Tips & Advice to Make your Minecraft Server Successful

Summary

The video provides key advice on creating a successful Minecraft server by focusing on uniqueness, customization, and player engagement. The speaker emphasizes the importance of making the server stand out from competitors like Hypixel by offering custom features or modifying existing plugins. They also discourage using pre-made server setups, urging creators to focus on specific game modes rather than offering too many at once. Additionally, the importance of player guidance and clean server design is highlighted, ensuring new players feel comfortable and aren't overwhelmed.

Takeaways

• 📌 Uniqueness is key for a successful Minecraft server. Make sure your server offers something different from the competition, like Hypixel.
• 🔧 Customization is crucial. Use public plugins and maps, but ensure you customize them to fit your server’s unique needs.
• 🚫 Avoid generic server setups. Using pre-built servers from platforms like Build By Bit without customization won’t attract players.
• ⚙️ If you can, create custom plugins, but even public plugins should be highly customized for a unique player experience.
• 🎯 Focus on one server type or game mode to build an active player base, rather than offering too many game modes that spread players thin.
• 📊 Successful servers tend to specialize in one specific area, like mini-games or survival, rather than offering multiple unrelated modes.
• 📝 A great tutorial or guide is essential. Ensure new players know exactly how to navigate and use the custom features of your server.
• 👥 Hold players’ hands initially. Gradually introduce them to your server’s features without overwhelming them with too much information at once.
• 💡 Keep the server clean and straightforward. Adding too many features can make the server feel messy and overwhelming for players.
• 🛠️ Structure the spawn area clearly. Ensure it’s easy for players to find essential NPCs or locations without confusion.

Q & A

What is the primary focus of the video?

The video provides tips and advice on how to create a successful Minecraft server, focusing on increasing the chances of building an active player base, rather than the technical aspects of server creation.

Why is uniqueness important for a Minecraft server?

Uniqueness is important because it helps your Minecraft server stand out from the competition. Players need a reason to choose your server over others, like Hypixel, by offering something different or a unique experience.

What does the creator suggest about copying popular servers like Hypixel?

The creator advises against copying popular servers exactly. Instead, you should take inspiration but add unique twists, such as different maps or game mechanics, so players have a reason to play on your server instead of the original.

Why does the creator discourage using pre-made server setups?

Pre-made server setups are discouraged because they lack uniqueness. If hundreds or thousands of people are using the same setup, there’s no reason for players to choose your server over any other identical one.

What does the creator mean by customization in a Minecraft server?

Customization refers to modifying existing plugins and maps to fit your server’s specific needs. Even if you don’t create your own plugins, you should tweak public plugins and content to offer a personalized experience for your players.

Why is it important to focus on one specific type of gameplay for a server?

Focusing on one type of gameplay helps to avoid spreading players too thin across different modes. A focused server will attract players who are interested in that specific experience, making it easier to build a concentrated and active player base.

What is the risk of offering too many game modes on a Minecraft server?

Offering too many game modes can fragment your player base. With players spread across different game modes, they may struggle to find others to play with, leading to the impression that the server is dead and causing players to leave.

How does the creator suggest introducing new players to a server's features?

The creator suggests using a clear and engaging tutorial to introduce players to the server’s features. This helps new players avoid feeling overwhelmed and ensures they know how to navigate the server and enjoy its unique features.

Why does the creator emphasize the need for clean server design?

A clean and straightforward server design helps players navigate easily and understand how to play. Complicated layouts or confusing designs can frustrate players, leading them to leave the server.

What is the creator's advice for servers with multiple unused game modes?

The creator suggests focusing on the game mode that attracts the most players and removing the others. By concentrating efforts on one successful mode, the server can become more focused and appealing to its player base.

Outlines

00:00

Introduction to Minecraft Server Success

05:00

The Importance of Uniqueness

10:02

Customization as Key to Success

15:04

The Problem with Overloading Servers with Game Modes

Creating a Helpful and Engaging Server Tutorial

Keeping the Server Clean and Intuitive

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Keywords

💡Uniqueness

Uniqueness refers to creating a Minecraft server that stands out from the competition. The script emphasizes the importance of making the server different from well-established servers like Hypixel. This could involve tweaking existing game modes or adding custom elements that players can only experience on your server, thus offering a fresh, attractive alternative.

