How to Make Your Game Server Pay for Itself

Plenty of server owners stop paying for their server out of their own pocket. Some just cover the hosting bill, and a few build a healthy second income. Either is realistic if you have a real community and are willing to put in the effort. It also only works once you have players: if you have not got there yet, start with How to Build a Thriving Game Server Community.

Option 1: A web store

A store platform handles the difficult parts of selling things to players: the shop page, payments, and delivering what was bought to the right player in the game.

Tebex is the best-known example. You build a store, list packages for players to buy, and it takes payments and manages purchases for you. It supports many popular server games, including Minecraft, Rust, ARK, Garry's Mod, Unturned and 7 Days to Die, though you should check the current list for your game. It also has a Discord bot for selling special roles inside your community, which works whichever game you run.

Whichever platform you consider, look at:

• Which games and server types it supports.
• Its fees, including the cut it takes from each sale.
• How quickly and how reliably purchases reach the player.
• How much of the shop you can customise.

Option 2: Donations

If you would rather keep things simple, accept donations. A page on PayPal, Ko-fi or Patreon works, and can be linked from your Discord and your server's message of the day. Some hosts also let players contribute directly toward the server's monthly cost, which can be an easy way to share the bill. Check whether your provider offers this.

Donations work best when they are open about what the money does. "Help us cover the hosting bill" is far more persuasive than a bare request for cash, and posting a progress bar can help.

Option 3: Rewards for supporters

Whatever you use to take payments, consider what supporters get in return:

• A special role or colour in Discord.
• A place in a priority queue when the server is full.
• Cosmetic items or titles.
• A named thank-you.

Rules to check first

Before you charge for anything, read the publisher's rules. This step matters more than which platform you pick.

• Many publishers restrict what server owners may sell. Some allow only cosmetic items, and ban anything that gives a gameplay advantage ("pay to win"). Minecraft's rules for servers are a well-known example. Break them and you can lose the right to run a public server, or have your server removed from official lists.
• Keep it fair. Players resent servers where paying gives you power over everyone else. Cosmetics and convenience are much safer than advantages.
• Be transparent. Say clearly what you charge for, and what you do with the money.
• Sort out the basics of taking payments. Depending on where you live, income from a server may be taxable, and refunds and chargebacks are something you will need a policy for.

A sensible order

1. Build a community first. Nobody pays to join an empty server.
2. Start with something small and fair, such as cosmetic supporter perks.
3. Watch how your players react before adding anything more.
4. Reinvest a share back into the server, so supporters can see where the money goes.

For growing the community that makes this possible, read How to Promote Your Game Server.