Hey everyone,
This is a guide to help new server owners figure out the nitty gritty aspects of owning a server. This guide is written from experience.
Picking a gamemode:
There are three gamemodes I will discuss: Skyblock, Factions, and Prison. There are other gamemodes such as Survival, Mini Games, etc, but I don't recommend those if you are looking to make a profitable server. Those gamemodes are addons once you have an established network.
I will list in order from worst to best:
Prison: Prison to me is quite boring. It is very repetitive, and there aren't that many things to do on it, except for mine. It is a great one time thing, but is not sustainable in the long run, unless you manage heavy advertising (YouTubers recording daily, top rewards, etc).
Factions: Factions is probably the most used gamemode, as it is very easy to profit off of. It's a super simple concept, and a easy server to make. You can make it Pay to Win, or not, the choice is yours. It does require semi heavy advertising (YouTubers recording weekly, top rewards, etc) to maintain an active playerbase, or else it will soon start to die off.
Skyblock: Skyblock to me, is the best gamemode you can pick. It requires no effort whatsoever, and ads are not needed. Skyblock is a survival based gamemode, so players will work for days on their islands, and then the thought of 'quitting' makes it seem like those days were wasted, which is a great hook to keep your players. It does't require ads, but Island Top rewards can help boost activity greatly.
Making the server:
Only one rule here: Don't buy a non-exclusive Setup. This may be bias since I am a Setup Specialist, but regardless of that, exclusiveness is the best option. Having a non-exclusive setup means you are no different then the 250 other servers with the same exact setup as you. You want your server to be unique. If you can't afford the price tag ($25-$100) for exclusive work, then make a server yourself.
Builds. Don't get non-exclusive builds. Dish out spare cash to buy exclusive.
Actually, just don't get anything non-exclusive. The only things that are fine to get non-exclusive are XenForo themes and Buycraft themes, as those you can't really get any more custom, it's just a logo.
Where people go wrong:
Ads: This is the thing. People expect to make a 100 playerbase server with $200 worth of ads. Sure, that can maybe hit 100 players on launch, but that will never make a sustainable 100 playerbase. Gamemodes like Prison and Factions require active advertising to maintain your playerbase (This includes paying YouTubers to record/stream on the average, not just a one time showcase). Players who join from their favorite YouTubers will quit once they no longer play. Rule of thumb: Your concurrent playerbase a week later from launch will be 1/4 of the amount of players on launch if you don't actively advertise it with the same YouTubers. Skyblock is essentially exempt from this, since it's more survival oriented, and not interaction oriented. Of course, Skyblock will still need ads somewhat regularly, but no where near as much as Prison or Factions will.
"The EULA!": Server owners are scared to make a store players would want to donate to because they are afraid of Mojang's EULA. No. The chances of Mojang emailing you is low. And even if they do, it's easy to bypass. A simple Coin Shop where players can buy all donator items for in-game currency works fine as a bypass.
Advertising:
First, let me state. Don't pay people to advertise for you. It isn't hard. All you need to know is a budget, and how to email people. That's it. A lot of MC-Market Advertising Managers will ask for $50 upfront, and then they send copy pasta emails to YouTubers who have their business emails public. Don't fall for this 'scam'.
Get a budget.
$0-$250 - Small Budget. 1-50k Subscribers.
$250-$500 - Medium Budget. 50-100k Subscribers.
$500+ - Large Budget. 100k+ Subscribers.
Find some channels that interest you. Make sure they are centered around your server. Make sure they don't have any active series. If your server is Factions and they uploaded Factions a day ago, find someone else. Once you find a list of channels, get their business email (About Section). Write up a nice email, asking for their pricing on trailer uploads, episodes, or streams. Then, select the YouTubers you want and get what fits your budget.
My personal advertising plan is as follows:
Trailer uploads (Few channels to upload a trailer). Offer Reupload Rewards (3 Keys if you re-upload). This is a nice way to spread the word without going heavy in ads. Once I have the trailer reuploads, I launch. I'll find some YouTubers to record or stream the launch. Then, from there, get smaller YouTubers to record every few days. This will maintain 'YouTubers' on your server, and players will think they are playing with someone famous.
I achieved a 50 playerbase launch with 0 ads by doing reuploads.
I achieved a 75 playerbase by getting a 5k YouTuber to record 3 episodes.
These 'Advertising Managers' can ask for $500 to achieve a 100 playerbase, you don't need that. Stick small, it works. If you have the money, then 'go big or go home' but if you're on a tight budget like I was, you can make it work. Don't let anyone else tell you other wise.
I'll edit this with more information, made this at 3AM, so my memory is weak.
