With the recent announcement about changes to the EULA (and in particular, how they will affect multiplayer servers), many questions have arisen. Mojang has looked over numerous discussions by you, the community, and has released a new Q&A announcement, to address some of the most frequently-asked questions to come from the announcement. More many come in the future, but for now, check out these clarifying answers, direct from Mojang!
Quote fromAre any servers exempt to the EULA?
No. It affects all servers and players equally.
Do server hosts have a grace period to implement changes to their servers?
Yes. All servers must comply with the EULA by August 1st, 2014.
Can I charge for access to my server?
Yes. How players join a server is up to you. Single entrance fees or subscriptions are both allowed.
How often am I allowed to charge players to access my server?
You can charge players as regularly as you like. You can even charge for timed access if you think it’s the best way to monetise your server.
What counts as a server? Are proxies one big server, or lots of smaller ones?
A server is something a user connects to with their client. The user is on a different server when they leave the one they are connected to and manually join another (in the multiplayer screen). Virtual servers and proxies make no difference here, to the client it’s the same server.
Can I charge access to a specific part of my server, such as a minigame or world?
No, you cannot charge for any part of a server other than the initial access. Once on a server, all players must have the same gameplay privileges. You may make a different server for the user to connect to which features “premium” areas, and charge for access to that server instead, but the benefits cannot carry over to your other servers.
So can I charge for my minigames or mods?
Yes, so long as all players on your server have access to the features.
Can I offer a limited trial period for all users?
Yes. So long as both trial and paying users have access to the same gameplay features during the trial, we’re cool with it.
Can I give paying users priority access to my server?
Yes, but you cannot restrict gameplay elements to specific users.
Does the EULA still apply for access to user-created mods?
Yes. It doesn’t make a difference who made the mods, or how they were implemented onto your server. All mods require Minecraft to run. You are not allowed to charge for Minecraft features which affect gameplay.
What do you mean by “hard currency” compared to “soft currency”?
Hard currency is real money or anything that can be converted into real money, including Bitcoins. Soft currency is available in-game only, and has no real-world value. The restriction in the EULA only apply to hard currency; you may unlock anything with soft currency.
Can I sell “kits” for hard currency if I provide a balanced alternative for non-paying users?
If the “kits” contain gameplay-affecting features they are not allowed. Gameplay balance is not relevant to the EULA. If the items included in the kit are purely cosmetic, you can charge real money/hard currency.
My server features a currency that you can earn through gameplay, but which can also be bought for hard currency. Is that OK?
Soft currencies that are solely earned in-game are fine, but you cannot sell in-game currency for hard currency. Hybrid/dual currency systems are not allowed.
Can I sell boosters, which provide faster gold gain, XP, or other in-game resources for hard currency?
No – boosters, item generators, and all other features that affect gameplay are not allowed.
So how do I make money from cosmetic items?
You can sell cosmetic items for hard currency directly or allow players to fund an “account” specific to your server. It’s up to the host of the server to decide how this works. Remember that capes are the exception to this rule – you are not allowed to give them away or sell them.
Can I sell ranks on my server?
Yes. Ranks are allowed so long as any perks gained are cosmetic. Coloured names, prefixes, special hats etc. are fine.
Can users purchase something that affects the entire server, such as a temporary XP boost?
Yes, but everyone who can access the server must be able to use the feature, regardless of whether they purchased it or not.
Can I award all players with a gameplay feature if I reach a donation goal within a time period?
Yes, so long as all players receive the benefit regardless of who donated then it’s OK.
Can I charge for access to server commands?
Yes, as long as their effects are purely cosmetic. Commands that affect gameplay, such as a command to fly, cannot be sold for hard currency.
If all players get access to a feature such as a plot of land, can I sell access to multiple plots for hard currency?
No – that would be a gameplay affecting change, so it’s not allowed. All player who access your server must have the same gameplay features offered to them. The same rule applies to items, such as potions.
How should servers deal with users who have already spent hard currency on features that affect gameplay?
Users may keep the perks they have paid for, on the condition that the same perks are available to other players on the server (directly, or purchasable using soft currency). It’s up to the server host to decide how to compensate users for previous transactions.
Do you have a question you would like answered about the EULA? Let's discuss it in the comments!
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EXTREMELY FRIENDLY REMINDER OF FRIENDLINESS AND HAPPY-JOY FEELINGS
Please keep all discussion as civil as possible! This is a very hot topic, and we understand that there are very strong feelings about the EULA. That's okay! Open discussion is a GOOD thing! However, please avoid the following:
- Name-calling
- Encouraging (or claiming to engage in) EULA violations
... says the typical free-loader that never donated to a server. A P2P plan provides stability, adaptability, and overall higher quality experience. Oh, and it doesn't have to cost $15/mo. per user.
for example; if you are the last person alive on survival games, you win. don't make me explain that.
A report system?
What part of their latest announcements are ambiguous?! They went out of their way to put it in wording that we would understand first. Even Notch said on his website how the lawyers will have to change it to legal speak later:
- Notch.net
Teleport to play? I mean I don't have to but it's a whole lot better playing with brother's and sister's. Especially when say my cousin join's the server but he would have to travel say like 5 million block's to get to me? Extremely inconvenient. I know nether traveling but still. Take's time. Or just in general showing off your build's to your in game pal's. And it's not like I can live right outside of spawn. Ill be trampled by raider's and noob's. It's just not fun waiting for some one to travel to your base and probably die a few time's doing so to play with them.
