Minecraft-Servers/Networks: Starting Capital? Revenue? Worthwhile?

[mundfein]

Hello everyone,

couple years ago when i was a kid i had a small team and we were building minecraft-servers ,,just for fun", basically a no-revenue-server. I was the one paying for everything and it was quite good, we had around 80 regular players [peak at 50 in the evening] but werent that big. Server shutdown few months after due to me not paying the costs anymore, which is (for most kids) totally understandable, right?

Now, 4 Years later i started getting a little bit more into it again, since it is a small dream to have a good running Minecraft-Server. My questions are for experienced people and i hope i'll get answers.


I wonder whats most peoples starting capital nowadays? 2018 it was quite easy to build up a "regular/close-community server"[no big promotion, only through a discord server] with $50 per month and keeping it.

How much (if any) should you plan for development? Server costs and potential promotion? How can you cover server costs in the long term (through a shop, of course, but I think there's a little more to it than that)? Is it still worth building a Minecraft server or even a network in 2022?

I look forward to your answers.

- Mundfein

 

[Milos Configs]

Bro don't lie 20gb for only 15 players

 

[Matty]

Hello everyone,

couple years ago when i was a kid i had a small team and we were building minecraft-servers ,,just for fun", basically a no-revenue-server. I was the one paying for everything and it was quite good, we had around 80 regular players [peak at 50 in the evening] but werent that big. Server shutdown few months after due to me not paying the costs anymore, which is (for most kids) totally understandable, right?

Now, 4 Years later i started getting a little bit more into it again, since it is a small dream to have a good running Minecraft-Server. My questions are for experienced people and i hope i'll get answers.


I wonder whats most peoples starting capital nowadays? 2018 it was quite easy to build up a "regular/close-community server"[no big promotion, only through a discord server] with $50 per month and keeping it.

How much (if any) should you plan for development? Server costs and potential promotion? How can you cover server costs in the long term (through a shop, of course, but I think there's a little more to it than that)? Is it still worth building a Minecraft server or even a network in 2022?

I look forward to your answers.

- Mundfein

As always, it’s far more variable than just a base sum. If you have enough starting capital & motivation to take care of a server - go for it, if you struggle with either area, I personally wouldn’t.

 

[coookiemonsterm]

Running a Minecraft server has a lot of obstacles. It is a very overcrowded space right now, however, you're in the best forum to be able to achieve something successful.

Do you already have an idea in mind that you want to run with or are you just looking at seeing if it would be worth it again? If you have a unique idea, getting the opinion of people here may be a great thing to do! I'd suggest keeping a lot of information secret however because if it is a really good idea, then others will try and replicate it.

It's 100% still worth building a server, obviously the monetary side is a big one and obviously, you will be wanting to make a profit but also having that community and people who want to play on your server just because either A: You're a great person and people just like supporting / playing with you or B: You have truly made something incredible that people want to play.

I would say go for it but remember that developing a successful server is 80% luck and 20% hard work.

Good luck with the server!

 

[XER0GRAVITY]

While you can't doubt that building a server has gotten a lot easier. Minecraft is 12 years old, the people who were playing the game 12 years ago in 2009 are not the same people playing it today in 2022. Remember Mineplex? I bet many of you have fond memories of this server. It used to get tens of thousands of players daily. Nowadays, the server barely scrapes a couple of hundred players. This space is consistently evolving, meaning that servers must keep up with the times if they don't want to fall out of relevancy.

Opened in 2013, Hypixel is currently the largest Java network that is still online. They average in the tens of thousands, a far cry from their competitors. New players have joined the space in recent months, Mineclub came up with millions of dollars worth of startup capital and an experienced team looking to shake up the scene. They adopted innovative new marketing tactics, being the first large server to utilize TikTok as their primary marketing channel. Initially successful, management issues and player complaints lead the server to rapidly decline.

While I'm not saying you need millions of dollars to grow a server, you have to be prepared to evolve with the times. Refusal to change and increasing competition lead Mineplex to become a husk of its former self. Failing the attract new players, most of the classic minigame networks that we knew and loved years ago have shuttered their doors. Sites like BuiltByBit have made it easier than ever to get yourself online, but premade resources and commercial plugins will only get you so far.

 

[Kjell]

While you can't doubt that building a server has gotten a lot easier. Minecraft is 12 years old, the people who were playing the game 12 years ago in 2009 are not the same people playing it today in 2022. Remember Mineplex? I bet many of you have fond memories of this server. It used to get tens of thousands of players daily. Nowadays, the server barely scrapes a couple of hundred players. This space is consistently evolving, meaning that servers must keep up with the times if they don't want to fall out of relevancy.

Opened in 2013, Hypixel is currently the largest Java network that is still online. They average in the tens of thousands, a far cry from their competitors. New players have joined the space in recent months, Mineclub came up with millions of dollars worth of startup capital and an experienced team looking to shake up the scene. They adopted innovative new marketing tactics, being the first large server to utilize TikTok as their primary marketing channel. Initially successful, management issues and player complaints lead the server to rapidly decline.

While I'm not saying you need millions of dollars to grow a server, you have to be prepared to evolve with the times. Refusal to change and increasing competition lead Mineplex to become a husk of its former self. Failing the attract new players, most of the classic minigame networks that we knew and loved years ago have shuttered their doors. Sites like BuiltByBit have made it easier than ever to get yourself online, but premade resources and commercial plugins will only get you so far.

Even though Mineclub has issues with complaints and management the marketing methods they utilized are exceptionally effective. You can use Tiktok for anything from Minecraft games to E-commerse products to instantly create hype. That in combination with (if you have the money) a slot on big minecraft listing sites will 100% give you success.

The thing that is hard to do is consistency, some creators on tiktok might get that initial hype but find it hard to maintain a consistent content stream because they lack ideas or uniqueness. Also, don't try to reinvent the wheel, something that's working already has a reason for it to work. In Minecraft's case, that's currently still SMPs and Challenges/quests (Youtubers mostly post this type of content), and since that's the primary share of interest for users on Tiktok and Youtube you should utilize that to create a server and profit.