How much money do you need to start up a server

[Krythax]

Hello, just wondering how much money you would roughly need to keep around a 100+ playerbase, I know, nothing is guaranteed. This would be a factions server, with some cool little features not many. Thanks!

 

[Brazy]

few hunnid or thousand

 

[AboveScore]

Depends on the complexity of it all. For a basic server with bare bone specs, roughly a few hundred.

 

[roy]

These are all estimations from my personal experience as a server manager.

Server, I personally recommend CubedHost, I've used them for both Minecraft and Teamspeak multiple times and although they charge $10 / GB, I have never had any issues with them and their servers run perfectly.

Server: 3GB - $30 / month (CubedHost)
Webserver: Plan 4 Webhosting - $7.50 / month (SpartanHost)
Website: XenForo Standard License - $140 Lifetime + 12 months updates and support w/ a $40 1 year extension after the first year *expensive route: +$35 for a custom theme

• This is a hard one, starting out, you could use Enjin, however, I strongly advise springing for a XenForo License. All be it expensive, it is worth every penny.

Discord: Easy to set up (in my opinion) you can do it yourself - ~4 hours of your time
Plugin Development: with Premium Spigot plugins, ~$175 (give or take). *expensive route: Custom Coded, ~$600 (maybe?)
*expensive route: Teamspeak: at 120 slots - $34 / month (CubedHost)
Advertisement (youtube): YT's from 10k-75k subs usually charge around $40 / video
*expensive route (youtube): YT's such as Graser10, StrawberryJam, and a few others (I have contact with their business manager, thus how I know this) charge $600 / video

Basic price: ~$352.50 + 1 YT ad at $40 / video = ~$392.50
Expensive Route: ~$846.50 + 1 YT ad at $600 / video = ~$1,446.50
Per month: ~$37.50
Per month expensive route: ~$71.50

So if you took the expensive route, starting your server would cost approximately $1,446.50.
If you took the basic route, starting your server would cost approximately $392.50.

If you took the expensive route, your server would cost you approximately $71.50 / month.
If you took the basic route, your server would cost you approximately $37.50 / month.

Again, all of these are estimations and assumptions.
I haven't owned a server in about a year, I usually only manage them so the finances I see can be limited sometimes.
It also depends on what you get done, i.e. what plugins you buy or who you hire to code for you. I know that Turqmelon (very reputable developer, works for BajanCanadian) charges $75 / hour.

 

[Krythax]

These are all estimations from my personal experience as a server manager.

Server, I personally recommend CubedHost, I've used them for both Minecraft and Teamspeak multiple times and although they charge $10 / GB, I have never had any issues with them and their servers run perfectly.

Server: 3GB - $30 / month (CubedHost)
Webserver: Plan 4 Webhosting - $7.50 / month (SpartanHost)
Website: XenForo Standard License - $140 Lifetime + 12 months updates and support w/ a $40 1 year extension after the first year *expensive route: +$35 for a custom theme

• This is a hard one, starting out, you could use Enjin, however, I strongly advise springing for a XenForo License. All be it expensive, it is worth every penny.

Discord: Easy to set up (in my opinion) you can do it yourself - ~4 hours of your time
Plugin Development: with Premium Spigot plugins, ~$175 (give or take). *expensive route: Custom Coded, ~$600 (maybe?)
*expensive route: Teamspeak: at 120 slots - $34 / month (CubedHost)
Advertisement (youtube): YT's from 10k-75k subs usually charge around $40 / video
*expensive route (youtube): YT's such as Graser10, StrawberryJam, and a few others (I have contact with their business manager, thus how I know this) charge $600 / video

Basic price: ~$352.50 + 1 YT ad at $40 / video = ~$392.50
Expensive Route: ~$846.50 + 1 YT ad at $600 / video = ~$1,446.50
Per month: ~$37.50
Per month expensive route: ~$71.50

So if you took the expensive route, starting your server would cost approximately $1,446.50.
If you took the basic route, starting your server would cost approximately $392.50.

If you took the expensive route, your server would cost you approximately $71.50 / month.
If you took the basic route, your server would cost you approximately $37.50 / month.

