Best way to start a server

[stevm]

Hi,

I'm not sure if the general discussion section of McMarket is the best place to ask for server advice, but here goes.

A couple years ago I had a moderately successful Minecraft server. It didn't have a huge player base, but it made a return on investment with extra. I kind of miss the days of owning a Minecraft server, and I have free time, so I thought I may as well use it as a business opportunity. I have a stable income and probably a larger budget than a lot of people on this forum, but I don't have the experience on how to really turn a profit.

I'm trying to figure out the best way to fund and create a successful enough and self sufficient server. I originally tried creating an admin team to help out, but that obviously didn't work out. I tried paying someone to assist with creating and marketing the server as well as the best ways to do that, but I couldn't find anyone.

What's the best way to do this?

Thanks,
Steven

 

[StressV1]

In my experience, It's best to start a discord server before creating the actual Minecraft server so get yourself some extra players beforehand. You will also need a set budget, to make sure you don't spend too much on development, buying plugins, etc. Also, you don't want to purchase a host or VPS while in development if you're going to be developing the server yourself, because you can just start a localhost server with around 1-3GB of ram depending on the amount of ram you have and if your computer can handle the extra stress hosting the server will create.
I recommend purchasing a VPS or dedicated server instead of paying for a server host, because ultimately it will work out cheaper if you decide to migrate into a network because you can host all of the servers on one VPS, just listening on different ports.
You'll also need a forums up before the server is open to the public, so I recommend either buying Xenforo and then buying a simple, but good-looking theme for the forum. Alternatively, you could pay a web developer to do everything for you which will work out to be a lot more pricey than doing it yourself, but unless you have experience in creating and managing websites, even if it's just using the software on the website.
You will also need a reason for players to join your server rather than other servers, so you'll need a few unique features to encourage players to join.
My final piece of advice is to make sure to create a dedicated staff team by posting on forums such as mc-market in the Sever Recruitment section, or you could advertise on YouTube. YouTube is also a great way to advertise the server once fully released, by paying a small-medium sized YouTuber who has at least 500+ views per video and is active on their channel. By using that advertisement method, you'll generate a fairly large and active player base in a few days or even hours, but you need to be 100% sure that your server will be able to handle the players and plugins without creating any lag. Please note that per GB of ram, a server with no plugins could hold up to 15 players without causing any lag. If you have around 70+ plugins, I'd recommend around 5-7 players per GB of ram.