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
well duhh....and one day the sun will burn out, but it wont be for a long time yet.
I really see this as improving the community drive rather than the selfish drive. I for one hate the pay to play idea, but I don't think they will last compared to community driven ideas which people seem to be forgetting are possible and I have seen servers that run like this already. I am scarred that people will not embrace this quickly and my favorite servers will die, but hopefully we are going to get some new very exciting servers beginning.
Are you kidding? A) Those servers will probably shut down if forced to comply with the EULA same people will still have those kits and they probably won't be available to everyone (Mojang says they HAVE to be available to everyone, but there's no realistic way to enforce this) c) If you keep getting killed by OP kits on the server, why do you keep playing? It's not like there's only one kit pvp server out there.
You are right, how they give players perks is their own business. Provided they are not selling them and making money from them. You clearly show a lack of knowing what they are trying to do. Go play pretend lawyer and journalist somewhere else.
Second, they cannot charge for mod packs. They are player created. However, the creators cannot charge either since they are still using mojangs product. What I suggest, is no one listen to you and just simply comply with Mojang. All they are doing is trying to inforce their rules now. The only thing you stated that would help is keeping track of the money coming in and going to server maintence. Other then that, just comply and stop selling the items mojang has said you can't sell. If you can't keep your server up for what ever reason, then its A) Not good without highly op perks B ) Just doesn't have enough people willing / able to donate.
Well, doubt you can report anyone yet since they gave them a grace period of until August 1st to comply.
give the server owner a warning period inform majong that you have told the server owner if you see no change in acordance with eula stop the hosing of that server and do what you wish with the file wether it be delete them or arcive them.It would be smarter to arcive for a set number of days then delete
Also why is that formated like a list where there is only one thing
If Mojang is serious about enforcing their new rules, I do have a few ideas for server owners who don't want to charge players a monthly/yearly fee. Web ads on the server's website and text ads broadcast in game chat periodically could make some money, especially for large servers. Another possibility is setting up two similar servers on seperate machines, and making one free-to-play and the other pay-to-play. The free-to-play server would have no donation perks, and the pay-to-play server would have all donation perks unlocked. As long as there is no way to move between the servers without manually disconnecting, this setup wouldn't violate the EULA.
Although I don't play EVE Online, I know it allows players to pay for their subscriptions through real money or in-game currency. After paying for a couple months with real money, players will be able to make enough game currency to pay their monthly fee, eliminating the real life cost. Would a system like this violate the new EULA?
eula agian is not a new or reviesed vertion of the stament it is now that they chose to clarify and enforce the stament
I know I just wanted to figure out how so if one of the server's I play on is still ignoring the new rules after August 1st i could report them then.
big servers and small servers go pay to play
only very few survive
eventually the payers leave and quit minecraft
those servers die
there are no more public servers
servers are now private and home hosted to avoid pricy fees
pretty much. but im a home hoster anyway so ne fees for me lol so i dont care to argue eula.
With that being said, no, I'm not siding with anti-EULA enforcers, but it is equally annoying to see people stating a very obvious fact. When the new EULA takes effect, pay-to-play servers will either shut down or find ways to generate revenue in a method that abides by the EULA. Face it, if you want Minecraft to be completely about fun and no other reason, stick to singleplayer.
When you sign up for an Minecraft account, you are agreeing to the EULA and terms of use. Making money off of Minecraft was never legal from the get-go. For thinking that nobody can tell you what you can't do with a software or game you purchase is simply very naive.
When you purchase a movie, can create a torrent and make couterfits for profit? No? This is also a copyright issue. You cannot take someone's work and make money off it. You are essentially selling access to Mojang's code that you payed for when you purchased the game. That is the defintion of scamming. No going around it.
In posts I keep seeing this strange assumtion that THEY own the game and they can do what they want with it. It might be your server, it might be your hardware, it might be your bills you need to pay but you do not own Minecraft which you are making a server under their terms and conditons. As for my two cents...
Just because people need money to keep their server up, doesn't grant them permission to violate the EULA and start scamming little kids out of their money. Servers with no play to win while rare, exist. I've been on server with a very small active community where everyone talks to one another regularly and everyone works as one to keep the server alive.
Saying that all small servers will shut down is just simply wrong, some will and are surviving today on purely donations. There are big servers like Hypixel's and the Hive who aren't going down so saying all mega-servers will go down is also incorrect. Not sure how other mega-servers like Mineplex and etx. will react just yet.
Will a lot of servers go down? Of course. The servers who don't exist off of ripping off people will be left. Which, I'm and from what I see; many others will be perfectly fine with. Quality over quanity is what I say.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CbQhQ_By9o
Then you are projecting your own greed. Realms is no competition for any real server. It is for users who want a quick and simple server from a company they already trust. Realms will never be a real money maker, but it will, as designed, give players a way to setup a simple, trusted sever without having to trust 3rd parties with their cash or Minecraft credentials.
The updated EULA is more lenient then the licenses found on any other popular, non-open-source game engine. The fact that everyone has felt they were free to what ever they want in the past does not make Mojang wrong for wanting to reestablish a little control over the game they created and the code they have written.
As soon as you call people idiots for having an opinion, you call yourself out as someone who's opinion is not worth anyone's respect.
Let me refer you to this video.
In gaming circles, "pay to win" is used as a synonym for "free to play". Think about the ramifications.
It's best to say your opinion instead of send us a video, especially one that is a half hour long