Again, all of these are estimations and assumptions.
I haven't owned a server in about a year, I usually only manage them so the finances I see can be limited sometimes.
It also depends on what you get done, i.e. what plugins you buy or who you hire to code for you. I know that Turqmelon (very reputable developer, works for BajanCanadian) charges $75 / hour.

To be safe would you say close to $2,000?

 

[roy]

To be safe would you say close to $2,000?

I would, yeah.
I would aim for possibly $2,500 even if you're looking at fall back room.

 

[Bayu]

If you have $2,000 that would be plenty if you manage your money well and know where to look for good deals.

To be safe would you say close to $2,000?

You are not responding to my discord btw. Not sure whether that is due to you ignoring me or because you have not seen my messages.

 

[Krythax]

I would, yeah.
I would aim for possibly $2,500 even if you're looking at fall back room.

I am going to be hiring a full time dev, maybe even two.

 

[Spenser]

I am going to be hiring a full time dev, maybe even two.

For Factions. Dont just rely on trailer uploads. You need to partner with decent sized youtubers to keep players engaged and active. I did about 300$ on advert for a map , hit 202 players peak. And made more than enough back on that map. However within a month it was down to about 50~ peak , just how factions is. Keep it new , keep it exciting , make sure players are happy and interacting. That will keep more than just throwing money into anything.

 

[Llisandur]

i’m going to copy how roy kind of did it just at a cheaper scale for someone who possibly new to server owning.

budget setup:
plugins: to make sure the server is even playable (free) so factions, essentials, massivecore, kitadder, etc.
custom plugins: it has to be unique, i don’t really recommend a core plugin because you can change essentials up A LOT
youtuber: ok might sound cheap at first for them but if it’s a person with 100-750 subscribers just reward with in-game items/ranks, but remember you want to stay professional so you don’t want to give a youtuber who’s only made 1 video with the highest tier donator rank.
map: custom built, must be custom built to even survive. things needed, spawn, shop (unless you use shop gui) and that should be all unless you add crates or an animal farm.
domain: namecheap will be your best friend.
forums/website: must use enjin for starting out, you have a 50, 50 chance of success. can’t afford to spend that much for a forums site which people might not even use.
teamspeak: outdated, old, use discord.
discord: quite easy to setup, clean and professional.
others: not entirely sure what else there is besides the basics.
Total: $30-75
information: the most expensive thing possibly will be your map, then enjin, and last namecheap unless you use .net or .com which might add $15-30

 

[roy]

I am going to be hiring a full time dev, maybe even two.

Most Spigot-Advertised Developers would charge you unholy amounts from personal experience, granted they normally are very reputable and skilled, they aren't worth it.

Look for one here or do some heavy research. But most developers charge $50+ / hour, at least those with the skills you're looking for.

Also, do you mind if I PM you about this?

 

[Krythax]

Most Spigot-Advertised Developers would charge you unholy amounts from personal experience, granted they normally are very reputable and skilled, they aren't worth it.

Look for one here or do some heavy research. But most developers charge $50+ / hour, at least those with the skills you're looking for.

Also, do you mind if I PM you about this?

Sure, please PM me.

 

[Mints]

A lot of fucking money. Mid-high $x,xxx if you wanted a chance.

I don't know why people are so desperate to join this saturated industry. The MC server industry is just so saturated, find something else to do.[DOUBLEPOST=1510143653][/DOUBLEPOST]

few hunnid or thousand

A few thousand is fairly accurate.

Depends on the complexity of it all. For a basic server with bare bone specs, roughly a few hundred.

So untrue. You go try making a server on a few hundred bucks and see how far that gets you.

I would, yeah.
I would aim for possibly $2,500 even if you're looking at fall back room.

You need more, I'd say at least $3,500 minimum.

To be honest I would suggest that you partner with a youtuber, thats the most successful server I've ever run. If you get a youtuber, a few hundred bucks is easily possible. The only successful server I had was with a youtuber.

 

[roy]

A lot of fucking money. Mid-high $x,xxx if you wanted a chance.

I don't know why people are so desperate to join this saturated industry. The MC server industry is just so saturated, find something else to do.[DOUBLEPOST=1510143653][/DOUBLEPOST]
A few thousand is fairly accurate.


