This article is a translation of the following Japanese article:
Original: 【マイクラ】身内サーバーが続かない理由｜過疎る原因と長続きさせるコツ
Minecraft’s Private server (private server where you can play with friends, family, etc.) may be exciting at first, but there are many people who are worried that “people suddenly stopped coming” or “the server became depopulated.”
Simply having “no one on the server” can greatly impair the gaming experience, so it is important to understand the cause and take countermeasures.
In this article,
- Main reasons why family servers do not continue
- Pitfalls of server management
- Specific tips to make it last longer
in an easy-to-understand manner even for beginners.
Author: “Minecraft multi-servers have a strong characteristic of being fun because there are people. Depending on the environment and planning, there is a difference between a “server that lasts” and a “server that you quickly get bored of”.
1. It’s exciting at first, but it’s easy to get bored
While the basic play of Minecraft has a high degree of freedom, the goal tends to be vague.
For the first few days to weeks on a family server
- Create a base
- Go on a mining tour
- Enjoy farming and animal husbandry
It’s fun to work collaboratively, but there are cases where there’s nothing to do after completing the goal.
If you look at the posts from community administrators, there are a lot of opinions that say, “It’s fun at the beginning, but people lose interest because they don’t know what to do.”
Author: “Minecraft is a game in which you decide what you want to do.”While that freedom is the source of the fun, it can also be difficult to continue playing without a clear purpose or mission.”
2. People stop coming due to technical problems
2-1 Lag/crash/server crash
Server-side technical issues are the most common cause of attrition.
External research has also reported that 25% of Minecraft server administrators have lost players due to server lag, crashes, and downtime.
Specifically,
- Server crashes frequently
- The lag is so bad that it is unplayable
- Multiplayer is unstable due to network delay
This is the situation.
Particularly when using a shared hosting environment, stability is likely to be low and players are likely to leave.
Author: “The server environment is directly linked to the ease of play.Even if the environment is cheap at first, if lags and crashes continue, people may not come back.”
2-2 Conflicts of MODs and plugins
If you have installed mods or plugins, you may experience compatibility issues.
If the MOD versions do not match on the server and client, connection errors and crashes will occur, causing players to be unable to participate.
Author: “While the MOD environment is fun, it requires proper management. Version mismatch is the first stumbling block for beginners.”
3. Server management issues
3-1 Insufficient management of labor division and sharing
On a family server, If only the administrator is working, it tends to be difficult to continue.
If there is no administrator, no replies, or server settings are left unattended, players will naturally leave.
Even in communities such as Reddit, there are many posts saying “the server operator left midway” and “the staff is unavailable.”
Author: “Whether a server survives or not depends largely on whether it has an operational presence.”
3-2 No rules or order
If the rules within the server remain ambiguous,
- griefing (destruction of someone else’s building)
- 盗難
- Trouble is left unattended
This problem is more likely to occur.
Especially in a family server between beginners, when these things happen, dissatisfaction accumulates and can cause leaving.
Author: “Minimum rules and penalties are important to prevent collisions.”
4. External factors (real-life circumstances/influence of other games)
The reason why the family server does not continue is not only on the server side.
Playing time often decreases due to factors outside of the game, such as friends’ real life cycles, the appearance of other games, lack of time, etc.
In fact, in community posts, we see comments such as “I don’t have time for work or school” and “I’m bored with other games.”
Author: “If there are no people, it is not necessarily the server itself that is at fault.Changes in real life and the appearance of new games also have an impact.”
5. Tips to prevent depopulation (specific measures)
5-1 Create a common purpose
In order to maintain a family server, it is important to have a common goal or theme.
For example,
- Architecture contest
- PvP convention
- Large redstone project
that have clear things to do.
Author: “If you have a common goal of “Let’s do this again today,” it will be much easier to avoid withdrawal.”
5-2 Prepare a stable server environment
Lags and crashes are one of the biggest causes of dropouts.
When using a rental server or VPS, choose a highly reliable plan and create a stable environment with little downtime.
Surveys show that VPS and dedicated server users tend to have less player abandonment than shared hosting users.
Author: “The more money you spend, the more stable it will be, but the minimum you want to have is an environment that won’t crash while playing.”
5-3 Rule development and troubleshooting
It is important to establish minimum rules and a moderator (administrator), and create an environment where you can quickly respond when trouble occurs.
Explicit rules prevent complaints such as building destruction and item theft, and encourage medium- to long-term play.
Author: “Having rules creates an environment where you can play with peace of mind,” making it difficult for participants to leave.
6. Points for building a community
6-1 Service sharing
Even in a family server, dividing roles among players will help create a sense of responsibility.
For example,
- In charge of event planning
- Construction Supervision
- Economics (exchange operation)
By simply creating a person in charge, the number of people who are actively involved will increase.
Author: “Dividing up roles is an opportunity to change from a server where only one person plays to a server where everyone grows together.”
Summary｜Keeping in mind to continue running a family server
The reason why the Minecraft family server does not continue is
- Boredom and lack of goals
- Technical issues (lag/crash)
- Absence of management/lack of rules
- Changes in real life
There are multiple factors.
If left unattended, it will lead to depopulation and withdrawal, so as a preventive measure
- Set clear objectives
- Create a stable environment
- Prepare rules and response systems
- Nurture relationships between players
The four points are valid.
Author: “The value of a Minecraft server is the time you spend with people. Cultivating relationships and purpose, not just the technical environment, is the key to supporting a long-lasting server.”
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