Everyone wants their Minecraft server to be the next super successful Minecraft server.
In other words, everyone wants to become the next Hypixel network. However, often times the server fails to reach the 100-player or even 50-player count mark. While it is not a clear, "change this and you will succeed", often there are three key aspects that would have made the server go from a failure, to on a path to becoming the next Hypixel network.
So whether you were a former Minecraft server owner, are a current Minecraft server owner, or planning on becoming a Minecraft server owner, this blog will help you learn and succeed.
Inexperienced Ownership
Before you become offended by this saying you weren't the reason your server failed, let me explain the reasoning behind this possibility.
Often times ownerships fall into the trap of doing what they feel is "optimal" for the server to succeed. That includes choosing a game mode that they loved to play 5 years ago, like factions, that is played by no one in today's game.
With that, owners will often look to copy exactly what another successful Minecraft server is doing and make an exact copy, or close to it, on their server. However, doing something like this fails to distinguish your Minecraft server from the rest of those in the market.
The key point is that owners would have the opportunity to see positive results if they instead chose to do research on current industry trends and planned ways to innovate the game rather than sticking to the "social norm".
Server Experience
Features, colors, and much more.
Every day you see servers that are adding a "never before seen feature" but adding that feature did nothing but make the server lag, or confuse every player on what the purpose of the item is.
While the answer is true that players are more likely to stick around when a server has additional features, like custom models, as can be seen when Survival Multiplayer Minecraft servers (SMP) add planes, drills, etc., there is a boundary as to when it is "too much".
See just as much as players like additional features, they would prefer a server that is optimized in every aspect; grinding, economy, and bug-free, over wondering if their custom tank has enough ammo.
So yes, adding these features and extravagant colors do add to a server but, it is important to find that middle ground to ensure a satisfactory server experience.
Budget Management
When planning and developing a Minecraft server for the first time the owner typically has a budget that meets the following criteria:
Isn't an extravagant amount (<$1500)
Doesn't have any room to increase
Often spent without proper planning
With a budget so low, it is important to properly plan. Often, owners will assume that to have a top Minecraft server they need custom plugins, a server that can hold up to 500 players, and custom builds. However, when that is all paid for, the remaining budget is around $25 with no marketing done to even get a single player on the server.
Despite there being "free" ways to get players onto your server, having a proper amount to spend on marketing will greatly increase the success of your server. So instead of paying $110/month on a dedicated server, perhaps purchase the $10/month server to start and expand from there, or purchase premade plugins and builds instead of custom.
At the end of the day, having 25 players on a server that costs only $10/month and can handle up to 100 players is a lot better than having a server that costs $110/month with 0 players online.
Conclusion
There is one key idea to be taken from this article, plan properly.
Taking the time to plan the server, properly distribute the budget, and understand that being the best of the best doesn't need to happen from Day 1. As they say "Rome wasn't built in a day", and neither will be your Minecraft server.
So take the affordable option, and purchase a high-quality Minecraft build and spend that saved budget on marketing - your pockets will thank you.