The start of any server project isn't jumping into development, or advertising, or seeking funding, but rather developing a plan. Without a plan, you're siginifcantly more likely to end up with an incomplete or otherwise deformed final server. Consider it like outlining an essay before writing it. In fact, as you plan your server it may benefit you to write it down in outline fashion. (See online sources if you don't know how to make an outline, for example https://www.iup.edu/writingcenter/writing-resources/organization-and-structure/creating-an-outline/)
A good place to begin is figuring out which gamemodes you're going to offer, and more specifically what's going to set those gamemodes apart from existing servers.
Firstly a gamemode must be defined, and a distinction must be made between gamemodes planned to launch with and gamemodes in general.
A "gamemode" refers to any individual backend with a set, specific play style. Common gamemodes are types such as Anarchy, Minigames, SMP (Survival Multi-Player), Prison, etc.
The gamemodes you plan to launch with, or "Starter modes", are what'll give the server a foothold during it's early days. They're often the most virtuous types of gamemodes, however most cannot coexist on servers unless there's a significant playerbase.
There's a lot of popular gamemodes out there, however just because a gamemode is popular doesn't mean you'll be able to have a profitable and decently-sized server based off of it as a starter mode. Likewise, just because you offer obscure gamemodes doesn't mean there will be hoardes of people rushing to play it. Thus it's important to have a balance between popularity of your selected gamemodes and their obscurity/novelity. If you're offering a brand-new and completely alien gamemode type, unless you have a heck of a good advertising strategy you won't get too far.
Rather, for your first gamemodes try to find a balance between uniqueness and popularity of existing gamemodes and servers. Good gamemodes to start out with are SMP-type gamemodes, such as vanilla SMP's or RPG-style SMP's. Always be sure to throw something into the mix to stand out, however. Yes a cookie-cutter server type will get you some people but it won't keep those people as players continually seek out something different. Factions is another option, but must be excecuted carefully and may not draw in the best types of players. Prison and Skyblock are other types which has seen decent popularity but may not be suitible for the inexperienced owner. A minigame-type gamemode is NOT recommended as a starter mode unless you're experienced and have a substantial existing advertising platorm already built up.
Depending on your situation in starting your server, you can have anywhere from 1 starter mode to as many as your heart desires, however it's advised to keep it a fairly low number until a substantial playerbase has been developed.
Gamemode Overlap is a concept involving similar types of gamemodes on a single server. There are several fundamental categories of gamemodes: The "Survival-centric" gamemodes such as SMP, Anarchy, Prison, Factions, etc., the "Minigame-centric" gamemmodes such as minigames, and "Story-centric" gamemodes such as RPG modes. Beyond that, there are several attributes to these gamemodes such as whether they're grindy-gamemodes where you sit around and grind for things all day, or active gamemodes where it isn't just monotonous grinding.
The "Overlap" aspect comes when your gamemodes "overlap" eachother in their aspects. Consider a server's experience to be a sheet of paper. Gamemode categories have specific locations on this piece of paper which they cannot be moved from, it's simply their nature to occupy that space. Now, say you want to put a picture of a puppy - a gamemode such as an SMP - on this hypothetical, metaphorical paper. So you put the picture in the place where it goes on the paper, and it's as simple as that. Now, everyone who looks at the paper sees the puppy!
The problem arises when we try to put multiple puppy pictures on the same paper. Because of the nature of the puppy pictures, we can't put a second one in a different spot of the paper. It always has to go in that one, specified location. So when we try to put the second puppy picture on the paper, the first one gets covered up and no one can see it anymore ;-;
Likewise, running two Survival-centric gamemodes on a server draws away from them both, UNLESS the server has a substantial playerbase. However for the new or small server, gamemode overlap isn't going to contribute anything good.
Now that you've established what you're going to offer as a server, we must now look to how you're going to deliver it.
The first thing you'll need to actually make your server is a Server Host. There are several options for this:
- Self-hosted. Good for no more than 5-10 people in a casual setting. When selecting a computer for self-hosting, look for single-core performance and ram speed as well as storage read-write speed. You'll also need to learn how to port-forward. Requires some basic internet protocol experience.
- Shared host / Hosting provider. Good for small servers and those getting started in the servership community. Prices range depending on the quality of the host. Good hosts are bloom.host, DedicatedMC, and Pebblehost. In your host selection, bear in mind: the cheaper the host, the worse the quality.
- VPS Hosting. Requires sysadmin skills, generally knowing your way around a Linux console. When looking for a VPS provider, ensure they provide dedicated cores with good single-thread performance as well as a decent ammount of storage with good read-write speeds, good ram, and a good bit of bandwidth.
- Dedi / Managed Dedi. Not for the faint of heart. Best for larger networks, you'll have full control over your host machine. Best for experienced server owners. If you're considering getting a dedi, if you don't know what you need then dedi's are most likely not for you.
Select a serverhost before you plan out your financial strategy, so you know how much funding you need to operate. There are files in the Hostings folder of this repo that explain in detail how to setup and operate most hosts of the types listed above.
Next is the tricky part: Figuring out how to keep your server afloat. Beyond initial investment funding, there are two primary approaches to funding a server in a profitable way: Perks-based or gratitude-based.
- Perks-based is very very common in the server world. Commonly known as Pay-To-Win (PTW), it's the practice of offering ingame competitive perks and advantages for a cost. It violates the Mojang TOS, however tons of servers still do it anyway. Platforms such as Buycraft/Tebex are good for this.
- Gratitude-based is a rarer, and generally harder to pull off, way of doing things. Platforms such as Patreon are best for this strategy, and you may get a slight boost in it from not being pay-to-win, however it's not always sustainable.
You CAN grant server-wide perks in either of these strategies for achieving donation goals, however that's a stronger influence in Gratitude-based. Gratitude-based also seems to draw in a more considerate playerbase, though that's not always the case.
Ah, the fun part. Now that the nitty-gritty details are out of the way, we can focus on the fun part. The following steps can be followed in any order, however it flows best if you use the order they're listed in.
Pick a name for your server. Avoid generic names like CraftMC or MineServer, as those can come across as uncreative. Instead, think outside the box. Think about what you want your server to be about, the theme, the ideas behind it, all of it, and write down a few ideas. Don't be afraid to make up words or throw words together in ways they wouldn't ordinarily go, though do be grammatically correct.
Pick your color scheme. Generally color schemes come from a bright primary color, a lesser secondary color, and a faint background color. The secondary color is generally defined or influenced by your primary color. If you want, you can use this as a basis for your primary color as well, bearing in mind what impression you want to make. [http://www.arttherapyblog.com/resources/color-meanings-symbolism-charts/#.YMPRl0wpBjR]
Design your server logo. For a full tutorial on logo design as well as image design for servership, see the file Basics_ImageDesign.md. (TODO)
Now that you've planned out your server's fundamental pieces, feel free to take a look at Basics_StartWork.md for next steps, or look around this repository for information you need if you're somewhat experienced.