One obvious thing that every server owner should know is you need to please your community. Those who don't understand that, fail.


After running Vixencraft for around 10 months (at the time of writing this) one of the most common things people comment on is the community and how friendly it is. Such comments make my day and until someone asked me "How did you get such a nice community?" I never actively thought about it, it just seemed to happen.


With that said I have thought about it a bit and sort of figured out why, the points I'm about to discuss are from my experiences only and what I've seen. Be warned.

Being involved:

Rather than watching over players whilst vanished I decided to trust them and let them roam freely, I also had confidence in my anti-cheating plugins and such, that helps! Instead of pestering and lurking around the players I played the game normally, I normally pay attention to the chat anyway and help those who seek it. People have been surprised when I've said I play legitly without creative or flying (I use those when I need to actually moderate and such), I myself don't understand why you would run a server and not play on it personally but still, it happens.

Addressing the players directly:

I'm not the best at serious matters, I often try to make jokes about things I shouldn't and my server rules are no exception. For example in my FAQ and stuff section on Vixencraft's submission;


o Why not just turn PVP off?o o It seems rather unrealistic/weird to hit someone and nothing happen, I like to see reactions myself and it doesno t feel right having PVP disabled. It would avoid some issues but I am aware of this. Ito s also rather fun to throw eggs at your friends or punch them into the ocean! Yes, that is one of my reasons behind leaving PVP on.



One of my reasons behind how I run my server is based upon me being able to hit my friends with snowballs and eggs. Is it obvious I take things light heartedly? It should be, I often show it with players who ask about rules or general questions about the server. (I end up asking questions about plugins I don't know how to use, for example LWC.)

Blogging:

Most people either don't have a website for their server or they use that one I forget the name of, Enjin? I think that's how you spell it. Whatever. I use Tumblr, my reasons? It's a blogging site (mainly pictures but hey) which is incredibly popular now, even my cousin has a Tumblr and she's old! Don't tell her I said that... Anyway it's a great platform for reaching out to another audience #minecraft! You can also use a blog as a website pretty much, have fun finding a nice theme but they do exist!


Anyway, using Tumblr means that people already using Tumblr can follow your server's blog and anything you post will go on their dashboard! Simples! Much easier than getting people to regularly check your site.

Feedback:

If you don't get it or listen to it you're going to fail, to appeal to your target audience you need to know what they want! Of course you can ignore some feedback e.g "give everyone tp powerzzz!!!" if your server does that already, good for you, but you can often tell the difference between someone giving genuine feedback/suggestions and someone who just wants things handed to them.

Donations:

I'm only going to touch on this because it's a huge subject in its self. Basically, don't shove it down peoples' throats but let them know it's there. For example, I have an auto announcer plugin on Vixencraft which blurts out information and how to donate. I've found it to be quite successful too, people say they don't feel pressured into donating and they do it because they enjoy the server and want it to stay up. Doesn't that just warm your heart?

Hey, liked this? I have a blog on Design Basics too! Why not look at my server too!