How to promote your Minecraft server

Get the basics right first

New players decide in seconds whether to try a server. Before you spend time promoting yours, make sure that what they find works and looks finished:

• It's online when people look. Check it from outside your own network with the status checker.
• The MOTD says what the server is. Gamemode and version on the first line. The MOTD generator helps.
• It has an icon in the multiplayer list. Make one with the server icon maker.
• There's a way to reach you, usually a Discord server with your rules and news.
• The first minutes are clear. A tidy spawn, a short way to get started and staff online at busy times.

List it on server lists

Players browse server lists by gamemode, version and country. Listing is free on most of them, CraftVote included. List your server on several, with the same name and address everywhere, so players recognise it.

Pick tags that match what the server really has, write a description that answers players' questions and add a banner. Our listing tips go through each part, and the banner maker makes the banner.

Give players a reason to vote

Lists like CraftVote rank servers by votes, so your own players move you up. A small reward in the game for every vote makes voting a habit: see how vote rewards work. Add a /vote command with your vote links and remind players now and then.

Use Discord

Discord is where most Minecraft communities live. Some ways to use it without being a nuisance:

• Keep your own Discord server tidy: rules, news, a place to report bugs and a channel for each gamemode.
• Partner with servers of a similar size: you share each other's news.
• Post in Discord servers that have a channel for server ads, and follow their rules (how often, which format).
• Don't send private messages to strangers. It annoys people, and Discord limits accounts that do it.

Post where players look for servers

Reddit communities and forums with a section for server ads bring players who are looking right now. Read each place's rules first: many allow one post a week or a month and remove posts that break them. Show what makes your server different, add a screenshot or two, and answer questions under your post.

Short videos and streams

A 20 second clip of a build, an event or a funny moment can reach players who never open a server list. Put the address on screen. Small YouTubers and streamers often like a server with an event or a challenge to show: invite them and give them a way in.

Your own website

A simple page with the address, the version, the rules, your Discord and your vote links helps players who search for your server's name, and gives every other post one place to point to.

Keep the players who come

Promotion brings players for a visit. What keeps them is the server:

• Hold events at the hours most of your players are online, so new players find people there.
• Listen to feedback and say what you changed.
• Keep staff friendly, and fix bugs and lag before you promote again.
• Ask new players where they found you. It tells you which of these is worth your time.