs.

5. Do your research before you choose a hosting company, you should always look for a established Hoster because they'll most likely know what they are doing. Recommendations: OVH or Hetzner, both are very reliable.

6. You shouldn't start a server because of the profits, but I guess you're just curious on how much profit you can make: A player base of >75 will guarantee you profits, as long as you dont have enormous monthly costs.​

But be prepared, owning a server can be frustrating and you will need a lot of time and dedication if you really want to make your server outstanding. You will have to spend a lot of time doing research about Cyber Security and how to protect your server. I've seen quite a lot servers that totally failed because they got crashed multiple times on their Release. Most importantly: Make sure to have fun, you shouldn't build a server from the ground up because you need money. Before you start your project, ask yourself this question: Do I really want to do this? And do I have the passion and time to maintain my Server?

I apologize for any grammatical mistakes in my post, im still trying to improve my english!