Hey guys, I just wanted to post something that may interest many struggling server owners out there who need help building a server that is perfect for the basic Minecraft player. I was searching (googling) how to bring more players to my Minecraft server, when I came across a certain article that had a bunch of Polls all throughout it. A bunch of users voted on stuff like age, type of server they preferred, etc. What was interesting to me was that, PLAYERS basically told US what THEY wanted from a SERVER. Now, that does NOT mean that this will guarantee a player base of the 100's. No, This will just let you know that if you sport this kind of server, you may have a chance of having more fun and possible new players. Having fun though, is the only reason you should make a server. Not money, not fame, just fun and enjoyment with other players. Now lets start.
By The By: the link to the original post from TheOatBaron, will be posted at the bottom of this post. As well as my own server ip address, and other bits of information I will need to provide for proof.

The first question he asked was:
What is your age?

answers with the poll votes:

Prefer not to say                                   4.6%
18+                                                         32.5%
12-17                                                      59.6%
11 or below                                           3.3%

Now, this is an important question because now we can TARGET the age base we need to acquire to possibly add to our player base on our servers. For a successful rake in of players, lets go with advertising on a popular server listing website (such as this one). If a majority of players are 12-17 years old. during the school year, the average time a school releases its students is around 4:00pm. BUT, that doesn't mean they all hop on their smartphones and frantically start searching for a server to play on when they get home, No, some ride the bus, walk home, and some get picked up by their parents. So maybe, the perfect time to advertise or bump on such a website would be around 4:45. Yes? No? it really is up to you, BUT you do want to give those kids time to get home and SEE your server post correct? You do not want to post too early. as for the 18+ group. More than likely, they have work, or other responsibilities to attend to (unless a deadbeat or whatever) so they cannot be tracked and targeted easily. MOVING ON!



The second question he asked was:
How long have you been playing Minecraft?


answers with the poll votes:

More than a year                                   91.4%
6-12 months                                           4.6%
3-6 months                                              3.3%
Less than 3 months                               0.7%

Now what does this mean for us? This means that most players we can bring on our servers will be already well experienced on many types of servers. There is a low chance we can bring in an inexperienced player to a server (which are usually better to have in my own opinion). SO you better know what you are doing or else those players will NOT stay....


The third question he asked was:
What are your favorite types of servers? (people could choose a max amount of 3 choices)


answers with the poll votes:

Other                                                                    17.9% of Users - 27 votes
RPG                                                                     23.2% of Users - 35 votes
KitPvP                                                                  9.9% of Users - 15 votes
Skyblock                                                              9.9% of Users - 15 votes
Prison                                                                  13.9% of Users - 21 votes
Minigames                                                          43% of Users - 65 votes <-------
Towny                                                                  21.9% of Users - 33 votes
Factions                                                               24.5% of Users - 37 votes
Hardcore                                                             13.2% of Users - 20 votes
Creative                                                               23.8% of Users - 36 votes
Survival                                                                67.5% of Users - 102 votes <-------
Vanilla                                                                  44.4% of Users - 67 votes <------- 


This one is a bit self explanatory, basically the whole REASON I wrote this post out for you to see. I even marked the top 3 choices that players had voted for and they are from highest to lowest; Survival - Vanilla - Minigames. Ok cool right, now we just meed to make a Vanilla Survival server with Minigames somewhere to be played... Not easy to just do within 5 days am I correct? Now you can actually combine some of these with others like for example, FACTIONS and SURVIVAL make a great combo when players need to protect bases and such, or you can use a smaller plugin for protections instead if factions is not your cup of tea. Maybe even a TOWNY and RPG server? Makles sense right, make towns, have some rpg in there somewhere? idk whatever you choose, make it a unique combination and players are sure to enjoy (UNLESS YOU CHOSE WRONG)


The fourth question he asked was:
if you saw a server you were interested in, but no one was onlin[e, would you return to that server?] (brackets are what I added since it seemed cut off in the main article)


answers with the poll votes:

No                                                                      13.6%
Might check back later                                   62.6%
Yes                                                                    23.8%

Now, I find this one hard to believe because in my own experience, players never come back if there is no one online. If they come on, and then leave without such a word or whatever, the will never come back. But hey, 62.6% said they MIGHT come back, so I MIGHT be wrong.


The fifth question he asked was:
Why would you donate to a Minecraft server?


answers with the poll votes:

I would not donate.                                                           23.5%
To support the server                                                       48.3%
To be "recognized" by the server                                   7.4%
To receive balanced donor packages                          15.4%
To receive OP donor packages                                      5.4%

Now, I am not truly interested in receiving donations unless my player base enjoys the server I have created for them to play on. to support the server, is the highest percentage, and the RIGHT reason to EVER donate to a server. And to those who voted that they would not donate, that is fine too, Minecraft is NOT about money or fame as I pointed out earlier on. The 48.3% who voted for "To support the server" know exactly why they need to donate. the others after the first 2 options, are literally crap players who want everything just a bit more easier for themselves. MOVING ON!


The sixth and seventh question he asked was:
What is MOST important in a server?


answers with the poll votes:

No lag 4.8%
Frequent events (Spleef, drop parties, etc.)                          2%
Good content (Variety of goals and what it has to offer)     21.1%
A good sized server (40+ players online at a time)             4.8%
A good community (What the people are like)                      67.3% <-------  
What is 2nd MOST important in a server?

answers with the poll votes:

No lag 24.1%
Frequent events (Spleef, drop parties, etc.)                          5.5%
Good content (Variety of goals and what it has to offer)     40% <-------
A good sized server (40+ players online at a time)             13.1%
A good community (What the people are like)                      17.2%

The reason I combined these 2 is to really let you see what we need to have setup in order to have a special something to make your server more enjoyable and a better place for your players that makes them WANT to stay. I marked the highest voted answers above to make it easier to see. From the votes, it looks like we need a good friendly community to communicate and talk to one another, and we need good content on our server. If you want a community, I suggest use Enjin to get started as it provides a free and simple way to create a community website. They even support Minecraft communities and has a plugin to help connect your website to the server in a good way (link at bottom). Good content can be anything. special plugins, meet and greets (if popular), and maybe even special features that players can mess with and enjoy. Experiment, maybe you can figure something out!


The eighth question he asked was:
What is LEAST important in a server?


answers with the poll votes:

No lag                                                                                                 2.8%
Frequent events (Spleef, drop parties, etc.)                                52.8%
Good content (Variety of goals and what it has to offer)           4.2%
A good sized server (40+ players online at a time)                   38.2%
A good community (What the people are like)                            2.1%

What can we draw from this poll? I can clearly see one thing, We do NOT need events, We do NOT really need a big server. Make it simple. Events, they are easy to miss, big server size, too many people on for some. You get where I am coming from here? We just need simpler things.


So now that is all taken care of, tell me what you think. What makes a server, a good server? Are these polls accurate to the overall millions of players out there? Or is it inaccurate? I do not know, but this explains a lot to me. I hope I helped some of you out and thanks to TheOatBaron for posting such a thread. I am surprised no one ever tried writing about this because it really puts a perspective on things. If this post did help you decide anything or you learned something, please leave a diamond, favorite and subscribe. I enjoyed writing this out and I may do this again. If you want to, suggest something else I should write about.



LINKS:

Original post: www.minecraftforum.net/forums/minecraft-discussion/discussion/194861-minecraft-server-survey

My Server IP: 162.249.170.73:28376

Enjin: www.enjin.com/