[Guide] Essential Tips For A Successful Minecraft Server

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Aschorren

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Hello there my name is Aschorren. I'm also known as Sciatis or Thomas L. King.

I have been successfully working on Minecraft servers for two years and know the industry inside and out.

I've written the MC-Market community a short and introductory guide on Minecraft servers in a nut shell.

A rule to operate by: unique servers do way better.

Helpful Tips
  • Versatility
    • Have multiple server goals as opposed to just one.
      • Traditional prison servers are a good example of why versatility is so important. They retain extremely low amounts of players in comparison to other types of servers because people get bored of mining and selling blocks for months on end. Make the experience you offer spicy.
  • MOTD & Server Icon
    • The best colors to use are light red, turquoise, yellow, orange, and lime green.
      • They provide an excellent contrast to the bland Minecraft player-sided server list background.
        • Give players a reason to click your server over the others they have on their list.
  • Staff
    • Staff can be the make-it or break-it factor for why a new player decides to stick around or even purchase packages from your shop.
      • Be mindful about the staff team that you build around your community, but not so mindful that the staff application process is at all rigorous or time consuming.
        • Generally, you can get a great sense about weather someone is going to be a great staff member by the vibes you get off of them and how others in the community respond to them. Do not make them wait weeks in an application process. If you've got a good hunch, go for it.
  • Business Model
    • Allow non-donator players to feel special, but keep them eager for something more.
      • Challenge players but not so much to the point where nothing can be accomplished with an hour of play time.
        • For example, if you run a prison server, be sure to make it get harder and harder as users run up the ranks ladder as opposed to having A to Z blocks being a breeze or a total grind.
  • Websites & Brand
    • Websites, branding, and lingo seem to be very overlooked by most of the Minecraft community but I can assure you they're critical.
      • Would you read this thread if i wuz typing like dis in a sloppy misspelled n unorganized manor¿
    • Investing time and money into a simple yet beautiful web design is extremely important.
      • The best face of your brand should always be put forward.
  • Lingo
    • Essentials Language File
      • It is also possible to use the messages files for servers to define custom messages. This can give a server a more customised feel, and can be used to colour scheme the Essentials messages.
        You can find the latest messages files along with the rest of the artifacts on the Essentials build server (alt link), the messages files are in the "LocaleFiles" folder.

        Simply place your edited locale file (with appropriate local suffix) in the Essentials plugin folder, and make sure the locale setting in the config file matches (normally messages_en.properties), then restart the server.

        If you are having trouble, try this tutorial video.

    • Language files & Config Files
      • Language files and config files can also give a very smooth, branded, and tidied feel to your server. Get stylish and funky with the way your server feels.
        • The reason customizing plugin messages is important is that it feels like you've spent more time on your server as opposed to just sticking a bunch of plugins in a folder and letting it roll.
  • Advertisement Methods
    • Skype Status
      • Believe it or not, changing your Skype status broadcasts messages to the homepage of each and every one of your Skype contacts. If you have thousands of Skype contacts like me, this can be a real help, especially if you're just starting out.
    • Social Media.
      • Tweets and Facebook posts seem to be particularly helpful, especially if you have a lot of gamer friends.
    • Recruiting users from other games
      • This form of getting members is underrated. Meeting users from other games that you can trust is an excellent way to build a foundation for your community and friends from other games make great staff members too.
    • Game status changing.
      • Changing your status on Steam to something regarding your Minecraft server can be a huge help.
    • Frequent Mentioning of the Server on Outside Communities.
      • While server to server advertising is not particularly effective, advertising your server on outside communities such as the gamers section of HackForums or other tech forums is a big help. Hell, setting your server banner to your signature on MC-Market is sure to drag in a few additional users.
    • Signatures
      • This one can be very effective.
        • Setting your signatures to your Minecraft server banner on all forums is drastically underrated. It drags players in from the heaps if you post a lot.
    • Server Lists
      • You should have your server on each of the following server lists:
        • Minecraft-Server-List.com
        • MinecraftServers.org
        • Minecraft-MP.com
        • PlanetMinecraft.com
    • Minecraft Forums
      • Posting your server and setting your server banner to your signature on the following forums is a huge help too.
        • Minecraft Forums
          • Minecraft Forums is overall an excellent place for advertisement.
        • Planet Minecraft
          • The servers section of PMC is excellent.
        • Reddit
          • A Minecraft sub-reddit would obviously be most effective.
    • Voting
      • It's critical that voting is not too overpowered but that each vote rewards users with an item that would otherwise that loads of time to earn in-game.

If you appreciate that I took the time to write this guide, please be sure to rate it as informative so that other users can benefit from it as well.
 
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TechBanana

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Very nice guide! I learned some helpful pointers on advertising methods. Hopefully this helped others as well
 

Wottsits12345

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Good guide dude!
 

SandyBlox

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I will use this knowledge and take over the world!!!
Jk, I can't even overrule a spoon... :(
 

Aschorren

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Aschorren Could you possibly add something about payed advertisements such as youtubers, slots, and other methods? If you could that would be awesome ;).

Hey there.

I'd love to allow you to contribute to the thread.

Thank you for the suggestion. There's a bit about paid advertisement but not much because paid advertisements are so complex and there are tens of methods which are all very effective.

I have a few which are really effective for me but that I'd like to keep private because I'm afraid of saturation.
 

kitcat

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Great guide, it really helped me :)
 
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