Whether you're a new Minecraft server or an established Minecraft server, they all require the same thing in common - advertisement, and this guide will provide a few ways that you can do that.
There are a bunch of free and paid routes that you can go down, but this guide will only discuss free ways to grow your Minecraft server.
Minecraft Server Lists
By far one of the best ways to grow a Minecraft server is by submitting your server to a server list. You're probably asking, what is that? A Minecraft server list is a website that contains a bunch of Minecraft servers to play on. When a player wants to join a new server, they will usually go to these websites to find one to play on. These are an excellent choice and always the first recommendation.
There are many Minecraft server lists that exist, but the following are a few of our favourites:
Once you've added your server, we highly recommend that you setup Votifier and enable voting, which we will be discussing in the next section.
Adding Votifier
Many server lists are shown with the highest number of votes first, this means that players from your Minecraft server would come on and vote for you on a daily basis. But, why would players vote for your Minecraft server if they got no benefit out of it?
That's where vote rewards come in with the Votifier plugin, by configuring these players are able to be rewarded within your server for sparing a minute of their time per day. This can be simple from a diamond in the game, all the way to in-game currency within your Minecraft server.
You can install Votifier by:
- Downloading the plugin.
- Placing the
Votifier.jarfile in your serversplugins/folder. - Restarting your Minecraft server.
You're done! When you configure Votifier on a server list, you'll need the public key, which can be found within the plugins/Votifier/rsa folder. You'll need to copy the contents within the public file, and not the private one.
Configuring Vote Rewards
Once you've configured Votifier, you'll need a vote reward plugin so that players are able to be rewarded when they vote for your Minecraft server.
From previous experience, I'd highly recommend either:
- VotingPlugin (Free)
- VoteParty (Paid)
Both solutions provide a fantastic way to let players get rewarded for voting.
Tell your friends
It may seem obvious, but word of mouth is the best and easiest way to grow your Minecraft server. Often people are more likely to play a server when a friend mentions it, compared to just randomly finding it from an online listing website. If you have social media, this is a fantastic place to share the word about your Minecraft server, plus you already have a connection with them, and it's much easier to get feedback after.
The only downside to this approach, is the possibility that family and friends may want additional permissions or other advantages because they know you. This can be unfair to other players, and we would recommend setting boundaries from the start to keep an equal playing field.
Community boards
A great way to get your server out there is by posting it on a Minecraft forum, these are websites where both players and server owners can interact, and often a great hub for those looking for a new server to play on. In addition, it is a great place to meet new friends who have the same interests as you.
Here are a few I'd personally recommend:
When posting on these websites, we would highly recommend putting your server IP and version within your signature, as it can allow others to quickly join your server from other interactions.
Content creation
Another good method of getting your server seen by others, is by creating and uploading a video that showcases the features that your Minecraft server has. There are a few great platforms out there you can use, one of which has started trending in the last few months.
YouTube
A YouTube video is a fantastic place to share your server, due to its popularity and easy reach amongst the younger generation especially. I would highly recommend making your video short (30 seconds or less), straight to the point that shows why your Minecraft server over others.
Tiktok
If there was any content creation platform I could recommend lately, it would no doubt be Tiktok, it has had a massive rise in popularity in the last 6 months especially. Many Minecraft servers have started using the platform to grow their Minecraft server, and many have taken their server from less than 100 players - all the way to a staggering 800 players at their peak.
Tiktok videos should highlight your main catchy features, as these videos are short form, along with showing your servers IP address and version so players know where to connect.
Final notes
Growing your Minecraft server takes time and patience, and I would highly recommend sticking with it for the benefits in the long run. By following the information listed in this guide, you'll have a completely free way to grow your Minecraft server, with time and effort needed to propel your server forward.
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Analyse: The Minecraft Server Analytics Platform
Monitor your Minecraft servers growth with our Minecraft Analytics solution, completely free for Tebex creators.
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