In this guide we will look at how to grow your Minecraft server community quickly.

All Minecraft servers are faced with this, and many lose hope when they see their server fatally empty... But then why do some manage to get a lot of players on opening day when a majority only get a failure ?

Be the best server

Before anything else, you have to be aware of one thing, to have players it is necessary to question yourself in order to offer relevant content to your players. If they don't find their happiness and start to get bored, they will move on, believe me...

Secondly, you need to compare yourself to your competitors, in order to offer a major advantage to your community by asking yourself the following question : "Why would players go to my server and not to another ?

The secret to success is the content you will offer them, regular events, new features, etc. You will also need to build a serious team with real skills to answer your players' questions and to help them. Believe me, this is a decisive advantage to guarantee the success of your server !

Have a website and a logo

A major asset for the success of your server is to know how to differentiate from others. It will be necessary to give a capital importance to your website which will be your showcase. If your website is ugly, you won't have players, it's as simple as that.

There are specialized CMS for Minecraft, the most famous are :

Some people who believe in their project, opt for a fully customized site, the advantages are numerous (Very good referencing on Google and search engines (SEO), Site that really stands out from your competitors, new features and pages for your community, etc).

If you are interested in entrusting the creation of your server's website to a professional, do not hesitate to contact Hapidev who do a great job, we regularly send customers to them and have only good feedback !

Prepare the launching

Many people forget this crucial step, or tend to "botch" it, yet it is the most important step. It is imperative to choose a strategic date for the opening of your server.

If you want your opening to be successful, you must think carefully about a specific date and time. In most cases, it would be strategic to choose a Saturday in the late afternoon and if possible during the vacation period. You must also plan a date far enough away in time (at least 1 month) in order to give you time to prepare your publicity and create an ultra-important effect: The HYPE !

Advertising

Here we are at the concrete step, the more advertising channels you will use, the more chances you will have to succeed in your opening. Please note that this article will be updated regularly because the list is not exhaustive. There are thousands of ways to communicate, I have selected the best ones according to my personal experience and the many customers we had on Hosterfy.

Forums and specialized sites

This first channel is a "must", not only because it is ultra effective because it is totally targeted to the minecraftian community, but also because it is a long term advertising. When you write an article on a specialized forum, in reality it is also referenced on Google, and you increase your traffic tenfold.

Be careful, I see you coming... When I talk about a forum article, I mean a complete, clear presentation, without spelling mistakes. If you make a 3 lines presentation to introduce your server, no need to tell you that your post will be totally ineffective. Don't forget to indicate the date and time of the opening as well as the link to your site and your networks (especially Discord which we'll talk about a little later).

I also invite you to regularly post ads on specialized sites like PixelAds, it's a site gathering mainly a big active community on Minecraft, you can also take advantage of it to recruit the members of your team.

Word of mouth

Everyone knows this technique. Word of mouth works very well, but if you only rely on it you will not get any players when your server opens. This strategy is best used when your server is already up and running and you already have a good reputation. To get started, start by inviting your friends and their acquaintances !

Minecraft server lists

There are quite a few referencing sites specialized for Minecraft. I strongly advise you to be present and active on several of them, you will find below a list of the main sites on which you must be referenced.

The way it works is very simple, you register your server by filling in the different fields (server IP, name, website, description, etc.), then you ask your players regularly to vote on it in exchange for a reward. There are plugins to do this (Votifier for example). I strongly advise you to pay a lot of attention to the presentation of your server on this type of site and to invite your players as often as possible to vote to go up in the rankings, because this is how you will get the majority of your players.

I would also advise you to pay bets on this type of list in order to get the best results, believe me it's totally profitable if you do it right you will have a big flow of players coming in. Money is the lifeblood of the game !

Main lists :

Discord

Having a discord, is for most a normal step, but is often misused for opening a server. The goal is to gather and invite as many targeted members as possible (likely to join the server) on your discord in order to create as said above the HYPE effect. You will be able to publish regularly some spoils and news until the opening day when you will be able to notify them of the opening so that they don't forget !

Partnerships

Surrounding yourself with the right people is good, but surrounding yourself with influencers is even better! Try to negotiate partnerships with youtubers, streamers, or other communities that can bring you players. This is an effective technique to build your community quickly.

Social networks

You can also communicate on social networks (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, etc), the most effective for Minecraft in my opinion remains Twitter, we have always had good results especially for Minecraft.

YouTube and Twitch

As explained above, it is imperative to find youtubers and streamers who will promote your Minecraft server and announce its opening. You will have to choose the ones with the most subscribers and views and whose main activity is Minecraft in order to maximize your results and budget. Most of them will do it for benefits or will ask exclusively for compensation, there is something for every budget.

Giveaways

An interesting way to get players is to organize contests. You will be able to make your community win prizes on Twitter for example. It's also a great way to get known and to quickly create a buzz.

The essential choice of the host

During the opening, you will have a lot of players, a server crash would be a real tragedy and would result in a failed opening. In order to avoid this, you must therefore choose your host carefully in order to have the best performance.

By choosing Hosterfy, you will not only benefit from extreme performance (4.7 Ghz high frequency Ryzen, DDR4 RAM and Nvme storage) but also from a real support throughout your project with a friendly team !

The world attracts the world

In any case, don't lose hope, nothing is lost because we always learn from our mistakes. As they say, "the world attracts the world", the more players you have online, the more people you will attract !