So untrue. You go try making a server on a few hundred bucks and see how far that gets you.


You need more, I'd say at least $3,500 minimum.

To be honest I would suggest that you partner with a youtuber, thats the most successful server I've ever run. If you get a youtuber, a few hundred bucks is easily possible. The only successful server I had was with a youtuber.

Working with a YouTuber directly is normally a terrible idea.
The server becomes filled with fanboys and people who are just looking to see their favorite youtuber ingame, once it grows it’ll start attracting a slightly more diverse crowd and when fanboys meet with normal members, toxicity is born.

Think about this, in Minecraft (historically) what have been the MOST successful servers?
Hypixel - Isn’t partnered with one youtuber directly (Hypixel the person doesn’t count).
Badlion - Partnered with multiple youtubers, never had a direct ownership situation.
MCSG - Never partnered with anyone specific, yes it did close, but this was due to the owner failing to listen to the community- you also could argue MCSG started because of BajanCanadian but Bajan was also permanently banned for cheating from April 2014 until the closure of MCSG.

Servers that failed:
Mineplex - Partnered with AntVenom, CaptainSparkles, and ParkerGames. When they all 3 quit, Mineplex went from 8,000+ players to barely 2,000.

The Archon - Owned by youtuber TheCampingRusher, it literally fell apart because he quit recording it for 3 months. It had barely 50 players during that time.

My point of this list is to get both you and the OP to realize that youtube is not how you create fame for a minecraft server. It instead is how you ruin one.

 

[Krythax]

Working with a YouTuber directly is normally a terrible idea.
The server becomes filled with fanboys and people who are just looking to see their favorite youtuber ingame, once it grows it’ll start attracting a slightly more diverse crowd and when fanboys meet with normal members, toxicity is born.

Think about this, in Minecraft (historically) what have been the MOST successful servers?
Hypixel - Isn’t partnered with one youtuber directly (Hypixel the person doesn’t count).
Badlion - Partnered with multiple youtubers, never had a direct ownership situation.
MCSG - Never partnered with anyone specific, yes it did close, but this was due to the owner failing to listen to the community- you also could argue MCSG started because of BajanCanadian but Bajan was also permanently banned for cheating from April 2014 until the closure of MCSG.

Servers that failed:
Mineplex - Partnered with AntVenom, CaptainSparkles, and ParkerGames. When they all 3 quit, Mineplex went from 8,000+ players to barely 2,000.

The Archon - Owned by youtuber TheCampingRusher, it literally fell apart because he quit recording it for 3 months. It had barely 50 players during that time.

My point of this list is to get both you and the OP to realize that youtube is not how you create fame for a minecraft server. It instead is how you ruin one.

I'm planning on recruiting Youtubers who actually play the server and know what they are doing rather than just making a video and having fanboys join to see the Youtuber

 

[StrafeZ]

Working with a YouTuber directly is normally a terrible idea.
The server becomes filled with fanboys and people who are just looking to see their favorite youtuber ingame, once it grows it’ll start attracting a slightly more diverse crowd and when fanboys meet with normal members, toxicity is born.

Think about this, in Minecraft (historically) what have been the MOST successful servers?
Hypixel - Isn’t partnered with one youtuber directly (Hypixel the person doesn’t count).
Badlion - Partnered with multiple youtubers, never had a direct ownership situation.
MCSG - Never partnered with anyone specific, yes it did close, but this was due to the owner failing to listen to the community- you also could argue MCSG started because of BajanCanadian but Bajan was also permanently banned for cheating from April 2014 until the closure of MCSG.

Servers that failed:
Mineplex - Partnered with AntVenom, CaptainSparkles, and ParkerGames. When they all 3 quit, Mineplex went from 8,000+ players to barely 2,000.

The Archon - Owned by youtuber TheCampingRusher, it literally fell apart because he quit recording it for 3 months. It had barely 50 players during that time.

My point of this list is to get both you and the OP to realize that youtube is not how you create fame for a minecraft server. It instead is how you ruin one.

So essentially how would you advertise instead?

 

[Krythax]

So essentially how would you advertise instead?

Server lists websites are always good. Depends on what server you are running.