Minecraft vote rewards: how voting sites work

What a vote does

On a server list, players vote for the servers they like. On CraftVote a player can vote for each server once a day, with only their Minecraft username, and the day starts again at midnight UTC.

Votes rank the list: on CraftVote it is ordered by this month's votes and every server starts again at 0 on the 1st. A reward in the game gives players a reason to vote every day, so your own community moves you up.

How the vote reaches your server

The list sends each vote to your server through Votifier: a small message with the player's name, the list's name and the time. Your server runs a Votifier plugin that listens on its own port, then a rewards plugin hands out the reward.

• NuVotifier (version 2) uses a token: the list knows the vote arrived. It also understands the older kind. Its port is 8192 unless you change it, and it must be open (TCP) and different from the game's port.
• Votifier version 1 uses a public key, and the server never answers, so the list can't tell whether a vote arrived.
• A rewards plugin such as VotingPlugin decides what each vote gives, and can keep rewards for players who voted while offline.

Step by step with pictures: the Java guide. In more detail: Votifier help.

Bedrock servers

A Bedrock Dedicated Server can't run Votifier, so it works the other way round: the server asks the list whether a player voted.

• Bedrock Dedicated Server: a vote key from CraftVote and the free BedrockVote addon. See the Bedrock guide.
• Java with Geyser: NuVotifier on the Java side, with the names Floodgate gives Bedrock players. See the Geyser guide.
• Nukkit: the VotifierNukkit plugin. See the Nukkit guide.

Rewards that work

Good rewards are small, daily and fair to players who don't vote:

• A crate key, some in-game money or a little experience for every vote.
• A bonus for a streak, like 7 days in a row.
• A vote party: when the whole server reaches a number of votes, everyone online gets something.
• Cosmetics, like a title or a particle trail for the month's top voters.
• Skip items that decide fights. Rewards that feel pay to win drive away the players who don't vote.

Test it before you tell players

On CraftVote, your server's page has Send test vote: it sends a vote under a name you pick and shows whether it arrived. A delivery log shows each real vote and, when one fails, why: a closed port, a wrong token, or a server that was offline. Votes that can't be delivered are tried again for a while.