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
I think your missing my point, regardless of how servers make/spend money, whats important is the players and quality of play. That means change to the current system. Those changes will upset the current balance of things. Again, I, and apparently Mojang, are against servers taking money by giving in-game advantages because it ecourages unfair play. If servers cannot survive without unfair play, then that is the way things go.
Don't assume that minplex, etc will switch to pay-to-play. Just because they can no longer accept payment for perks does not mean players will no longer pay. Those players that would have otherwise bought perks, will instead fund the server to keep it alive via donations. Think about it: you spent hours and hours of time on the server, if you donate what you would have donated for a perk, then the server lives, otherwise it dies. If you were willing to pay that much for a perk, you would be willing to donate at least as much to keep your work from disappearing from server death. Players that have this money then, will donate to keep it alive, and players without it such as kids will get to enjoy it without stealing their parents credit cards. The server will simply have to survive without the kids parents credit cards, which is a good thing.
I hope my point came across clearly.
Soft currency is a currency that has no real value in the real world, therefor you can do that.
It is called a cease and desist order, also they would normally send that to your host, or if you're your own host they can report it to local law enforcement and or your ISP (internet service provider). If you don't know what a C&D order is, let me link you a video briefly explaining what one is:
As per advertisement Elua states nothing about ads so in turn you can most likely (correct me in the case that i am incorrect) use one of the following methods to obtian a profit or funding for and from your server.
you can have purchases and or donation goals set up for non-cosmetic things; such that once a purchase or donation goal is reached/ obtained, everyone who is a member of that server gains access to that perk or in your case every member (not a specific group, but all members) gains that currency boost after someone purchases it for the entire server or a group of people reach a donation goal and unlocks that for the entire server. Again I stress the point, ALL MEMBERS of the server must receive the perk/boost if it is not a cosmetic purchase.
Thank you for confirming my thoughts.
Prepare for disappointment. You got to play on big servers for free before because some idiots liked to pay for features. Servers can't charge for those anymore, so they'll be charging for something else instead. IMHO fewer people will pay for cosmetics*. So it will have to be access itself.
People paying for features was what subsidized your freeloading self having access to the server. Without them, you get to pay up or go away. Enjoy!
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* if paying for a feature was dumb, paying for a nametag is even worse. Not as many will be that dumb
yhe thats what i tought that actualy is probably exactly what im gana do like every player gets an hour bost when a player buys the bost
example of payment abuse: they can add hidden fees such as a 200$ fee to cancel your server payment subscription!! now things are really gona get bad!
There was never a restriction preventing pay to play on a server its was just not common though because servers had pay to win so they picked pay to win insteed of pay to play.
Its not necessarily encouragement they just happen to be stating a fact. also just become more awear of the agreements when you sign up for the service there not neciceraly hidden fees it just that its writen in a way most do not percive as a cancellation fee.
also there is no arguing this agreement it has been in place for quite some time now its just now is when there calling attetion to it and there being pretty fair with the time they are permiting befor they start taking up public cases.
I do see and agree with your point, but honestly, when there are pay-to-win servers, I don't think there is any quality difference between me and the donators. I actually feel that it is more fun to be a non-donator because I am always trying to be as good as the donators. A few years ago when I was playing a German City-Plot server called GalaxyCraft, I was as good as the donators because I worked hard. Without the donators encouraging me, I would have stopped playing. I was respected even though I was a non-donator. So you can pretty much rise to the top without paying, so the "Everyone Must Get An Equal Chance" statement is invalid. You always have an equal chance if you work hard. It is the same in life. Even if you aren't born into money, you could still potentially gain equality. The kids stealing credit cards is a freak thing mixed with bad parenting. KEEP YOUR WALLET OUT OF REACH!!!
Anymore Counter Arguments? (This is getting kind of fun :D)