Would you like to start getting profits from your Minecraft server, and afford to pay hosting fees? We have found 8 ways Minecraft servers make money from the first week.
The most profitable way to make money on Minecraft servers is by starting a donation store, setting up a Patreon, selling monthly ranks, and using affiliates to sell for you.
Table of Contents
How Minecraft servers make money (8 ways)
1. Start a donation store
The easiest way to earn money from your Minecraft server is by setting up a donations store. Web stores usually feature in-game content, such as ranks, special items, crate keys, etc. Server donations are an efficient way to earn since players can pay fixed amounts of money, and reward players with in-game rewards.
You can use our donations plugin to capture donations, which is cheaper than alternative server donation tools.
2. Charge people to play on your Minecraft server
Charging people to play on your Minecraft server is the easiest way to gain income. This can happen by using a whitelist and giving access to players on private worlds.
Basically, your server will be hidden behind a whitelist, and in order to gain access, players must pay a subscription fee. These types of servers don’t break the EULA, and help receive money from your private community.
You can also create a private membership server, which is something that server networks do to earn extra income.
3. Sell monthly ranks
Monthly ranks give players commands, cosmetics, and in-game rewards, which are acquired through paying a small subscription fee.
Most servers sell a package for obtaining a monthly rank across their whole network for a small price.
Players often prefer to have premium ranks across server networks, and pay monthly, rather than pay a one-time 1 rank per server.
4. Start a Patreon
Patreon is the easiest way to earn money without plugins. For example, HermitCraft is on Patreon and accepts donations without using plugins. Players can choose their subscription periods, and receive any kind of reward, without breaking the Mojang EULA.
5. Add paid priority queue
A good way to prevent losses and monetize from Minecraft servers is by including paid membership. This is a popular technique used by 2b2t. Premium players can skip queue waiting times, and access the server faster.
There is no problem with offering queue spots, as this does not interfere with the EULA
6. Setup affiliate system
Affiliates are the best way to engage both your in-game players and advertisers. Affiliates are based on small commissions, handed to a person after a product is sold successfully through his referral code.
By setting up an affiliate system, you can pay with credit, which will be used to buy in-game perks. This tactic has managed to increase the sales of new servers by 147%, by keeping money inside the server and keeping inflation in servers low.
7. Hire server and business managers
Hiring a server manager means hiring people who take care of updates, moderation, etc. With a server manager, you leave the groundwork to an employed person and have more time to focus on important details.
A business manager on the other hand could audit, and pinpoint how your server can make more money. Business managers are working towards success and visibility. They are a crucial part of managing servers and help you scale your Minecraft server project.
8. Rent your Minecraft server
Many server owners get to a point where managing their server becomes very time-consuming, to a point where updates are being slowed down. That’s where renting a Minecraft server could be very helpful.
Renting a Minecraft server is when you let another person take over as an owner, and pay you a monthly sum. It could be a very profitable idea, and keep earning you money, but renting Minecraft servers is risky.
Rad is the lead writer for the MineLabz team, dedicated to writing content for Minecraft enthusiasts. Combining Minecraft and Marketing, Rad creates all kinds of articles for the server development community.