💡Customization

Customization in the context of this video involves making the server tailored to the needs of the players by modifying plugins, maps, and game modes. The script advises against simply downloading pre-made setups, encouraging server owners to alter public plugins to fit the server’s theme and provide a unique experience. Customization helps create a sense of ownership and originality.

💡Focus

Focus is about concentrating efforts on a single or limited number of game modes to prevent players from becoming scattered across different parts of the server. The script stresses that servers with too many game modes often struggle to build a player base because users become too spread out, leading to an empty, inactive feel. Focusing on one aspect, like parkour, enhances player engagement.

💡Active player base

An active player base refers to the consistent presence of players on a server, which is crucial for its success. The script highlights that servers with too many game modes or lacking focus often fail to maintain an active player base, causing players to leave due to a perceived lack of community or activity. Successful servers maintain a strong and engaged player base through focus and uniqueness.

💡Server setups

Server setups are pre-packaged configurations that include plugins and game modes ready for installation. The script criticizes the use of generic server setups, as they lack originality and are often used by many other servers. This can diminish a server's uniqueness and appeal, making it less likely to attract or retain players.

💡Public plugins

Public plugins are openly available software components that server owners can install to enhance their Minecraft servers. The script mentions plugins like 'ItemsAdder' and 'Iris Dimension Engine,' which allow for customization. While it’s okay to use public plugins, the video encourages server owners to modify them to suit the server's specific needs, thereby enhancing uniqueness.

💡Player experience

Player experience refers to how enjoyable and engaging the server is for those playing on it. The script emphasizes creating a smooth and intuitive experience for players, which includes having clear guides, easy-to-navigate systems, and well-designed game modes. A great player experience is crucial for retaining users and building a loyal player base.

💡Tutorials

Tutorials are guides that help new players understand how a server works, especially if it has custom features or complex systems. The script advises server owners to create clear, engaging tutorials to help players navigate their servers, ensuring that new players don't feel overwhelmed. Effective tutorials enhance the player experience by making the server’s unique features more accessible.

💡Minigames

Minigames refer to smaller, more focused game modes within a Minecraft server, such as 'Bedwars' or 'SkyBlock.' These games provide players with unique challenges and goals. The script suggests that instead of replicating popular minigames exactly, server owners should customize these games to offer something different from larger servers like Hypixel, making the minigames more attractive to players.

💡Community engagement

Community engagement involves fostering interaction among players on the server. The script suggests that server owners should create environments where players can connect, work together, and enjoy shared experiences. Successful servers tend to cultivate strong communities through focused game modes, active player bases, and unique, customized features that encourage players to keep coming back.

Highlights

Creating a successful Minecraft server requires a unique approach to stand out from the competition.

It's crucial to customize your server, even if you use public plugins or maps, to create a distinct experience.

Avoid downloading and using pre-built server setups as they are not unique and do not offer a custom experience.

Coding custom plugins is not always necessary, but customizing existing plugins can help make your server feel unique.

Focus on one or a few game modes to build a stronger player base, rather than spreading players across many modes.

Having too many game modes dilutes the player base, making the server feel empty even if people are playing.

Players want to experience multiplayer interaction, so focusing on one popular game mode increases engagement.

Servers like Hypixel succeed by offering unique features and focusing on key game modes like SkyWars and BedWars.

A strong focus and specialization, such as a parkour-only server, can lead to greater success and player retention.

It's important to create a clear and accessible guide or tutorial to help new players understand your server's unique features.

Without proper guidance, new players can feel overwhelmed and may leave if they don’t know how to navigate the server.

Make sure the server's tutorial or guide is non-missable and easy to follow, using systems like NPCs or cutscene-like interactions.

Keep the server's design clean and straightforward; having a messy server with too many elements can confuse players.

Ensure that any new items or blocks are integrated seamlessly into gameplay, such as through world generation or crafting systems.

Don’t hide important NPCs or features; ensure that players can easily find essential gameplay elements like survival modes.

