How to Get Players for Your Minecraft Server (and Keep Them)

Before advertising: what makes someone stay

That it's online when they arrive. A player who finds you on a list and sees the server offline won't try again. Free servers that stop by themselves when empty are fine for playing with friends, not for welcoming strangers at any hour.

An easy-to-remember address and an MOTD with an icon that says in one line what it's about (survival, survival with an economy, minigames…). It's the first thing people see in the in-game list (MOTD and icon guide).

Something to do in the first five minutes: a well-kept spawn point, the rules in plain sight and a /spawn or a sign explaining how to get started. A pregenerated world around spawn avoids the stutter of the first hour (Chunky guide).

Protection from day one: GriefPrevention or WorldGuard and CoreProtect to undo griefing (griefers guide), and ranks with LuckPerms so you don't give too many permissions to someone who's just arrived.

That almost anyone can join: with ViaVersion, players on newer versions than the server's get in, and with Geyser and Floodgate, Bedrock players (phone, console, Windows). Every door you close is an audience you lose.

Server lists: the first place people look

There are international lists and lists in Spanish. Players find them by searching things like “Spanish Minecraft server list”: sign up on three or four and see which ones bring you people.

Almost all of them rank by votes: the more votes you get in a month, the higher you appear. That's why big servers reward people who vote. Votes reach the server through NuVotifier (next section).

When you sign up, fill in everything: version, type (survival, minigames…), whether you accept Bedrock, language, a description written by you and real screenshots. Nobody opens an empty listing.

Votes with NuVotifier, step by step

1. Install NuVotifier

   It runs on Paper and Purpur. Search for it in “Mods & plugins”; if it doesn't show up, download it from its official page and upload it with “Files” to the plugins folder. Restart: on startup it creates its config folder with a config.yml and some keys in the rsa subfolder.

2. Give it its own port

   NuVotifier listens on a separate port, different from the game's (by default 8192, which isn't one of your server's). Every NapNodes Minecraft server comes with an extra port: you'll see it in “Advanced settings” → “Ports”, the one that isn't the primary. Put it in port: in config.yml.

3. Restart and check the console

   On startup, NuVotifier says which port it's listening on. It has to be yours. If it says the port is in use, another plugin (a web map or voice chat) has that port: each one needs its own.

4. Fill in the details on the list

   Each list asks for the server address, the Votifier port (the extra one, not the game's) and the public key: it's the contents of rsa/public.key, which you open from “Files”. Some ask instead for the token that appears in config.yml.

5. Test a vote

   Almost every list has a button to send a test vote. You can also type /testvote in the console. If the console shows the vote, it works.

6. Add the rewards

   NuVotifier only receives the vote: it doesn't give anything. To reward voters you need another plugin that listens for votes (VotingPlugin or SuperbVote, for example) and says what's handed out: some coins, an item or a crate key.

Discord, Reddit and videos

Your own Discord is where people hang around between sessions: announcements, suggestions, who's online. With DiscordSRV the in-game chat and a Discord channel can see each other, and people who aren't playing can see there's life.

In big communities (Spanish-speaking Minecraft Discord servers, subreddits like r/MinecraftES) there's almost always a channel or a day for advertising servers, and outside of that it's banned. Read the rules before posting and, better than an ad, spend a few days helping people: it shows.

A short video of something specific on your server (a build, an event, an unusual mechanic) brings in more than a “come join my server”. If you know someone who does small streams, inviting them to play for an afternoon is worth more than any list.

Bringing them back: what keeps players

Events with a date (a build per season, a tournament on Saturday) give a reason to come back and to bring a friend. Announce them on Discord days in advance.

Listen to the first ones: the first ten regular players are the ones who attract the next. Ask them what's missing before adding plugins on your own.

Look after performance as you grow: if there's stutter with more people, check the lag guide and the one on how many players a server can handle before adding RAM. A server that runs badly empties by itself.

If you want to charge something to pay for the server, Mojang's rules allow selling cosmetic things (ranks with a prefix, particles, pets) and not gameplay advantages: nothing that gives whoever pays more strength, items or in-game money.

Frequently asked questions