Is launching a server still profitable?

[rtribe13]

Hi everyone, I haven't been around here in sometime. I got my start in internet marketing by running minecraft servers. I am looking to diversify my income and have explored the option of opening a profit oriented Factions server. I have contacted people who do setups, build teams etc. I want to make sure it is done right, and is setup for success.

I am looking at putting about $10k into the set up and initial advertising, in current people's experience, does that make sense in the current atmosphere?

Has COVID affected server income significantly?

Thanks for your input!

 

[Avey]

Its still high profitable. I think that people stay more home with COVID so it could increase donations etc. But really depends on the community you have.

 

[Grace.]

spending 10k on first launch is a terrible idea

 

[rtribe13]

spending 10k on first launch is a terrible idea

May I ask what makes you say that?

 

[rtribe13]

REDACTED

I appreciate you taking the time to write this out, I sent you an add on Discord

 

[Stager]

Well this is my feedback being over 30 years old and having run minecraft servers for the last 7 years.
Learn as much as you can about every aspect of your server, the kinds of people that will play on it, how to run it yourself and what you can do in the event of a hack or system failure.

When I first started I spent about $3k initially and around $350pm and to be honest I write it off as university fees, lesson learned was that it was really just my own laziness and stupidity to spend that. Trust me it is not that difficult to learn the basics of being a good system administrator or listening and watching what other successful servers are doing to stay fresh.

To date I have taken courses in Linux, Photoshop, After Effects, Java and learnt how to do most of it myself. The only things we pay for now, whilst running 5 Minecraft servers, Rust, Ark and Rising World servers is for our sysadmin to perform random tasks and security checks after I do my regular updates.

If you enter any business throwing in so much capital as your initial investment you are going to become stressed way too quickly in trying to see a return. I would suggest putting some money into udemy or other courses and learning more before shelling out lots of money to other people to perform basic tasks. If you cannot manage your own business you will be taken for a ride that is a guarantee.

Best of luck and I hope what I have said helps you in anyway.

 

[Inviss]

The simple answer is yes, it is absolutely profitable, but you need to do it right.

 

[thegodfather]

Yes it's profitable I think but you need to know how to do that good in order to make some good profit... I am working with some guy who is from the same country as me on anime website project

 

[Captain Pre]

Captain Pre#0001

I might have something for you

 

[ChitterChatter]

Like the others said, It can be profitable if you do it right. Once you get a great community going, they usually will stick by you and then you can expand and evolve from that.

My servers have had good months, but with the good months also has come bad months. I didn't make my server for profit and that isn't my aim. I do like it when my costs are covered however.

I know people that do make servers for profit and they do quite well. Especially if you find something unique that sets your server aside from others, that too really helps!

The more you know about plugins and how it all works, the better off you would be too. I am still learning, and if I was better at configuring things I would be better off too but for now there are some things I just can't do and I have to go to others for help. And this costs money most times.

I have run servers for a few years and well currently my server is having issues, so it's costing me some money to fix it. I have an amazing staff team helping me through this right now so having that also helps a lot.

Overall since I have been a server owner I would say the two servers I have owned mostly always paid for themselves in terms of donations covering all the server costs and hosting etc.

 

[diggsie]

I have managed and owned a few servers in my time, the one thing I have learned; outsourcing your work is fine, but anything you can learn or do. Do that before you even think of paying someone. It helped me in the long run and may help you manage growth.

That's my two cents anyway.

 

[rtribe13]

Appreciate everyone's input, I definitely will do as much myself as I have the time for. I have a few other businesses as well so I try to balance my time with profitability.

 

[YourPalJake]

I say it really depends on uniqueness, try to make cool new stuff to attract players