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
What the hell are you talking about?
I was referring to Mojang explicitly permitting Hypixel's server shop (which is against both the previous and current EULAs) according to the Hypixel staff.
I think a lot of you are missing something.
So can I charge for my minigames or mods?
Yes, so long as all players on your server have access to the features.
This has everything to do with the normal concept of the game. Read the Q&A thoroughly. You can't charge someone to make diamond swords, or to buy them ahead of time (ruins the concept anyways), but you can still charge for your awesome team deathmatch or mob arena plugins with the different classes. Either way, all these people getting butt hurt are either wanting something to get upset over, or they're the server owners themselves who lack all things optimism. People who are going to put in the money for minecraft servers, are going to do it regardless. Just don't charge for gameplay, all your plugins and whatnot ARE NOT affected. READ THE Q&A and EULA PEOPLE!
Yes I understand, perhaps the number of donations will decrease, and some servers might not be able to make it. But do you honestly think this will ruin Minecraft? If you don't want to see your favorite server die, why don't you donate? Like I said, the servers people truly want to play on will succeed, while exploitative servers may not.
I totally agree. A donation is a person willing to give money. When one "donates" to receive a benefit, that's called a purchase...
as for this news update. yea I see a very and I mean very small percentage of servers following the new EULA.
The staff can say whatever they want, this was pretty explicit in saying no one is exempt. Now if Aug 1 passes and Hypixel is still doing it and getting away with it, then obviously Mojang comes out looking like hypocrites, but I don't see that happening. They'll have to adjust, just like everyone else.
On top of this, after looking at Hypixel's Server Store (again), they're not really breaking anything in the EULA besides maybe the ranks (which seem like they're getting changed because of the new EULA). Not to mention, changes aren't required until August 1, 2014.
EDIT: just thought of something!
Look at this Q&A. I've underlined the part I'm talking about.
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.
In other words, if you wanted to have a perk (such as a minigame) that can only be used by people who pay hard currency, you could just make a new server with the premium perks, and then give people the IP (via a plugin or something) whenever they donate the required amount of money. All you would have to do is make sure that the perks on the premium server don't cross into the main server.
No idea if this is allowed, but it would work. (I don't own a server myself, so I really don't know if this would be executable, though I think it would be. Just saying)
I mean, how do those servers survive?
The whole: "If you dont like it dont play on it" thing is false, there are only the few big servers. If you dont like them (Like hate their staff, management or p2w'ness) you have no other choice since they are the ONLY ones with the gamemodes and content you like.
Same. I'm just playing custom mod packs from now on.
I don't think people will stop donating, I go on a server where most people donate once and they get on most of the time and I ahven't really seen new people donate and it's been up since 2011.
Woah. This is probably the most useful contribution on the whole thread. Basically you can have a "trial server", and then if you like it enough, you can donate to move to the one with more features?
In general, I don't think the "good" (large) servers will die. I think they will innovate. If they can't, they didn't deserve to exist (at least that's what Mojang is saying).
The donators having powers to give everyone something is a really neat idea, as well.
I'm pretty sure it is allowed, but I think it's a pointless thing for servers to do. All they're doing now is making a "free-to-play" and "pay-to-play" server. I don't think splitting their community like that would be a very good idea.
A grace period.
AKA, a little bit of time for you to say goodbye to your favorite servers.
Mojang is being really annoying, I have no problem with them removing P2W users, but now, it's going way too far.
And the worst part of it all? most servers don't support Brazil, if you want to donate or do something with real money, it's credit card, paypal, or nothing, no brazilian bank slip support for payment, NOPE.
I quit minecraft a few years ago, but I was just about to start playing again, but now...I'm starting to re-consider.
Somehow I get the feeling that this should be posted in big red letters on the front page. It seems like people forget what donation stands for imho.
Hey Mojang, I know you couldn't care less, but you just lost a user.
^
Facepalm
My guess is they will stay quiet and keep operating as usual. They probably won't do much until Mojang shows whether or not they are going to actually take legal action. If you have a solid cash flow I bet it would be worth the risk to wait and see if another server in that class gets a take down. I bet they just risk it not being their server to get hit firs. That is, if any do at all.