Minecraft Forums

Quote from Durphead

It's called the bystander effect. Everyone just stands around and hopes someone else will pitch in. A few people may take responsibility, but not enough.

Then I guess that just sucks for them when the server is gone. Life is like that. Maybe they'll learn something. I have been on one server that needed donations to keep going. As a reward people got stuff like a color for their name in chat, no gameplay-changing perks. People donated anyway. It can work.

Quote from Durphead

Servers cost thousands of dollars to maintain, and if they don't have enough funding to make ends meet, poof.

The giant servers cost thousands to maintain. I've never stepped foot on one and I bet a lot of Minecraft players haven't either or didn't stay very long if they did get on. A server capable of handling a couple hundred players or less (the capacity for the vast majority of the thousands of servers in existence) can be had for $100 a month or less. Even cheaper if you have the ability to host from home. Plus not everyone requires income from a server (Minecraft or otherwise) to run it. Some of us have disposable income from other sources like a job or possess the hosting resources already.

Quote from Durphead

Your online experience is eviscerated and Mojang has to start all over again with their next game. Maybe it'll also be blocky.

I call melodrama on this. I've had several servers I play on die for varying reasons over the years. It sucks but I just go hunting for a new one and keep playing. So did most of the other players. I suppose some people are completely tied to their favorite server and without it there's no point to playing Minecraft at all anymore but I haven't met very many so far.

I think the vast majority know exactly what may happen. They also know the reason why it would happen. This whole situation is forcing attention on an existing facet which often is ignored or downplayed. If a player is willing to throw money at a server in exchange for stuff but refuse to do so (even a lesser amount) when they get no tangible reward then that player doesn't really care about the server or its community. They care about the stuff they can get and the advantages that come with it. If another server offered the same or better you'd find precious little in the way of loyalty from these. This is their right as a player and it's not inherently good or bad. It's just reality.

If someone really cares about a particular server and finds it valuable to themselves and/or others they'll donate, perks or no. If there is some case where they can't do anything monetary they will find some way to support, even if it's something like volunteering to help out new players once in a while or find others who might be willing to donate/sponsor. You'd be surprised how many players (and even other people) are willing to contribute, once they understand the importance and value.

You can assign all the staff ranks and abilities you want based on a person's ability, association (friends, etc.) or because you play roulette to find out who runs the server this week. As long as it is a reason other than the person giving you money the EULA shouldn't be an issue.

Quote from minecrafter147

It looks better though.

All I saw when trying it out again is details and texture being taken away, and things like rails and ladders going fuzzy. Guess I just don't get how it's supposed to look better.

Quote from Elvm

No they can't, just because it's written in the EULA doesn't make it legal.

By clicking agree you are also acknowledging that Mojang may sew your mouth to the butthole of another minecraft user.

That doesn't work like that.

Until successfully challenged in court an EULA is legally binding the same as any other license or contract. An EULA is not above the law but in Mojang's case it does not violate any laws. Inconvenience is not illegal.

Your example however is a case where the EULA could be challenged as unreasonable and/or illegal.

Quote from hi9580

why have nip mapping off, it doesn't affect fps at all

Why have it on? All it does is make stuff fuzzy in the distance. It's also both very obvious and stupid looking with things like ladders (they turn into complete fuzz like 12 blocks above your position).

Quote from Elvm

They seems to believe that their EULA can give them control over anything even remotely Minecraft-related...
That's just not the case and there is absolutely no way that this can be legally enforceable, anytime, anywhere.

Actually they sort of can.

Minecraft is Mojang's software and they can tell you how it can or can't be used and you are legally bound by that when you use it. Period. The EULA is a license, same as open source licenses like GPL. And you can end up in court for violating it should Mojang decide to press the matter. Even if a mod or plugin is completely unique code, when it is used within the game it becomes subject to the EULA.

If you own your hardware then you can do anything you like with that hardware (within the local laws of course) including choose to host a Minecraft server on it or not. If you rent a server/VPS you can also do as you like within the confines of the host's rules (and local laws). But once you step inside the game it's Mojang's territory and they can set the boundaries and rules there, like them or not.

Well, two discoveries and a bug.


First up, grass and fern blocks don't render with an offset anymore. All nice even rows. Good for gardens maybe but looks bad in the wild I think.


Apparently the anisotropic filtering option is gone for now.


And for the bug, splash potions when thrown render as...that.


Can't say I'm a fan of the new sponge texture but wouldn't say it's terrible either. Would probably get used to it in time, kind of like when they changed the gravel texture.

Quote from DukeTidierLeader2

I'm just sitting here, sipping my Coke, laughing at everybody who think this EULA update will automatically mean the end of Minecraft.

This. Except the coke. I has ice cream instead.

Quote from Gregrs

All I can say is.. No more servers. Mojang pretty much ­ed minecraft multiplayer

Then everyone can come play on my server once it's up and active again.

Quote from Silverbane_7

and if servers go pay to enter, a good few of us wont be using any of them. not becasue we dont WANT to pay. but becasue we have NO WAY TO.
i can only play certain subscribe mmo's becasue i can go into a GAME store and buy a timecard.
i can only buy games on steam, becasue i can go to GAME and buy some steampoints directly from them.
same goes for xbox and psn and nintendo e-shop.
i have cash. that is it. no credit, no debit, no paypal....nothing but little pieces of paper that are blessed by the treasury.
i know that i am not the only one. we do exist. we have only one way to pay for anything. and thats the the hard currency of our country.
i hope that one day, you too will find yourself in such a situation, and think back to now. and then know how it feels.