Transcripts

[Music]

so today I want to talk about creating a

successful Minecraft server not in terms

of the technical part no today I want to

give you some tips and advice that you

could follow to increase your chance of

making your Minecraft server successful

and making sure it gets an active player

base now right away I should say there

is not one formula to success it is not

if you follow this video and if you

follow all the tips I'm about to tell

you your Minecraft server will instantly

become successful but the reason I'm

making this video is because I've joined

a lot of Minecraft servers and I mean a

lot a lot on this channel alone I've

done three videos and three live streams

of me joining Minecraft servers created

by you guys and those are just the

servers I joined on screen and if you

join that many Minecraft servers

eventually you start to notice some all

the Minecraft servers that have a big

and active player base are kind of

following the same formula they are

doing the same things right and most

servers that struggle to get an active

player base or also making the same

mistakes and I think I could give you

some good tips and advice for your own

server now right away if you don't want

to listen to my advice that is perfectly

fine you don't have to you don't have to

listen to it you don't have to follow it

I'm just putting this out there because

this is what I noticed myself while

joining all these hundreds of Minecraft

servers but if you don't want to take my

advice that is totally fine as well it

is fully up to you with that being said

do make sure to subscribe if you've not

done so yet join the Discord if you're

not in there yet and if you want to

check out this incredible map it is

available on Phoenix store a partner of

my channel you can check them out

through the link in the description and

when you use code casasur at checkout

you can get a whole 15% of your order

while helping me out along the way okay

so the first piece of advice I want to

give to everybody is probably going to

be the most boring one to hear but

before you skip to one of my other

points please just listen one of the

most important things when creating a

Minecraft server is uniqueness you want

to make sure your Minecraft server is

unique to a certain extent because just

think about it this way take Hypixel a

massive minigame server that offers a

bunch of popular mini games like for

example bedwar but also Sky Block now

Hypixel having these game modes doesn't

mean that if you add them to your own

server your server is automatically not

unique but the thing you do have to do

when you add one of these game modes is

you need to make your server stand out

because essentially what you want to do

is you want to create a player base you

want to make sure that people choose to

play bedwars or Sky Block on your

Minecraft server over Hypixel your

bedwars game or your Sky Block game

doesn't have to to be better than

Hypixel it has to be different from

Hypixel this is also why I strongly

discourage people when they for example

set up a bedwar plugin to use an add-on

that makes your bedwar look and feel

exactly like hypixels bedwars why would

you want that it's going to sound harsh

but it is the truth why would I choose

to play bedwars on your server then when

I can also just join High pixel and play

it there now that question that is what

you need to answer and you can do this

in a lot of different ways maybe you

just design Maps a lot better and you

think if you copy hypixels bedwars but

add your own Maps it will be a very

enjoyable experience but maybe you just

don't like the whole shop system that

Hypixel has going on maybe you think

shops should be removed or they should

be in another location maybe you think

bedwar should have more height so that

instead of just going to different

Islands you maybe have to go to higher

up Islands something like that I don't

know I'm just saying something but you

want to make sure your game is unique it

needs to be different in a way so the

players can only experience that

specific type of bedwar or Sky Block or

survival really doesn't matter what it

is but you want to make sure they can

only experience that on your server so

instead of copying the competition you

want to do it different now this also

coincides with the second point I want

to make which is customization make sure

your Minecraft server is custom made

because once again you want to make sure

players are going to experience

something on your server that they

cannot experience anywhere else this is

also why I pretty strongly dislike

server setups they are available on

websites like build by bit for example

and they are essentially complete

servers with plugins included everything

is set up for you already and the only

thing you have to do is upload it to a

server hosting provider and Bam you got

a minecra server now my question to you

is why would I play on that server

because some of these server setups have

hundreds of downloads sometimes

thousands of downloads thousands of

people are running that exact same

server as you and I mean exactly the

same to the detail the same why would I

then play on yours those setups are

absolutely not unique and also not

custom because even the plugins you're

using are completely set up for you

already now I want to make one thing

clear it is very easy to say yeah just

make your server custom just code all

the plugins yourself for most people it

is not realistic to code all of your

custom plugins a lot of people that

create a Minecraft server don't know how

to make a plugin because they don't know

the code language and that includes

myself I make videos on plugins and mods

but can I create one myself no I cannot

I don't know enough code language to

actually create one it takes a long time

to learn and even though I would love to

do that sometime in the future I'm not

there yet but with custom I don't mean

you have to customly create every single

plugin it is fine using public plugins

it is also fine using a public map as a

Lobby for example but what you do want

to do is twist it up and customize it so

