I hope this isn't too general, but how do I build up a private community?
Hey admincraft, I've recently gotten around to opening up a private creative server that I've been wanting to host for a while now, and I want to create a fun and close community around it. I guess an analogy would be Hermitcraft, but focused on creative projects and without the large YouTube channel and fanbases behind each player. I have the technical knowledge to make everything happen but I don't really have a clue of how I can meet and get on board people who would enjoy the server and be good, active community members. I'm not sure if advertising as much as I can is the way to go, because I'm not aiming for a big server. I'm finding it hard to invite people because even if they are interested in the gameplay, we likely don't know each other and that's a really big barrier to get over and commonly ends up with them playing less and less.
For those who have successfully hosted communities like the one I hope to create (not necessarily the same gameplay or even game), how did you do it? Any tips, resources, etc.? Thanks :D
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Requested by outerwildsfan9318054#0
Mine started with just friends, and so far has been slowly growing based on mouth to mouth
While this is an awful and slow way to grow a community (last year was when I considered making a network to have something more stable) it is at least useful to get your first players, so new ones won’t find the server empty
Also, some people that chat a lot in discord put their invite/ip in their bio
I see I see, unfortunately I don't really have any real life or online friends who are both interested in this type of server. And yeah, I've found that for new players who I don't know finding a pretty much empty server is a big contributor to them growing disinterested
If you don't mind could I ask how large your server is now, and how old it is?
Mine's very small around 40 at most and up until last year the server ran on a seasonal basis, it comes for a month, closes and then comes back renewed with fresh ideas after 4-6 months
We used to be 20, but I made a streamer friend that likes to play there, so last year we doubled to 40
Wow we have different definitions of very small xD My ideal server would really be maybe 20 people at most. And do you mean you've been resetting the world every season?
Yup
Not only the world, also custom items and so, since I like to give servers some modifications with texture packs
Then last year I found out that there are plugins to automate that work, so now it's quicker than before
That's pretty interesting- so your server is an SMP right?
The ones I made so far yes, right now I'm trying to replicate a sort of "minigame" common in singleplayer adventure maps (complete the monument), which is supposed to be the main attraction of the network
The network idea was because players usually get bored after a while and that kind of server takes a lot of time to make, so minigames might keep them entertained in the meantime
Oh I see
That's pretty cool ty :> I'll keep in mind the idea of getting members to help passively promote the server/community
Btw, your server is mostly creative gamemode right? Like those with plotsquared were players can build whatever they want
It's a bit more private than those so it's without plots or any formal claims system for now, everyone builds in one or one of a few communities in an open world
So, a regular vanilla world, but people play in creative?
Like, if someone finds a cool mountain, they can build something there
Yes, a regular vanilla world in creative, but with trying to organize builds in one or a couple locations
You might want to consider a world protection plugin, like griefprevention or protection stones
There’s people who just like to destroy everything when having that much access (creative)
As for how to get a community, since your ideal is around 20 people, why don’t you visit some mapmaking communities?
People there like to build a lot, will probably be happy to have somewhere to relax building on multiplayer
Yeah I’m on the fence because the community is supposed to be very private but you’re right that it’s still a bit risky, and the benefits of not having any claims system is sort of dwindling in my mind. But there’s also the fact that if people have access to creative and one bad actor gets into the server posing as a good member, they could easily wreck everything outside of the claims and we’d need to load a backup anyways
Hey that’s a good idea, thanks! I’ll look into that