I have been in that situation. Most people are as kids, if at no other time. I managed when I needed to.

Chances are you know someone with a credit card, Paypal or some other means of paying. Hand them the cash you want to put towards the server and ask them to help make the actual payment. There's also prepaid debit cards and such you can get at the grocery store or gas station or just about anywhere. And worst case, ask the server owner if they have an address you could send the money to. Get a piece of paper, fold it around the cash, put it in the envelope and mail it. That's what everyone used to do in the past.

Quote from redekens

good for you, because your favorite PvP server might not be there much longer.

Then I'll throw money at it or offer my own resources to help out.

Not everyone has money to throw around but the majority of players could probably scrounge up a dollar or two to donate. If people aren't willing to pay a small subscription fee or simply give a donation but were willing to pay 2 or 3 figures for perks and kits, guess what? They don't really care about the server and never did, they just like having power and showing off. Any server that affords them that advantage would have been fine.

Quote from GamerFox9

- Give donators access to a free build area, that random people would constantly grief if any old player who had just joined could access it.

Partitioning out land or setting up additional worlds in itself should be no problem. Whether in the freebuild area or outside if players have access to all the same blocks, items, mobs etc. then gameplay remains the same. Now if you go and say, block off all the jungle biomes in the world so only donators can access them, then you'd have an issue.

Quote from GamerFox9

- Give ranks and benefits to players who earn them with good builds.

If ranks and benefits are based on activity in the game, that's fine and always has been. You just can't throw money at the server admins and get VIP status for that alone.

Quote from 0x0001

I’m going to bring this up since I have not seen it mentioned yet, if you use Bukkit, you are not using Mojang software to host.
Bukkit is an independent open source project by the Bukkit team, just because you use Minecraft by Mojang to connect to a Bukkit server, it does not mean Mojang can tell Bukkit servers how to run their servers.
Let me put it this way, let’s say you use internet explorer by Microsoft, Just because you use Internet Explorer, Microsoft cannot tell google to shut down, because google is owned by google.
Minecraft is by Mojang and Bukkit is by Bukkit, Because Bukkit does not use any code from mine craft you are not required to follow the rules set forth by Mojang.

##This only applies to Bukkit servers, Vanilla servers are by Mojang and are thus bound by the EULA you agreed upon prior to download or launch of application.##

The Bukkit API is by the Bukkit team. Craftbukkit which is used to actually run a server is still vanilla Minecraft, just with the Bukkit code grafted on.

Quote from JTGhawk137

2. How am I over reacting on the impact? You obviously don't understand the cost of a server. The server I play on has a 900$ monthly bill, and thats a small bill. Servers such as mineplex have a several thousand dollar monthly bill. The strong ones cannot adapt cause there is really no where to adapt to. Servers will start falling left and right when this is enforced, and you'll see that i'm not overreacting.

Subscription model. Want to play? Pay a little upfront, done.

NOTE: If anyone has actual figures I'd be happy to do the math on those in a later post.

A quick look shows Mineplex with about 12k players online for the US server right now. Rarely is your entire player base online at once and the cap is considerably higher so lets say the active player base for Mineplex is 20,000. Someone earlier in the thread was throwing around $10k as a monthly server bill though they didn't specify which, but it's pretty high so lets go with that (I don't think even 4chan costs that much and it's a far larger beast than any MC server).

$10,000 / 20.000 players = 50 cents per player. Yep, 50 cents to play all month long. You can find 50 cents laying on the ground. The cheapest stuff in vending machines usually costs more. If you have an actual job that's nothing even at minimum wage. Totaled over 12 months that's $6 for the entire year. A better deal than many Steam games and you probably get a lot more play time out of it.

So the server bill is paid, EULA not a problem and everything is a little more fair for all players as a bonus. Companies, games and websites do this all the time and it works. That's why you're overreacting.

Quote from DerpyGoldfish

Of course they exist, but there is a reason why plain, vanilla servers aren't topping the charts.

I wouldn't say those servers exist in single digit, and I'd bet that there are at least hundreds if not thousands that pay for capable equipment. Additionally, if you had an average / intermediate server paying ~$300, you're still paying 3-5k each year, and after only 3 years you've still racked up a 10-15k overall pricetag, and that's expensive. And you get what you pay for. $200 - $300 a month is a decent server if you don't plan on doing much. We put a load on our server to provide the quality we want, which is well above the quality of our direct competitors, and we are paying a good bit more totaling about $4000 per year - not including additional expenses for Staff, and prizes, things we do to celebrate our community of awesome players - but a fair estimate probably bumps that up to about $6-7k per year. We don't MAKE 6-7k per year in donations. But what we do make definitely makes it affordable, so we can cover the difference.

But a quick perspective: Our Minecraft server costs more than my monthly car payment.

The other guy was talking like 10k per month, not year. Maybe was a typo. Your breakdown makes a lot more sense. It's actually sounding cheaper than I imagined running the big MC servers would be.

I know there aren't any thousands-of-players vanilla servers out there. I'm not certain I'd want to play on a server that size, personally. But there are a lot of smaller vanilla or mostly vanilla servers out there. They likely are not the majority even if you add them together but the demand exists nonetheless, it's just not as easily noticed in the shadow of the huge ones. That's all I was really getting at, having seen so much focus on modded servers and "oh no it's the end of Minecraft without the big guys!" in this thread.