it fits your needs and your server a

great example is plugins like items

adder or Iris Dimension engine these are

both public plugins that everybody can

buy and download but you can customize

them completely so it almost feels like

a custom plugin because you can add your

own items you can create your own buyers

you can do a ton of really cool stuff

with it so that even two people who are

using the exact same plugin offer a

completely different experience on their

server now of course if you do have the

capability to code plugins yourself

totally go for it but do make sure

they're great just getting a plug-in

installing it and calling in a day is

not giving a unique and custom

experience make sure to do research

beforehand install the plugins and make

sure to actually customize them and set

them up so they fit really well into

your server what I've seen people do

multiple times now is they just get a

big list of plugins let's say 30 plugins

they throw them all into their plugins

folder and then open up the server

without setting up anything I mean then

you're not only using a public plugin

which you're also just keeping it on the

straight out of the box settings which

literally anyone can do so make sure

your server is unique and make sure to

customize it and develop it yourself now

of course you can have a team people

that help you out but but just going for

a server setup that you downloaded from

build by bit is in 99% of the time not

going to work out now the next thing I

want to tell you might be the most

important piece of advice of this entire

video and that is because I've truly

seen this thing that I'm about to say

make a difference between a server being

successful or not being successful it

was getting so obvious that I even

pointed it out during my latest joining

your Minecraft server stream what am I

talking about well I'm talking about

Focus because a mistake that I see a lot

of people make is they focus on too many

things at the same time and as a result

their server can't get an active player

base okay so just think about it why do

you join MCC Island well you join the

server to play mini games it is a miname

server okay cool now why do you join

hoplight or PVP Legacy well you join Jo

them to PVP to have a fight with other

players you don't join them to play Sky

Block or survival but origin realms for

example you do join if you want to play

a customized version of Minecraft

Survival all of these servers fit into a

server category they are a certain

server type and that is because these

servers are very much focused on

delivering the best experience in their

respective category now when I join run

the Minecraft servers during a stream

like I've done a few weeks back what I

noticed is that a lot of servers

especially the ones without an active

player base focus on way too many things

at the same time so usually you get in

into a hop server and from there you

have a choice between a ton of game

modes I'm talking Survival Creative PVP

mini games Sky Block literally

everything is there all of these

different NPCs that take you to

different servers and essentially

completely different game types now

let's say 10 players would join that

Network server two people would for

example choose PVP two others would

choose survival two others would join

Sky Block now what is the result of that

well in total 10 players joined your

lobby but every single person that

joined has only seen one other player

some people on the server might have

seen no one because they joined a game

mode that the others didn't the end

result is you just have 10 disappointed

people that can't find anybody to play

with and they will leave your server

again because they assume it's dead now

I get the way of thinking they offer so

many game modes because they think hey

if I just offer literally everything

then there is going to be something to

enjoy for literally everyone if somebody

wants to play Sky Block we got you

covered if somebody wants to play PVP we

have you cover too if somebody wants to

build in Creative you can also do that

and I get that if you think like that it

does make sense but that is just not how

it works in reality because most servers

that have a ton of different server

types and game modes like that they are

just dead servers without any player

base now during those streams most

Minecraft servers that are joins that

did have an active player base just

focused on a single thing one example I

can remember from the top of my head is

Cyclone it is a pretty active Minecraft

server but they just focus on a single

thing Park that is their thing they just

have parkour maps they add a ton of

Parkour maps and they really try to take

parkour to the next level that is what

they do and they are successful at it

there was also another Minecraft server

which I can't remember the name of but

they had three different game modes so

three server types it was like creative

life steal and then citybuild and you

know what the funny thing was when you

join to Lobby the only game modes that

people actually played in was the city

builds there were like 50 people online

on the city build and the other two

servers were completely dead now what I

would recommend in that case is throw

away those other two servers make

citybuild your server type focus on

citybuild and making that the most

amazing citybuild from any Minecraft

server in existence when you think about

it it makes a lot of sense Minecraft is

a multiplayer game and you want to play

together with others spreading people

out over a ton of servers on a big

network is a 99% % of cases not a good

move it would just make it so people

have a hard time finding other players

now of course there are exceptions some

Minecraft servers like Hypixel the

biggest server in existence can have

multiple game modes on Hypixel you can

play mini games Sky Block you can even

start an S SMP but even Hypixel is

suffering from the same issue because if

you might have checked hypixel's total

player account and then checked the most

popular game modes you will see that 95%

of all players on hyp pixel are either

