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Welcome to today's tutorial, brought to you by Dingo and Infini Garde!
On the back of my recent tutorial, The Art of Moderating, I thought I would go more in-depth with a guide on running a server. I owned a server for a while, and have a bit of knowledge I've collected to share with you. Read on, Monsieur/Madame Reader, and learn how to start and maintain your very own public Minecraft server.
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You first want to actually buy or set up your own server. To those that wish to set up a server on their own computer, I am sorry, but I have little info on that (try HERE and HERE). I do, however, have a collection here of pretty decent server providers that don't cost much (mostly $1/slot), and are reliable:
(My personal favorite. Great customer inquiry response time.)
Comes w/ free copy of premium Buycraft
(referenced by zF4ll3nPr3d4t0r)
Comes with a dedicated IP, and web hosting.
Have any server providers you like, and think are reliable? PM me with the names, and I will add them here, with credit to you. ;)
TiP:
Be sure to choose a good amount of server player slots. In the end, it's up to you, and how much you want to spend or how much RAM you have. A 'small server' is usually 5-20 slots, while a 'large server' is usually 40-100.
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One of the most important aspects of your server is its staff. You need a reliable team of people who you can trust. I have known servers with bad staff which are simply unraveled and destroyed due to abuse. A way to avoid this: don't choose random people. Don't just promote the first people/person who join(s) your server.
Have friends you trust from another server, or from real life? Ask them if they would want to help staff your server. They are probably more trustworthy than random people who join your server for the first time.
Looking to promote someone to moderator status who's been on your server a while, and is loyal? Have them take a 'test' first, and possibly write a note about why they should be a mod. If someone's been very loyal, and is already a mod, and you think they're ready for adminship, have them take an oath! ;)
Click to reveal
I, (name), will uphold the rules of the server and not break them in any way, shape, or form. The powers I am given are for the good of the server, not for my personal enjoyment, and I will use them as tools to administrate the server effectively. I understand that if I break any rules, or use power for personal gain, I will be BANNEDfrom the server.
I promise to help people who seek it on the server, within reason. I will not give out spawned items, etc. I will not lose my temper at demanding players, but will try to meet their demands, within reason, or tell them help can be obtained from the server website (if available) or [server owner].
Last but not least, I have included a personal letter to [server owner] about why I should be an admin and what I expect to achieve as an administrator on the server.
Write the letter below this sentence and include in return message:
(letter contents)
I have read and agree to all the previous regulations on adminship.
Signed,
[player username]
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I am sure most people know what a Minecraft server plugin is. If you don't, it's basically a mod that works for everybody playing on your server. The trick is choosing ones that fit the theme of your server (see next section).
Here are some plugins that are very useful for beginning a new server:
An all-around, general server command plugin. This provides basic commands to run your server with efficiency. Included are commands for moderating your server, providing helpful utilities for players, and also basic grief prevention.
Along with the previous features, Essentials also comes with its own economy plugin EssentialsEco. The economy has its own buy/sell signs that can be set up, too.
(config.yml has comments to help you figure out certain settings)
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This is part of the Essentials suite, although you must download it separately HERE. The plugin provides you with a way to separate certain permissions and only let certain groups of players have certain permissions. For example, moderators may be allowed to use World Edit, while regular players are not.
This plugin also allows for different ranks to be set up (see Ranking players section, in part 2 of this tutorial).
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An easy-to-use plugin that lets you quickly build structures for your server. It is similar to Voxel Sniper, yet is somewhat more beginner-friendly. HERE is a list of commands you can use with this plugin. You can make domes, pyramids, smooth land, or even wipe out entire cities with this plugin (not recommended, might crash your server).
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A must-have plugin. Protect areas of land, such as your server spawn, with this extremely useful plugin. However, that's not all. You can even make areas un-enterable by regular players, have access to /god and /heal, and set areas that have a custom greeting or farewell message.
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Another extremely useful plugin that lets you see who broke what block when by right-clicking a block with a configurable item, or placing a configurable block. It even lets you rollback a certain player's block breaking rampage! Or you can select an area with the World Edit wand that you want rolled back.
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A great plugin to counter your server's cheaters. Block flying, fast running, spamming, and much more (see the Main Site for more info).
Although it stops most cheaters, you still should check up on players to see if they are actually cheating.
(TiP: use the /vanish command from Essentials to watch them inconspicuously.)
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For plugins of all shapes and sizes, visit
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Mega TiP:
Want people to really love your server? Make your own plugins customized to your server, if you can. If you don't know how, ask someone you know who can program them. If you just plain can't, it's ok. Just get ones that match your theme (next section).
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Most Minecraft servers on PMC and elsewhere have a certain theme, or genre. You should choose yours, or come up with your own. For a good list, see this blog.
If you absolutely have to, you can mix themes. This is risky, however. For example, mixing a creative and survival theme brings the risk of people getting items for themselves in creative mode. Also, if you mix too many themes, your server becomes chaotic and complicated.
Probably the hardest theme to set up is role playing. You have to write lore describing server events, build lots of custom structures, update and add new stuff constantly, and come up with interesting classes and ranks for players. If you want a challenge, this is for you.
Two of the easiest themes, however, are creative and survival. All you have to do for creative is set up places for people to build, and ranks for them to work for. If you choose survival, then you just release people into the wilderness to do whatever (you decide whether to allow griefing, raiding, etc.).
NB: Survival servers usually get messier than creative servers, since griefing is difficult to prevent, even with a plugin. With a creative server, you can have each player build in his/her own plot (see PlotMe).~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another very important aspect of your server. The server spawn is the first thing people see when joining your server, and on most servers is the hub for activities. Make it a nice place for your players. Plan a good layout, and, if you are bad at building, try to 'hire' someone to help you build it. Have a look at this very simple spawn layout:
Now, please don't just copy that design. xD
It's not meant to be something anybody would use, just a very simple example. You can choose any layout you want for your spawn. A town, city, island, temple, tutorial area, etc. Just make it interesting for your players, and make sure it fits your theme.
NB: Be sure to put your server rules and info at spawn. Present them any way you choose. Make a rule maze, put 'em on a wall... your choice. However, try to make it fun and interesting.
Click to reveal
^ Omagawinpo Island ~ A short server 'adventure map' I made ^
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Please continue reading HERE.
Thank you.
(Apparently, the tutorial was too long for one blog. xD)
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