As of late, there are thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of servers on Minecraft. But what really constitutes a good server; what distinguishes one from the rest?

Well firstly, players are advised to look to the community base of a server. Players with a lack of respect for the rules of a server can indicate poor administration, or even worse: poor staffing in general. Staffing a server is a very complex and stressful job, but it must be done right for any effects to occur in the community. I advise many people to enforce rules strictly, and make rules less strict to get the balance right. Enforcing the rules harshly will prevent players from breaching them, and the less harsh rules will make players less likely to infringe the rules unknowingly.

The next thing players should look out for is maintenance and activity. Regular maintenance days on servers will usually indicate an active staff team prepared to do what it takes for the server to grow, and high activity usually indicates a uniqueness or some form of twist that interests player. (This is provided it isn't a money sink server, such as Mineplex or Hypixel. These servers use cosmetic to get younger players to feel special)

Other key things players should keep an eye out for are listed below:


Factionalism - Do staff pick sides in fights or arguments? This generally isn't a good trait unless they are role playing

Drama - Drama indicates too much or too little to do on a server, and thus tensions may become heightened

Version - Server version is important in determining the amount of cheating can occur. Later versions have newer patches.

Donations - Servers that break the EULA by selling in game ranks usually get caught out very quickly. The server may be shut down, and let's face it, Pay to win isn't any fun for a game you already purchased.

Downtime - Long periods of downtime is usually affiliated with home hosted servers and poor management, and I advise players to avoid servers with this issue.

Chat - Does the server offer conversation as well as good gameplay? No communication makes players feel lonely and thus, players tend to leave shortly after joining.

There are plenty of other things players should be careful of when playing multiplayer.

I originally intended this to be for other hosts looking to make their server better, however, I have made it more appropriate for players looking for a good server.

Got any additions? Add them below in the comments!