Not really. . .I'm sure that some noob first-day servers will charge money. . .just like many noob-first-day servers have a lot of undeveloped overpriced buggy donator ranks.
Maybe a lot less than the donator ranks, but I am sure that it will still happen.
As an example, Donor areas and VIP areas, that is how other servers are affected. Many servers have an area for donors or VIPs to hang out and make specific purchases or sales only they can make or at a time earlier than others, hence the benefits of donating or purchasing a VIP rank. Now, assuming we ignore the purchases or sales, or assume those sales are purely cosmetic:
Which is both silly and severely limiting in terms of what the benefit to a VIP rank would actually be. Why shouldn't a donor get to have a donor area separate from the normal play area? And this is coming from someone who doesn't donate or buy from servers.
I've talked it over with my friend who develops the plugins on the server I play on, he thinks everything's in the lines, but I'm just concerned; why shouldn't server owners be allowed to sell additional content, areas, or quests, so long as those areas don't affect the main storyline or ability for normal players to level up too much? Even if you do find that wrong, what about hosting the same minigame but for VIP only players, how is that wrong? What's wrong with a 2x boost type item? It's one thing to ban the sale of items which may be considered abusive, scamming, or "gamebreaking", it's quite another to say "all for-sale items must be cosmetic and purely cosmetic".
1. The "donator's wish" gives then an unfair advantage. There is no way you can say a diamond being sold for 10 cents doesn't give an advantage.
2. The EULA is still being broken and the server is still selling something (NO IT IS NOT technically a donation) that is Mojang's property without their permission.
Server can just adapt to the EULA or drop dead (or they can not follow the EULA and risk their time)
Then unless everyone looking for a server was stupid and impulsive, they won't last long unless they improve their quality.
Sure, although I'm sure it's almost impossible to target every server even with a report system, doesn't mean Mojang shouldn't enforce their EULA.
How is Mojang "funding" the server? The server is responsible for the sale, and distribution of said items. Mojang coded it once, and did nothing else. I can see your point of view, but I disagree. By maintains these servers, we're doing Mojang a favor by giving players a fun place to play and subsequently causes the players to tell friends, who buy copies. I myself have been responsible for no less than 5 people buying Minecraft by telling them about it.
I also have no moral qualms whatsoever about selling in-game items for money as long as it is to support the server.
If things do actually change (I'm still sceptical) then yea man, there are lots of people who stand to have lots of cash spent just instantly becoming "just like everyone else". Mind you I didn't say their $ was worth nothing as maybe it kept a server alive or someone's job afloat. But yea, they didn't pay all that money to be like everyone else now did they! Ohhhhh they gonna be mad.
They are unintentionally funding the server by having their property sold without permission (eg : the 10 cent diamond)
If servers can't maintain themselves without violating the EULA then they shouldn't be surprised if Mojang takes legal action against them.
You did read the FAQ right Drenn?
They didn't even really try to enforce it, it's kind of obvious they never really did at all.
I disagree. With Mojang's capital, and already massive popularity, they could stop allowing self-hosted servers altogether and release their own Mojang-managed (NOT REALMS, where YOU manage it) MMO-style servers. Seriously, they could do it. They could probably price it at $4/mo. and it would be a commercial success. If they haven't already considered this, I would be surprised.
You obviously have no concept of "business image". Even though, it's always been illegal, and even though Minecraft servers are not affiliated with Mojang in any way... like it or not, there are big servers out there tarnishing Mojang's image. Mojang needs to fix this in order to maintain their business.
Will servers like Mineplex be able to keep thier payed ranks with special prices for things, but allow non-payer ranks to access the same things, but for a higher price?
I have a concept of business image. The only *obvious* thing here is that we don't agree on what a good business image is.
If the EULA goes through, I and many of the people I know, will see Mojang as that company that shut down all the servers so people had to buy their own cruddy hosting service.
CommanderDrenn, on 16 June 2014 - 08:03 PM, said:
How is Mojang "funding" the server? The server is responsible for the sale, and distribution of said items. Mojang coded it once, and did nothing else. I can see your point of view, but I disagree. By maintains these servers, we're doing Mojang a favor by giving players a fun place to play and subsequently causes the players to tell friends, who buy copies. I myself have been responsible for no less than 5 people buying Minecraft by telling them about it.
I also have no moral qualms whatsoever about selling in-game items for money as long as it is to support the server.
They are unintentionally funding the server by having their property sold without permission (eg : the 10 cent diamond)
If servers can't maintain themselves without violating the EULA then they shouldn't be surprised if Mojang takes legal action against them.
You did read the FAQ right Drenn?
Crusher48, on 16 June 2014 - 08:07 PM, said:
Mojang clearly has no way to enforce this, seeing as how they failed to enforce the EULA for 2 years.
They didn't even really try to enforce it, it's kind of obvious they never really did at all.
Yes,I did read the FAQ, but I don't put much store in things from Mojang.
good for you, because your favorite PvP server might not be there much longer.
If you are going to view Mojang in a negative light based on unsupported speculation, then that is your problem.