server Trying to start a multiplayer server, where do I start?

[P0ST4L DUD3]

Long story short, relying on random players to choose my server from the other thousands isn't working out. I want to make a roleplay server that will center around survival and roleplay with roughly 60 mods. I don't know where to start, where to advertise, or how to keep my playerbase active if I go through with this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

And before you start, I am not going to join a server with over 200 mods. That's ridiculous.

[LadyWYT]

40 minutes ago, P0ST4L DUD3 said:

I want to make a roleplay server that will center around survival and roleplay with roughly 60 mods. I don't know where to start

I think the best place to start is figure out what kind of roleplaying server you want to run. Is it PvE, or PvP? What is the setting and associated lore, and expectations that go with that lore? Is it intended to be a casual roleplaying experience, or a serious one? Does the roleplaying require voice chat? Are there specific roleplaying events intended to take place, or is more of a free-for-all?

Answering these questions will not only help you determine how to set up the server and decide which mods you'll need to enhance the experience, but will also inform prospective players about what experience they can expect. Some players might prefer a high fantasy setting, while others might prefer real world survival, while still others might prefer the vanilla game's lore. Some players are okay with voice chat, and some are not; likewise, many servers like to use Discord as a notice board, but not every player is willing to use Discord.

As far as casual versus serious roleplaying experience, I would note it's quite important to make your expectations clear up front, and be diligent about enforcing rules to support the intended experience. A casual RP server is great for players who just want to hang out and have fun messing around, however, casual RP tends not to support complex or long-lived story arcs, and tends to be a turn-off for players preferring a more serious experience. Likewise, a serious RP server will often have more complex stories/lore and higher quality RP, but it comes at the cost of stricter rules in order to ensure such quality. It's not that casual RPers and serious RPers can never mix, but more that each player type tends to have very different goals, and trying to cater to both usually ends up frustrating for all involved.

It's also a good idea to list the general operating time/location of the server, since that can make a difference regarding player schedules and connections.

54 minutes ago, P0ST4L DUD3 said:

where to advertise

The Multiplayer section of the forums sees many server advertisements. I assume the VS Discord has a channel for server advertisement as well, though I'm not sure.

 

56 minutes ago, P0ST4L DUD3 said:

how to keep my playerbase active if I go through with this.

Players are somewhat unpredictable and you can't really force anyone to play on the server. That being said, making your expectations clear up front and curating an enjoyable experience will tend to not only attract players, but get them to stay as well. Server events can also help keep players active, though the base server experience must be decent for these to really do any good.

[P0ST4L DUD3]

THANK YOU!!

[LadyWYT]

Oh, I'll also mention that if you intend to go the modded route, you might want to test the modlist in singleplayer first in order to make sure everything is playing nicely. That's not to say issues don't slip past testing, but you don't want to launch the server and have players start playing, only to figure out that certain mods are incompatible with each other or otherwise having issues.