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
They shouldn't add what, the ability for servers to make money? Because that is the only thing being added by the EULA.
No, my questions isn't whether the staff would accept it. My question is whether Mojang would object. If they're saying everyone has to pay the same entry "ticket" then what about staff?
uhm realms has like a 20 player limit..have fun having a 500 / 550 player server transfer to a 20 player limit
Mojang understands perfectly and they know several servers will go down because of this. The problem is exactly about people treating Minecraft like a business when Mojang didn't intend it to. People have to wake up that they are squatting on someone else's game to make money. This is no different with land squatters setting up a shop and making money on a land they don't own and throwing a fit when the owner wants them to move out.
I agree with you. the only difference is that people have to actually put more effort into managing there server. There are PLENTY of opportunities to support your server other then Pay-to-win style packages. The new EULA is just forcing you to use those methods instead. So suck it up, this is for the good of the community as a whole, even if a few servers crash and burn i feel very strongly that whatever ones are left will be much better then the old.
This assumes that you own minecraft. you don't own minecraft, you don't own your server. Even a 'private' server goes though mojangs authentication and login servers. They have every right to tell you how you should use THEIR product. the only way you could truly have a server that's totally yours is to run it in offline mode.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/28ct8w/not_more_of_eula
oh yeah i remember when it was added. everyone freaked out and said it was the worst thing ever.Then after a while it turned out to be a very good feature that added balance and purpose to the game hmmm...
you're right! this IS just like when they added the hunger bar!
something mojang clearly does not care about when selling items.
i hardly understand what you mean. the entire EULA change is DEDICATED to forcing server into making thir playing environment more balanced. Mojang sells games, so i dont know what you mean by items. and id say the prices are fair so that's not really unbalanced.
Yes, go sign that. Mojang are being forced to enforce the EULA. There have been lawsuits. In response, they are weakening it, so that servers behaiving in what they feel is a fair manner can continue operating. That's a terrible thing, and the only proper course of action is to shut down every server that allows users to pay real money at all, and delete the accounts of everyone running those servers.
That's what you all want, right? Yes? No?
I mean they are punishing the servers that actually had balance in their donor/non donor kits. In the q and a somewhere mojang said balance does not matter when selling kits, as it is not allowed if it affects game play.
if it affects gameplay then it by definition makes the odds in one persons favor. Even if its minor, that means its unbalanced. how excatly do you affect gameplay without changing someones odds in battle? or how easy it is for them to gather resources, you don't. And considering that the EULA explicitly states that kits not affecting gameplay for one player while holding back others can still be sold, that means if you fall into this category you are most likely unbalancing the game and making it unfair to those who do not pay.
And sure there might be what? 1% of kit based servers that sell kits that dont REALLY affect gameplay but still fall into the category. But if you're honestly going to stand on that 1% and demoand mojang change the EULA back i really dont know what to say.
but in general, there IS no 'balanced' donation perks, if you pay and get something that helps you but not others its pay-to-win. If people honestly believe there is, i think they need to re-check the definition of balance in a gaming context.
You say this while rejecting the attempted destruction of pay-to-win servers. The most prime example of players standards lowering over time.