A helpful staff and community, as well as a kind community where no ones saying suck - and then yeah to each other. Mature players, ones who can take loosing a game.

Factions is way to overused these days and won't help your server at all. You may be thinking that there are a ton of really successful faction servers so why would it not work? The answer is simple...

There are a TON of really successful faction servers.

Try to think of something new or not to overused. You could even take something like towny for instance and add your own spin on things, (like organized wars, battlefields, roleplay) you don't have to make your own plugin in. Maybe even a siege mode.

Finally a very important part is to have a great spawn. Hopefully you will be lucky and find someone who would do that for free. If you log onto a server and the spawn is garbage then no one is going to want to stay. Your spawn reflects your server!

Factions is way to overused these days and won't help your server at all. You may be thinking that there are a ton of really successful faction servers so why would it not work? The answer is simple...

There are a TON of really successful faction servers.

Try to think of something new or not to overused. You could even take something like towny for instance and add your own spin on things, (like organized wars, battlefields, roleplay) you don't have to make your own plugin in. Maybe even a siege mode.

Finally a very important part is to have a great spawn. Hopefully you will be lucky and find someone who would do that for free. If you log onto a server and the spawn is garbage then no one is going to want to stay. Your spawn reflects your server!

Booty

A more friendly community where there is alteast some sense respect towards other players. So that you can achieve higher goals together and build more awesome things together.

Minecrafts my chat room so as long as the community is good

Any server that lets you fly on survival no matter what, and provides unlimited free enderpearls, arrows, string and sticks.

Any server where its community isn't prioritized based on popularity between staff and players. So in general a server with a good community.

I like faction servers that are not filled with uncaring staff, and annoying kids putting dirt on auction about fifty times. Honestly, if you don't have that, your server will get a diamond from me xD.

I love servers that dont care about popularity. I like staff of servers too do their jobs, and not be mean about it, and they dont abuse their powers and they are close to the community.
The community is also important. I dont like servers that have players that like ignore the new players or are just plane mean. They must not tell me how to do things. I will ask if I need help and I dont need to know how to PUNCH A TREE!!! for the millionth time. Plus, they have to be friendly.
I dont care how fancy the spawn is, I just care that it works the way that it should
The size of the server matters to me. If I go on a Mini-Games server, a bigger server is what I am going to join, but if its Survival or Factions, I like smaller servers, I know the staff well, and I feel like the players get to know everyone a lot better and you build those relationships that are good.
I dont like kits. To me, its cheating, I know its not, buts it just me, I would rather go out and get the tools myself.

I own a server that has almost all of these qualities. Nice community, nice spawn, unique idea, nice staff and stuff.
mc.spiritualbending.com

I honestly don't attempt to play on any server that does not have quality buildings or a nice spawn. Equally important is the in-chat appearance of the server. I do not take seriously any server that is not well color-coordinated.
The community is crucial to my opinion of the server. They must not tell me how to behave or include an excess of smart-butts.
The size of the community is not so important. I am happier to play alone than with people who are less than desirable.

I dunno never been on one
Friends? The only time I played online was to make a server so my friends and I could play. Simple as that.

i love op servers with op super fast kits with diamond and emerald block mines for prison and same op love for factions though i dont play factions much. minigames i love, and survival with mcmmo, and prison with mcmmo is also fun thats pretty much it.

A server where players don't join and say "Hi im from planet minecraft, can i be op?" this goes for all of you.

I like servers which are normally with unique idea which are not overused. This is why I don't play on many servers as they are all Factions,PVP, Hub servers which the Owner spends money on to start it and everything, gets no players and then the server goes down. There is literally no point in making servers anymore, this is why we need more original ideas. For instance I'm making a never seen before server idea called Rolepla_Universe, idea's here: http://www.planetminecraft.com/forums/new-roleplay-idea-t422860.html.
Staff should always be welcoming and not just a bunch of lazy kids which you randomly opped and they just troll all your players. Staff should always try and tend to players when the players are in need. They should be in control of whats going on but not abusing powers.
Spawn shouldn't be neither too small or too big. Small spawns show that you haven't spent much time making it and can't be asked to make something decent but with a spawn too big you just get lost trying to go to the simplest of places. Make your spawn just in the middle, not too big, not too small.
Kits should probably only be used if your a KitPVP server or if you want to give your players a little starter. With the kits, I'd stick to the plain and basic stone tool, nothing more. I sometime go on servers and am given like a full inventory of stuff which is completely unnecessary.
Players should be able to have a voice and be listened to. If a player has a certain opinion on how the server should be changed or something like that then listen to it (only if it sounds ok and it isn't some hate on your server). Players should also be able to vote on different aspects and say what they like and dislike so you can give what is best for the players and to attract more players.

I hope this advice was useful and good luck with your server

I like servers where I don't feel like I'm going to have to block or ignore people, and servers where if someones doing something wrong that an admin or moderator is online to help because I do think rules should be enforced.

Bbcolts94Hey guess, thanks for reading, well anyway. What makes you like a minecraft server?
Staff
Spawn
kits
What
Do you like a "Good Starter kit" or do you like nothing!
Please tell me here i need help and ideas with my server

MY server ip is : play.deadoraliveclan.net
Tho i just need you to tell me what to improve on!

I enjoy servers that are simply well structed, and well put-together.

I usually play on three servers at a time (2 now because of my server)

One peaceful server (Freebuild, no griefing/pvp) and one for pvp. I'll also hop on a hypixel and play quakecraft every once in a while.

Good builds, plugins are configed well, staff that are professional, and it's best when a server uses enjin for forums and is community-driven.

Having a community that isn't a bunch of whining elite sniper assassins. Hell, I'd even play on a faction server if the community wasn't a big pile of eight year olds or bros.

I like a server with quite a few players, with a variety of mini-games. Many people prefer PvP type games like SG or KitPvP and even Factions. If you're making a server with kits, then I suggest you start a voting system on here as well with in-game rewards! If you have some friends who play MC you can make a build team then you can make some pretty neat stuff which will attract more players. Voting also makes your server more popular as many sites do this thing where they put the servers with the most votes on the top of their list, which resets often. Make sure to find decent and working plug-ins too, which can be a bummer. Hope I helped!