Introduction.


For almost four years I have on and off been running history themed RP/ PvP servers with mixed success. Specifically, these are servers which cater to both role-players and PvPers. While this is sort of a niche topic, much of this article can be re-applied to almost any other kind of server.


Servers take a lot of work to build, and even more to maintain. Most people quit before they can even get a few months in. Worse yet, many of them make such catastrophically bad choices that their player base doesn’t even care when they are gone. I want to write this article to summarise some of that I’ve learnt over my psydo-career as a server owner/ admin, with the hopes that people can learn from my failures and successes, and not have to tread the same ground I did. By reading this article you will be one step closer to creating your dream server.


Step 1. The owner.


Running a server is far from a one man job. While rewarding, this job is incredibly stressful, especially if you have a life outside of the game. Having a good co-owner can take a lot of the pressure off of you. You as a person are going to be flawed. Many of your judgements are going to be wrong. Having a person as back up when things go bad, and to lend a second opinion that you can trust counts for more value than any amount of donation money.


To find a good co-owner you’re going to have to go out and make friends. Yes that sounds cringey, but it isn’t practical to choose some random normie on the Minecraft Forums. You will have to choose from your friends. A good co-owner is going to be there from the start. Ideally if you’ve made good choices in your friends, they will share the same passion as you do, and want to help you build a great server. So go out in the real world or online and start socialising and networking with other people like you. That is the best way to find a good co-owner.


Step 2. Funding.


You need a job. Sorry but you do. You will need your own war chest in order to start a server. I’ve tried running on donations alone and it is about the most stressful thing you can imagine. While you may get to make money from donations later down the line, at first it’s all going to have to be you. So get working, and don’t be a beggar.


Step 3. Planning the server.


Before any work can be done you will need to plan out your server. This is probably the most or second most important phase in server development, and likewise, the one which is usually skipped. You will need to figure out what your server is about, what plugins you will have, and why you will have those plugins. What is your long term plan? Sit down with pen and paper and get writing it out.


Realistically your list should include;

• Your target audience. Remember to narrow this down as much as possible. Don’t just put down “anyone aged 18 – 80”. Think about it carefully; you will, after all, have to put up with these people on a daily basis.
  
• A detailed description of each plugin and how you will use it.
  
• How you will manage your in-game economy if you choose to have one.
  
• How will you reward players for being active on your server.
  
• What marketing will you do (more on that later).
  
• What gameplay aspects are you planning to add.
  
• What will your rules be.
  
• How will you get revenue/ donations.
  
• Anything else you think you should or can add, please do so.
  

Step 4. Hosting the server.


Once you have planned for your server and tested your plugins, made any maps, and done everything you can to prepare, it is time to purchase a host. In order to cut costs it is best to do this as late in the development line as possible.


So which host should you choose? I have found Bisect Hosting to be a reliable host for many of my servers. They have great and fast support and have even helped me to install some plugins back in the early days. If you want a reliable host, you can visit them here: (Link removed)


Aside form Bisect Hosting, there are some other good options, and I implore you to check out review websites before making your final decision. An obvious bad sign to look out for include servers with inflexible admin options. This means servers which allow very little in the way of you being able to install and configure your own plugins. Make sure you will have direct access to your server files.


Servers that pretend to offer unlimited bandwidth and hard drive space are also something to watch out for. I’ve had some pretty bad experiences with these. ‘Unlimited’ rarely means unlimited. Some will delete your plugins if they get too large without your knowledge or consent. This happened to a friend of mine who was using Gghosting a while back. So always be careful.


I’m not going to go into too much detail about the technical side of things here. There is already a myriad of great articles dedicated to just that. What I will say is that to begin with don’t go for the large server packages with huge ram. Start small, you should only need 2gb at first. So you don’t need to go bust over a dedicated 64GB of RAM server with a 2Terabite SSD. Just purchase what you need.


Always be weary of bad hosts. Some will cause problems which are near impossible to recover from. So choose carefully, and take your time to make your decision. Also, remember to back up your work on your own computer just in case.


Step 5. Marketing.


Marketing is vitally important to your server. It is what brings in new players, and as such is the true life blood of your server. I think my biggest failing as an owner was not putting enough time and energy into marketing. I have heard that some video game companies will spend up to 70% of their budget on marketing their games. As I am still but an amateur when it comes to this incredibly broad field, I will redirect you to this crash course I found in marketing, which can give you some good advice http://www.themarketingguywhodrivessales.com/crashcourse/. Aside from that just be sure to get your server out everywhere you can, and update/bump your advertisements daily. Don’t just stop at Planet Minecraft, go on every website you can. Creating a Reddit page also seems to be a good idea, and any similar websites can be helpful in getting your message out there regarding Minecraft servers. Just be sure not to advertise on other people’s servers, it’s rude and will only lead to you gaining a few trolls.


Step 6. Pre-release.


Before releasing your server it is a good idea to get at least a small following. This is easy to do if you already have a website. While building your server make sure to direct people to your website and keep it continually updated with new information and screenshots to keep their interest. You want to have a few players ready to go, as this will increase your likelihood of attracting new members and keeping them. So make sure to have a few players or a small community before you open. After all, no one wants to play on an empty server.


Step 7. Release.


The day that you release will be the most exciting and possibly frustrating day in your server’s lifespan. Be wary that this is the day when you will receive the most amount of hackers and trolls. Many of these people with no lives will stalk the ‘recently added’ sections of respective advertising websites to find newly formed servers, believing they will be easy targets (because often times they are). So make sure to be fully present on that day, and install some good anti-hacking plugins. Don’t be afraid of banning someone suspicious, or someone who immediately starts flaming in chat. The reasons for this are obvious, but I’ve seen some server owners let them carry on playing, thinking that a ban is ‘just too harsh’. In shorter terms, don’t be a wimp.


Step 8. Maintaining your server and keeping it alive.


After launching a server you may get a honey-moon period where the hype has brought in many active players. Your job now is to make sure that honey-moon period never ends. You’re going to need to be active on a daily basis to grow your server. Give the players new things to do. Organise events and make sure your community is as vibrant and friendly as possible. It will be hard. Nothing good in life comes easy. If you’re popular, people will try to leech off your server and bring you down. You will have to be energetic and responsible. It is your job now to make sure your server is better than anyone else's, so always add new things and be on the ball.


Step 9. Some final notes.


Give your players a goal. Most servers RP servers think that the ‘choose your own destiny’ idea is a good one. And while this is somewhat true, you have to keep in mind that the majority of people want to have an achievable goal to work towards, otherwise they will just get bored by the lack of direction. Games like Skyrim, Fallout and Kingdom Come are all open world RP games, but even they will have an over-arching plot with a final destination. So as you can imagine, if the titans of the RP gaming industry need in-game goals, you probably do too.


Don’t flame on your own server. If someone is being disrespectful and you don’t like them, simply ban them and move on. People don’t want to come home from work, open up Minecraft and watch you arguing like a 13 year old.


Be decisive. You wont always make the right decision, but not making any decision at all will ensure that you always make the wrong choice. Once you have chosen your path, stick to it and do not waver.


To be blunt, you wont have much time to play on your own server. Most of your time will be put towards building the server itself if you’re any good.


If you got to the end of this I thank you for your time and for reading. I understand that this was a long one, but if you didn’t have the patience for this, running a server will be hell for you. Good luck on your endeavour. I hope some of you reading this can go on to create awesome servers.