playing SkyWars bedwar or Sky Block now

there will be some other mini games

where people hang around occasionally

but some mini games on the server are

actually completely dead you can't even

start the game because not enough

players are there to fill up an entire

Lobby people want to play together

people want to have fun together so

focus on one thing and go all in all

right then next up I want to talk about

something that a lot of server owners

seem to oversee and that is hey having a

great guide SL tutorial on your server

because just think about it I'm a brand

new player I just joined your server for

the very first time now presumably you

did a lot of custom stuff you installed

items Adder you got a whole shop system

going on and as a new player joining

your unique Minecraft server I would

have no clue where to start now a

mistake I see a lot of server owners

make is assume everything on the server

is obvious already and in 99% of cases

that is not true it might be very

obvious and straightforward how

everything works for the server owner

because they made the server so

obviously for them it might appear that

everything is super simple but for a

brand new player that Just Dropped In

Your Spawn it can be extremely

overwhelming seeing all of these custom

items custom blocks maybe even custom

worlds custom NPCs and if there's

anything I've learned is if people get

overwhelmed they like to back out so

what you want to make sure of as a

server owner as soon as somebody joins

your Minecraft server at the start you

want to hold their hands like crazy

don't just shove all the information in

their face immediately that will just be

overwhelming as well but slowly and

gradually take them through a tutorial

that they can't miss so that they will

exactly know how to do certain things

and how to program

on your server now a couple months ago I

made a video about tutorial Creator it's

a paid Minecraft plugin that allows you

to Simply create tutorials inside of

Minecraft now this video is not

sponsored by tutorial Creator at all but

it is a very great example of how you

could create a tutorial on your

Minecraft server it basically teleports

you to different locations it can send

different messages in chat to you so

that your players are essentially kind

of watching a cutscene and after

watching it they will know how to do

certain things now of course you want to

make sure they are not missable so the

tutorials need to be easily accessible

maybe through a GOI or through some NPCs

they need to be able to rewatch them

easily and once again don't throw

everything in somebody's face

immediately it will just be overwhelming

as well but slowly and gradually

introduce your players to all the

features you have in your server all the

custom stuff you've made so that they

can slowly get familiar with everything

they have to know to play on your server

most Minecraft servers I've joined

during these videos and streams don't

have any tutorial or guide whatsoever

and I believe they are truly missing out

on players because somebody might join

but if you just get overwhelmed in the

spawn immediately and don't even know

where to go I mean they might just leave

and never come back so you have to kind

of find a balance between delivering the

information as quickly as possible so

people understand what to do and how to

do it but you also want to overwhelm

them by just shoving the information in

their face because people don't like to

get overwhelmed most video games have a

tutorial and when creating a Minecraft

server you're essentially creating a

brand new game inside of the sandbox

tools that Minecraft has available every

Minecraft server out there could be seen

as its own completely unique game it all

looks like Minecraft it all feels like

Minecraft but you're doing something

different on every single server

Minecraft is a Sandbox game after all so

introduce people to what they have to do

hold their hands and explain everything

in as much detail as possible and that

also kind of coincides with the last

point I want to make today and that is

just overall don't make your server too

messy keep it clean keep it

straightforward you may add a thousand

blocks with for example items added to

your server that is fine go for it but

just adding a ton of things doesn't mean

your server is immediately nice to play

on if you for example add a ton of items

and blocks make sure that besides

creating them you also blend them into

your server like make the custom ores

appear in your world generation make an

easy guide on all the new weapons and

how to get them and how to craft them

also don't make players search too much

like for example a big spawn like I'm

standing in right now is really nice and

really cool to have but let's say this

is the spawn of the server and there is

one MPC somewhere that takes you to

survival don't put it all the way over

there like in the corner or if you do

want to do that make a clear route make

a clear text here that says follow this

path and then your players will follow

it they will know exactly where to go

maybe add some arrows maybe add an NPC

that they can follow it doesn't matter

how you do it but don't make it too

messy at the end of the day people are

on your server to just have a good time

and enjoy some Minecraft so make sure

they can do that without too much effort

and that is going to be everything for

today I really hope you enjoyed watching

once again all I've told you today are

just just tips and advice I've gathered

from joining a ton of Minecraft servers

and my own experience you don't have to

follow any of these tips and if you

think they're all useless that is also

totally fine just do it your own way I

encourage that I want to thank you so

much for watching do make sure to

subscribe to my channel if you've not

done so yet you would really really help

me out if you did also don't forget to

join the casasur universe link can be

found down below and thank you so much

to my channel members for the in

incredible support you guys are truly

Legends thank you so much for the

support and then I'll see you in the

next one bye-bye

[Music]