This is just a minimalist casual post with my honest thoughts in it. I didn't feel like including an image or making this like a professional list or something like that. Enjoy!

You may think that making a Minecraft server is easy. You just download the server, run it and generate all the server files, forward the port, and post it on server sites. WRONG! Making a Minecraft server is much more involved than just setting it up.

Let's face it, nobody wants to come on a server and spawn in the middle of nowhere. You need to create a nice detailed spawn that will instantly get people interested in your server. I am not talking about a small square with a few portals going to different worlds or a path that leads into the wild. When you have a spawn like that, people won't be that interested. I am working on a Minecraft server right now and I have been working on the spawn for almost 2 months and it's still not done. I am trying to make nice spawns for all of my worlds and it is very challenging. None of my friends are builders so I have done a lot of it myself. I am thinking of recruiting some builders to help me get the server ready in time for the Minecraft 1.8 update. It is really hard and I have not recruited builders because I have trouble trusting other people to do their job right. I am also afraid that my server may get griefed.

Another thing that is extremely challenging is permissions. I taught myself how to setup permissions but it is still really hard and time-consuming. You need usually at least 2-5 permissions for a player for a command. The perms have to be in just the right place and written EXACTLY RIGHT and not ONE LETTER OFF or else it will screw up. Some people have to find other people to do permissions by I taught myself.

Plugins are very abundant these days. There are so many of them. Some of them are good high-quality well written plugins and some are just not that great. It is hard to distinguish the good ones from the bad ones. I spend a fair share of my time searching for good plugins to add to my server. I cannot code plugins but I am learning to code them. I already have some experience with basic Java, Python, and advanced JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. I am much better coding on the internet than the computer. Hopefully, I will be able to create custom plugins in the next few months because I already have a great idea.

Staff and Moderators are the people who will do most of the moderation, management, and monitoring of player activity. Choosing moderators is a big part of having a server. Moderators are vey important and you need to choose the right ones. Some moderators may be power-hungry and they might abuse their power. I think moderators should have to go through a large application. I am releasing a moderator application soon. That application should be reviewed thoroughly by the server owner. The staff members you choose should also be willing to help player whether they are n00bs or experienced players. They should also follow the rules.

Advertising the server is a long process that you have to perfect to make your listing appeal to players and persuade them to come on your server. Your listing has to have a good professional title and description instead of saying something like 'AWESOME SERVER COME ON PLZZZ! REALLY COOL FACTIONS. COOL SPAWN. PLZZZ COME!' Players will not want to go to a server with a desperate description. You want the player to come as a privilege to them. Not a privilege to you. You also need good photos that show the best pros about your server. You also need a professional server banner that sums up your server and shows players how to access your server.

These are all factors that many people don't consider when making a Minecraft server. I made that mistake and my server's were all big flops. A Minecraft server should also have no lag because nobody likes lag. I hope this blog helped you. Be sure to ✦DIAMOND✦ and ⓈUBSCRIBE!