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
Yes, sure, there are the people who send money in for the perks. But that's still a good thing. If all the perkbased purchases had suddenly never happened, how many servers would be around today?
That sounds fair. Slightly LESS than what I'd've liked, but fair. Although some commands deserve restrictions.
You are right to say that you will fail if you cannot get support from your players.
If you are running a server, then rally them up -- get polls going on your forums... ask them what they would prefer.
Go about this assuming it will come to pass, otherwise you are wasting time.
Would your players prefer a small charge once every 2 months to get on, or can they promise to support you via free will alone?
Ultimately... it is about the players. Do what they want, provide a place where they want to be, make donating very VERY easy to access / do... and you'd be surprised how much money will come in when people don't actually get a reward. Definitely talk to them. Many may not even know about this future Eula thing, yet.
So much this. Any server I've ever tried to play on that sold kits and other stuff of the such I inevitably found to be lacking when it came to compelling game play and community. They made up for the lack of a great community and atmosphere by trying to provide shortcuts to people who would shovel some cash their way. There are great servers out there that have and will continue to follow the EULA. People act as if this is something brand new. Selling items in-server for money has always been verboten. It's just that now, they are clarifying their position while allowing for some notable exceptions to try and make legal monetisation on servers possible.
Getting to play on the server they love is pretty tangible, I'd say... I was trying to add hope, so I didn't sound completely awful. >.<
Another server was survival for all non-donors, but people who donated could /creative and fly around, and the top donors even had world edit commands.
Stuff like this needs to stop, because its ruining minecraft.
Why remove the clauses restricting sVhVhc?
Also what if the area was like a regenerating resource world or minigames rewarded special prizes?
If you removed the second clause you mentioned would my above situation (^) be able to happen?
Fundraiser for your server without sitting at a computer & keyboard!
I don't find P2W fun and as such do not play on such servers. However, I respect the right of a server to have their own experience (even if that experience is P2W). In addition, this EULA actually hurts servers that had paid features that were balanced against unpaid features. I wouldn't call that situation "pay to win" but rather "pay for options". Such servers now lose a primary source of income and end up encouraged to focus on non-gameplay features in order to make up for the profit loss, ending up with a reduced gameplay experience (which might kill the server as well).
Honestly, why should Mojang (or any company that allows for large amounts of custom content) control how that content is used? You may say "because its their game," but that's just an excuse. Just because its their game, don't make it the right approach. The right approach would be for parents to discipline their own children, not allowing them to pay for stuff that is overpriced. The right approach would be to not play one servers that you feel are unbalanced. The right approach is not limiting your community.
That hardly seems fair! If a player wants to spend their money to get new things that help them, then let them! I disagree with basically all of this. Mojang was supposed to be a company that listens to the community. I guess if it doesn't benefit them, they won't listen?
Mojang used to be a great company, now they are pretty much money hogs like every other company out there. If they don't change EULA I highly doubt they will keep getting new game purchases, as people have nothing extra they can actually buy!
The thing I loved about Minecraft was the multiplayer access, how I could buy things and get special stuff only other people who bought it had! Now that won't happen!
I spent $25 dollars for VIP on a server that gave me extra classes (SCB), now are you telling me that was a wasted 25 dollars? You should at LEAST allow people to keep the perks without EVERYONE having to have it! You are making Minecraft Multilpayer not fun!
The fun part WAS having things others didn't, yet they could get if they wanted to spend money on it! It was fair because everyone could get the stuff, but they had to use some money.
Sure, I would understand having only a certain price they could charge, say $25-$50 maximum for perks (like classes, ranks, etc.), but completely banning that all together is crap!
Mojang, you had a good run, but now your money greed will drive you to the ground! It was fun playing Minecraft, but now it won't be fun with everyone being equal to each other! (Sure, they can earn things in game, but not spending actually money)
SCB was fun because you showed you loved the server by buying things, it also kept noobish players from just getting everything and killing everyone with it unfairly. Now everyone has to have the same things, that's garbage!
So Mojang, if you actually want to stay as successful as you are, I HIGHLY recommend dropping the EULA rules!
And, what happens when a players complains to you, "I went to that location, and found nothing there"?
Checking your server logs, you find that another player found it and claimed it between the "generated for pickup in response to purchase" and "purchasing player got there".
How do you proceed?
And if you get large, and this starts to happen semi-frequently? Or very very frequently?
There is an N^2 term in the math for this. It is essentially the same issue as the birthday paradox. In a nutshell, as more and more people are looking around at random, the chance of something being found goes up very, very quickly.
How is this ruining Minecraft? You can just ... shocker ... not play on those servers. There are millions of servers available, each with their own community and gameplay elements. The only reason I can see people having this kind of argument is that they wanted the benefit of the extra content a server offered without paying the cost...aka they are greedy. Which is funny, because generally people with this such argument, complain that the server owners are the greedy ones...odd.
They wont... if you read Notch's interview with some reporter that private mailed him, he was just a complete **** and did not even make it seem like he cared for the community... With notch's support gone, we will not have minecraft OR no more fun servers with special things anymore. R.I.P. to the good minecraft days...
That is pay-to-win by the very definition. I'm glad they're going to be shutting servers like that down. I've never seen a pay-to-win server that was worth a damn anyway, and I've strolled across too many for my liking.
Seriously though, WHY CAN WE NOT GIVE OUT CAPES??? there are mods and servers that use them? why the F U C K should mojang be the only ones to give out capes??? They are being greedy communitsts.....
Clauses restricting the what now?
Edit: Oh, currency. Well, a dev on the server I play is very proud of what he's done because he's designed that currency from scratch. Furthermore, a currency is far more malleable for purchases made towards the server. You can, for example, sell a hat for $2, or you can sell 100 in-game currency points to the player and have them choose from a number of hats. Or, you can give away free currency in raffles, or using a hybrid system, let the player trade a significant number of emeralds for the special currency points so that free players may earn the same items. It allows for a more customized shopping experience in the game as opposed to "pay $1 get this hat".
As for your second thing:
If the server is good enough then people will donate voluntarily if money is needed to keep the costs paid up. Maybe the ones running the server should be straight up 100% honest about what the costs are and have a donation bar that lists how much is donated compared to how much the bill is every single month. Then nobody can accuse the one running the server of profiteering off Mojang's intellectual property. All I'm asking for is for people to be honest. The ones complaining about footing the hosting fees should just tell people exactly how much its costing, and the ones who truly like the server will likely make sure the hosting fees are paid.
Modding the game isn't against Mojang's EULA, but restricting content to paid members only is against the rules. You can charge an entrance fee, but you can't lock content behind paywalls in minecraft.
The ones trying to profit off Mojang's intellectual property by selling content behind pay walls should honestly get a real freaking job.
Or be up front about what the hosting costs truly are, because I looked into it and its not terribly expensive to host a minecraft server for 30-40 people, like $25/month. If you got 5-6 dedicated players who enjoy the server, they'd likely help to pitch $5/month. If you're expecting more than that, then you're too freaking greedy, and go find a real job instead.