Thanks for reading,
Landon
This is a guide to help new server owners figure out the nitty gritty aspects of owning a server. This guide is written from experience.
Picking a gamemode:
There are three gamemodes I will discuss: Skyblock, Factions, and Prison. There are other gamemodes such as Survival, Mini Games, etc, but I don't recommend those if you are looking to make a profitable server. Those gamemodes are addons once you have an established network.
I will list in order from worst to best:
Prison: Prison to me is quite boring. It is very repetitive, and there aren't that many things to do on it, except for mine. It is a great one time thing, but is not sustainable in the long run, unless you manage heavy advertising (YouTubers recording daily, top rewards, etc).
Factions: Factions is probably the most used gamemode, as it is very easy to profit off of. It's a super simple concept, and a easy server to make. You can make it Pay to Win, or not, the choice is yours. It does require semi heavy advertising (YouTubers recording weekly, top rewards, etc) to maintain an active playerbase, or else it will soon start to die off.
Skyblock: Skyblock to me, is the best gamemode you can pick. It requires no effort whatsoever, and ads are not needed. Skyblock is a survival based gamemode, so players will work for days on their islands, and then the thought of 'quitting' makes it seem like those days were wasted, which is a great hook to keep your players. It does't require ads, but Island Top rewards can help boost activity greatly.
Making the server:
Only one rule here: Don't buy a non-exclusive Setup. This may be bias since I am a Setup Specialist, but regardless of that, exclusiveness is the best option. Having a non-exclusive setup means you are no different then the 250 other servers with the same exact setup as you. You want your server to be unique. If you can't afford the price tag ($25-$100) for exclusive work, then make a server yourself.
Builds. Don't get non-exclusive builds. Dish out spare cash to buy exclusive.
Actually, just don't get anything non-exclusive. The only things that are fine to get non-exclusive are XenForo themes and Buycraft themes, as those you can't really get any more custom, it's just a logo.
Where people go wrong:
Ads: This is the thing. People expect to make a 100 playerbase server with $200 worth of ads. Sure, that can maybe hit 100 players on launch, but that will never make a sustainable 100 playerbase. Gamemodes like Prison and Factions require active advertising to maintain your playerbase (This includes paying YouTubers to record/stream on the average, not just a one time showcase). Players who join from their favorite YouTubers will quit once they no longer play. Rule of thumb: Your concurrent playerbase a week later from launch will be 1/4 of the amount of players on launch if you don't actively advertise it with the same YouTubers. Skyblock is essentially exempt from this, since it's more survival oriented, and not interaction oriented. Of course, Skyblock will still need ads somewhat regularly, but no where near as much as Prison or Factions will.
"The EULA!": Server owners are scared to make a store players would want to donate to because they are afraid of Mojang's EULA. No. The chances of Mojang emailing you is low. And even if they do, it's easy to bypass. A simple Coin Shop where players can buy all donator items for in-game currency works fine as a bypass.
Advertising:
First, let me state. Don't pay people to advertise for you. It isn't hard. All you need to know is a budget, and how to email people. That's it. A lot of MC-Market Advertising Managers will ask for $50 upfront, and then they send copy pasta emails to YouTubers who have their business emails public. Don't fall for this 'scam'.
Get a budget.
$0-$250 - Small Budget. 1-50k Subscribers.
$250-$500 - Medium Budget. 50-100k Subscribers.
$500+ - Large Budget. 100k+ Subscribers.
Find some channels that interest you. Make sure they are centered around your server. Make sure they don't have any active series. If your server is Factions and they uploaded Factions a day ago, find someone else. Once you find a list of channels, get their business email (About Section). Write up a nice email, asking for their pricing on trailer uploads, episodes, or streams. Then, select the YouTubers you want and get what fits your budget.
My personal advertising plan is as follows:
Trailer uploads (Few channels to upload a trailer). Offer Reupload Rewards (3 Keys if you re-upload). This is a nice way to spread the word without going heavy in ads. Once I have the trailer reuploads, I launch. I'll find some YouTubers to record or stream the launch. Then, from there, get smaller YouTubers to record every few days. This will maintain 'YouTubers' on your server, and players will think they are playing with someone famous.
I achieved a 50 playerbase launch with 0 ads by doing reuploads.
I achieved a 75 playerbase by getting a 5k YouTuber to record 3 episodes.
These 'Advertising Managers' can ask for $500 to achieve a 100 playerbase, you don't need that. Stick small, it works. If you have the money, then 'go big or go home' but if you're on a tight budget like I was, you can make it work. Don't let anyone else tell you other wise.
I'll edit this with more information, made this at 3AM, so my memory is weak.
Thanks for reading,
Landon
Last edited:
