A good Minecraft server undoubtedly begins with the right staff doing their jobs and along with the server itself, being inviting and welcoming to new guests. Gaining the interest of the players is of high priority and keeping them invested with new things to do and experience is important. Players should see things within a server that aren’t only aesthetically pleasing but functional and make their time spent on the server more efficient as no one likes getting lost or confused at what they’re looking at or trying to use. The added convenience of amenities such as shops and areas where lower level players can utilize anvils and enchanting tables add to the convenience and efficiency to newer players while not giving them a free “hand out” and thus incentivizing further playing sessions. Overall though what should be at the forefront is an inviting server with great staff willing to help solve problems and a server with multiple worlds to create, explore, make friends, and have an amazing time. The beauty of Minecraft is that it can speak to so many people in a million different ways and there’s hours of game play to be had providing the right starting point.
What makes a good minecraft server, in my personal opinion, is friendly staff, cool gameplay, and good building.
If the gameplay is fun, people want to play more. if the builds are good, people enjoy playing more. if the staff is friendly and knows what they are doing, the server should run smoothly. I’ve built for many servers and played on even more, and i can say from experience that if one of the above is not present, the server doesn’t go as well as it could.
Another addition for a good minecraft server is custom gameplay. not just like land claiming and /ah, but stuff you dont find anywhere else. like custom enchants, special objects, add-ons nobody else has.
Another big piece is themes. if a server chooses to have a specific theme, i’ve noticed that if the server sticks to the theme, people seem to enjoy it more than if the theme is broken. if the server has a giant medieval spawn, but the pvp arena is a city, it just feels weird. though with servers with multiple games or modes, doing themes for each different mode works well, or having multiple maps that are randomly chosen for games like hungergames or hide and seek.
It requires active monthly players, plugins, a good map, experienced staff, lack of harassment and bullying, Good servers/mini-games, and almost no problems with the server and players.
The secret is: A great community, run by fair and honest moderators, developed by hard working an loyal staff, owned by an unbiased non-money hungry manager. Properly developed plugins and correctly written configuration files that provide a smooth and bug-free (or as close to it as you can get) gaming experience.
