Can you make money from a Minecraft server?
Yes. Mojang's Minecraft Usage Guidelines allow 6 ways to make money from a Minecraft server:
- An access fee, the same for everyone who pays.
- Donations, provided donors get no perk reserved for themselves; a reward for the whole server is fine.
- Perks that change gameplay, if they give no competitive advantage and do not spoil the game for others.
- Cosmetics, with one exception: capes, or items that imitate a player's cape.
- In-game ads, as display or video ads that do not get in the way of play.
- An in-game currency, as long as it stays worthless outside your server and can never be cashed out.
The EULA itself says not to make money from anything Mojang made. The Usage Guidelines are the extra permissions that open these 6 ways for servers, and Mojang can change them at any time, so read them again before you build a store around them. Every server meets the EULA on its first start, when it stops with You need to agree to the EULA in order to run the server until eula.txt says true. What the server itself costs is on our page about how much a Minecraft server costs.
Minecraft EULA for servers: the rules for making money
The Minecraft EULA for servers comes with 7 conditions that apply however a server makes its money:
- Suitable for all ages. The server, everything it sells and its ads, with gambling named among the content that does not fit.
- Prices up front. Players see all paid content and its prices before they join, sign up or sign in.
- A purchase history. Anyone who pays real money gets an online payment and a record of what they bought.
- Privacy is yours. You make it clear that you, not Mojang, are responsible for the players' data.
- Minecraft's own screens stay as they are. No hiding or changing the EULA, warnings or error messages.
- Nothing illegal. No malware, no spyware, nothing against the law.
- Honest promotion. Streamers and other influencers who promote your server say that they work with you and follow the guidelines of the US Federal Trade Commission.
On top of that, Mojang decides whether a way of making money fits its brand. What the guidelines allow needs no contact with Mojang at all; anything they do not cover needs written permission first.
Can you charge for access to a Minecraft server?
You can charge for access to a Minecraft server under 3 conditions: the price is the same for everyone, everyone who pays gets all the mods you enabled, apart from admin tools, and you own or control the server for as long as you charge for it. A whitelist of paying players is the simple way to run it, and our Minecraft server whitelist guide has the commands.
Two rules apply to every server, free or paid. Access goes only to players with a genuine, paid-for copy of Minecraft, which rules out letting in accounts nobody paid for. And access may not depend on owning something outside the game, such as a token or a product from another company. The guidelines define a server as a single connecting address or IP number, so a network behind one address counts as one server, with one price.
For a sense of scale: a 24 GB plan for 40 players works out at €0.48 a player a month at Cheapest Minecraft Hosting in Poland and €1.17 on the Performance line at Lodehost.
What can you sell on a Minecraft server?
What you can sell on a Minecraft server comes down to 2 questions: does it change the game for the buyer only in looks, and if not, does it help them win against other players? These 9 examples show where common items land:
| What you sell | Allowed? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A rank with a chat prefix, a coloured name or particle trails | Yes | Cosmetics may be sold |
| A cape, or a back item that looks like one | No | The one cosmetic the guidelines leave out |
| A kit of diamond gear on a PvP server | No | A competitive advantage over players who did not pay |
| A bigger plot on a creative server | Can be | It changes gameplay, but nobody competes for plots |
| A monthly access fee | Yes | If everyone pays the same and gets the same mods |
| A donation that unlocks a perk for the donor | Not as a donation | Donors may not receive something just for themselves, so this counts as a sale under the rules above |
| A reward for the whole server when a donation goal is met | Yes | Server-wide rewards are named as allowed |
| Coins for real money | With limits | No real-world value, no cashing out, no use on other servers, nothing that looks like Minecoins |
| A paid key for a random reward | Risky | Gambling is named as content a server must not have |
The guidelines give the rules, not this list, and Mojang has the last word on any of it. When an item sits on the line, sell it as a cosmetic or leave it out.
Is pay to win against the Minecraft EULA?
Yes, pay to win is against the Minecraft EULA's rules for servers: of the 6 ways to make money, the one for gameplay perks only covers perks that give no competitive advantage and do not ruin the game for other players. Selling the best sword, extra health or a faster way to the top of a leaderboard fails that test on any server where players compete.
What the rules leave room for is convenience that does not decide who wins, and cosmetics of every kind except capes. The question to ask of any rank perk is what a player who never pays loses against one who does. If the answer is a fight, a race or a ranking, the perk is pay to win.
Minecraft EULA and gambling: crates and keys
The Minecraft EULA's rules for servers name gambling in 1 place: in the list of content that is not suitable for players of all ages, which everything a server sells and shows has to be. The guidelines do not define gambling, and Mojang keeps the right to judge, so a key bought with real money that opens a random reward is the riskiest item a server can sell.
Crates that players open with keys they earn in the game, by voting or playing, involve no real money. Casino plugins with slot machines or roulette can still fall under the gambling example whatever the currency, because the rule covers the server itself, not only what it sells. Our guide to Minecraft server voting shows how vote rewards are handed out.
Minecraft server store: what it has to show
A Minecraft server store has to show 2 things under Mojang's rules: every paid item with its price before a player joins, signs up or signs in, and an online payment with a purchase history for everyone who pays real money. A price list that only appears inside the game breaks the first rule, so the store needs a page that anyone can open.
Webstore services built for Minecraft servers take the payments and hand out the ranks in the game, and the store page is a good place to name who runs the server and who looks after the players' data, which the guidelines also ask for. Our pages on Minecraft server website templates and making a Minecraft server website cover the site around it.
Ads and sponsors on a Minecraft server
Ads on a Minecraft server are allowed in 2 forms, in-game display ads and video ads, as long as they do not hurt gameplay, give some players an advantage or fall short of the all-ages rule. Sponsors are a narrower door. Companies, brands, agencies and other organisations may not use Minecraft gameplay to promote anything unrelated to Minecraft without written approval from Mojang or Microsoft, and the guidelines give examples such as a mod with branded cars or a skin pack with brand logos.
Promotion of your own server is fine, and a streamer or other creator who promotes it for you has to say that they work with you.
Can you use Minecraft in your server's name?
You can use Minecraft in your server's name only as the second part, to describe what the server is, and never as the main or most striking part. Mojang's own pair of examples shows the line: “Kotoba Miners: A Minecraft server for Redstone builds” is fine, while “Minecraft - the ultimate Kotoba server for Redstone” is not.
The same goes for the look: no Minecraft logo or other Mojang branding in your server's logo, and no lettering made to look like the Minecraft logo. A name of your own is also easier for players to remember and to search for.
Can you make money from a Minecraft Realm?
You cannot make money from a Minecraft Realm, because the EULA rules out 1 thing for Realms that it allows for servers: you may not sell, lease, rent, transfer or give away access to your Realm, or take any financial, commercial or other benefit for letting people play on it. A Realm is for playing with friends; a server that earns its keep has to be a server of your own. Our page on the Minecraft Realms alternative compares the step up.