Are Minecraft Servers Even Worth It Anymore?

[Vip]

Hey there, some of you may know me as Vip, Mathew, and or VipFTW. I owned and ran many servers in the past some were pretty good. I currently run a Minecraft development team. I have a lot of projects that I work on for example a server list and many more real-life jobs that I do.

I'm here to ask is it worth to run a Minecraft server right now. I don't only mean profit but I do mean playbase wise. The results from this thread will determine if I open a server by the summer. So please vote on the poll and also comment on some recent stories about servers you owned or played and let me know how they did. Also are there still servers currently that released in the past weeks that get a good player base?

Thank you, have a good day

 

[Baby]

Depends on where you want the server to go and how much money you have.

If you want to try to run a server and get a nice profit and playerbase going, you're going to need a good amount of money. If you're unwilling or hesitant in putting money towards a server, I really wouldn't recommend it.

If you're like me and just want to run a small survival world (not really focusing on profit), you won't need much.

Currently, most servers are either very large and thriving or very small and struggling. But that's just my opinion

 

[Jay_H]

Depends on where you want the server to go and how much money you have.

If you want to try to run a server and get a nice profit and playerbase going, you're going to need a good amount of money. If you're unwilling or hesitant in putting money towards a server, I really wouldn't recommend it.

If you're like me and just want to run a small survival world (not really focusing on profit), you won't need much.

Currently, most servers are either very large and thriving or very small and struggling. But that's just my opinion

I agree with this, the budget is key.

 

[iojafwiojiuawhd]

pull a velt

pay youtubers to advertise ur server, get 200 players on SOTW, up every rank price to $1k and claim u have a 95% sale then dip after SOTW

 

[Vip]

Depends on where you want the server to go and how much money you have.

If you want to try to run a server and get a nice profit and playerbase going, you're going to need a good amount of money. If you're unwilling or hesitant in putting money towards a server, I really wouldn't recommend it.

If you're like me and just want to run a small survival world (not really focusing on profit), you won't need much.

Currently, most servers are either very large and thriving or very small and struggling. But that's just my opinion

I agree with this, the budget is key.

If you want a decent playerbase, your going to have to invest quite a bit, if you don't I wouldn't do it

I understand budget is a key it's always been a key for the past 2 years for Minecraft servers. I have no problem with spending up to $500 alone but I am also gonna attempt to get investors as I don't want to put too much. I'm not only looking for profit but also for a good server to play. I'm interested in either (from most interested to least): OP Jailbreak (cells, etc), semi-op skyblock, and factions. So those are my options and I'm more than happy to make them just for the fun of it but when it comes to spending money on it I also want to include investors. My main question was and still is that our servers still able to pull a good amount of players if the advertisement is right and all. Because I see some servers and they are doing pretty well right now. Obviously, I'd have a large team working with me.

 

[Sentiinel]

I understand budget is a key it's always been a key for the past 2 years for Minecraft servers. I have no problem with spending up to $500 alone but I am also gonna attempt to get investors as I don't want to put too much. I'm not only looking for profit but also for a good server to play. I'm interested in either (from most interested to least): OP Jailbreak (cells, etc), semi-op skyblock, and factions. So those are my options and I'm more than happy to make them just for the fun of it but when it comes to spending money on it I also want to include investors. My main question was and still is that our servers still able to pull a good amount of players if the advertisement is right and all. Because I see some servers and they are doing pretty well right now. Obviously, I'd have a large team working with me.

Don't deal with investors, all of the ones on here are brainlets.

 

[Vip]

Don't deal with investors, all of the ones on here are brainlets.

Not sure if I want to fund it all by myself though.

Just saying, at the moment I think it would be better to get something more unique. What makes you stand out from all the other hundreds of skyblock/faction/prison servers? Unless you have a really good advertising budget I don't think it's worth it.

I can make a server stand out and have a good pb but funding it could be costy. Development is free because I can easily do it all. Builds I have good teams, ads I have youtubers that are good, and for graphics/website I can hire anyone good.

 

[Cal]

Yes.
Though it definitely requires more book balancing than it did back in my server days. Back in 2016-2017, you could throw any amount you wanted at it and so long as you put in the time to get the name out, you would profit. Nowadays though, you've really got to balance your books.

The competitive scene is about half of what it was back then, mostly centered around HCF and a few scattered ladder communities. Now, things like Skyblock, Prison and Minigames are the best bet, low barrier to entry and intuitive, reward based gameplay. I would broil it down the community is mostly driven by nostalgia and returning players rather than those who were deeply involved.

My advice, spend on things that improve the overall feel. Refined Plugins, High Quality Builds, yadda yadda, but stick to old formulas. Most people playing, despite saying otherwise, do not want something new. They want what they remember, but better.

 

[Vip]

Yes.
Though it definitely requires more book balancing than it did back in my server days. Back in 2016-2017, you could throw any amount you wanted at it and so long as you put in the time to get the name out, you would profit. Nowadays though, you've really got to balance your books.

The competitive scene is about half of what it was back then, mostly centered around HCF and a few scattered ladder communities. Now, things like Skyblock, Prison and Minigames are the best bet, low barrier to entry and intuitive, reward based gameplay. I would broil it down the community is mostly driven by nostalgia and returning players rather than those who were deeply involved.

My advice, spend on things that improve the overall feel. Refined Plugins, High Quality Builds, yadda yadda, but stick to old formulas. Most people playing, despite saying otherwise, do not want something new. They want what they remember, but better.

I agree with you. Back then you pretty much didn't have to spend anything. For example 2015 I released my first server spent nothing but like 30 bucks. Add me on discord @Vip#0272