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
That is a better argument, I'm out of here!
Edit: Sorry if I was harsh.
Mojang said no more servers allowing pay to win.
You have in your signature (Just $5.00 gets you INSTANT OP).
This is what he meant by YOU are one of the reasons they are doing this.
And what statistical data is behind this claim? I'll take a wild guess and say you pulled it from thin air. The same goes for pretty much everyone else, we have 'no' idea how this will impact the community in the long run, if it will have any impact at all. All these outcries of doomsday are no less hysterical than the weekly end of the worlds. And if the community ends up suffering casualties it will most likely be at its own hands, by people who chicken out and pack up their bags without even trying to adapt.
I just want Mojang to finish all the paperwork and get 1.7.10 out already so we can stop speculating & running in circles and start adapting (or giving up, whichever you prefer).
Edit: wow. Kindle keyboard has epicfailed again. Took me two posts to respond.
no the cause of it is parents who cant raise their kids correctly
I understand my signature says this, but that's for Pocket Edition anyways...and if the forums let me change my signature for once then it might be different, but I'm truly afraid that my server will be a total waste of my money and my players are more scared than me! OK?YOU HAPPY NOW? I CHANGED MY SIGNATURE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN TWO MONTHS! UGH DON'T BE A HATER!
If this was directed at me, I was not attacking him. Just trying to sum up what Sgt_SuiZ was trying to say and he couldn't figure out.
Back to topic: Someone ought to start a poll about this...
Having said that. I wouldn't jump to conclusions about big servers dying out. There will always be servers. There will always be server owners who will give out quality for free. I just think people are really scared because this is what the community has only known for years.
I honestly, TRULY doubt that popular and "good" servers didn't do wrong. If what you said here was the case, Mojang wouldn't have clarified the EULA.
This. We haven't yet seen the true effect of the EULA.
purchasing soft currency for hard currency:
1.the community i help run has multiple server styles (WoW,GarrysMod AND minecraft) and we use a site currency to manage payments on ALL our games. so by your statement, i cannot use our site soft currency, which can be bought and earned freely due to its nature, in minecraft ,because its a hybrid currency??
2.we do have Pay-to-Play servers within our network, but was planning to connect them to our master network for player convenience (cut 12 separate ips down to 1) now with the eula change, we cannot proxy the pay to play servers (that can be access without the proxy if players wish) with our free to play servers without granting the free players access (even if trial access) to the paid servers(hence the free play servers)?
3.cosmetic items.what do YOU call a cosmetic in game item???(besides player names,colors,ANYTHING dealing with chat?) hats are considered a gameplay item as they are useable items in themselves.
4.have you thought on server INTEGRITY. our servers RESTRICT features of the server due to know exploits native in the code or plugins (greifer exploits). we allow pay players to have use of features that affect the server in its entirety but post as a integrity risk to our servers. by your eula, we either strip our pay players access to these features(which will anger and reduce our already dwindling playerbase) or give the free players who haven't bought/earned rights to these features to use as well( a terrifying idea) what would you do in this situation?
5.this is a bit of a personal rant as i'm getting tired of angry players hitting my support staff due to the eula. as it stands, its the punish the many for the stupidity of the few. and the few can and most likely will still get away with it
The point of this is, Mojang is reacting to the $10K kits. This is also hitting the servers who have reasonable prices and items.
prices and items (assuming they aren't cosmetic) should never be in the same sentence regarding donations...
Edit: It got locked for redundancy, sorry guys.