Community¶
A community is key for a Minecraft server. It keeps players connected to your server. It also makes your server a fun place. A community is not for sale, but it is worth a lot. You build a community and have to maintain a community as a true leader. We'll discuss three things in this guide: building a community, maintaining a community and some general tips.
Before discussing how to build and maintain a community, it's important to understand why people become part of a community and what they are looking for there. With this basis in mind, we can then look at how you can set up a community yourself.
To become an active member of a community, four things are needed: meaning, value, agency and urgency. This boils down to the following: if someone attaches meaning and value to what is done in a community (it is about the interests and it is interesting to read) and at the same time there is a sense of agency to participate in the discussions and if you can't wait until tomorrow, then you know for sure that your members will join your community. If one of these aspects is missing, you will soon see that people give up.
But at the same time, safety is also very important in a good community. This safety is a very broad concept, but it boils down to keeping your members secure and to the mutual respect of the members towards each other. If this is optimal, then members will also want to go through fire to protect the community.
Building a community¶
Building a community is the first step. A community often comes together automatically, if you create the opportunity. Create a Discord, Teamspeak or another group and share the link with your current players. Keep in mind that you are always growing slower than you want. Especially at the beginning, because every beginning is difficult. But also know that growth is exponential: the more players you have, the greater your reach, the faster you grow!
People hate taking steps, reading and thinking about registering. The more complicated your process is to register on Minecraft / Discord, the more players will drop out. For players who drop out, it is very difficult to come back. So make sure that you only let players take the most necessary steps. If you still want to collect more information about your community members, consider other options. For example, you can encourage players to complete their profile or link their Discord to their Minecraft. This is extra effective by rewarding them at the end.
Remember that you don't want to just advertise everywhere. Think about your target audience and aim your ads at them. If you do not advertise to your target group, players will appear who do not fit the current or intended community. There is always quality versus quantity, you would rather have a player that gives you pleasure than 10 that only costs you effort.
Maintaining your community¶
A community must remain "alive". That means there is activity, members talk to each other, come up with ideas and do things. When a community comes to a standstill, it is very difficult to get the community going again. So always make sure that your community stays going.
One of the best ways to keep members engaged is events. This can be incredibly lengthy and doesn't even have to be related to Minecraft. As long as members interact with each other
To keep a community a fun place, there should be as few "bad apples" in your community as possible. These are members who don't want the best for the community. Think of toxic members, trolls, bullies, and so on. This is best done by showing individual members that they are responsible for their community, but at the same time, it is very difficult. And on top of that, the more members a community has, the less likely the individual will feel responsible.
General tips¶
Always stay nice. If you react unkindly or bluntly yourself, this is a sign to players that this is the way to communicate within your community. At the same time, it is also clear that a toxic community can never survive. At the same time, the advice is to be clear. What are the rules and where are the boundaries? Be consistent and stay above your community.
A community makes your server stronger. Use your community for feedback, because you can learn from a community what your strengths are and where you can improve. Do not use your community to only send announcements.
Finally, remember: it is easy to leave a server, it is much difficult to leave a community (and therefore friends).