What you can sell on a Minecraft server

Quite a lot: access to the server, cosmetics, server currency and even perks that change gameplay, as long as those perks don't spoil the game for players who didn't pay. What Mojang won't accept is selling power over other players, capes, currency that turns into real money, and anything that isn't suitable for every age.

All of this sits in the "Servers and hosting" section of the Minecraft Usage Guidelines. It's a short page. Reading the original is worth more than any checklist passed around on forums, this one included.

The rules at a glance

Charging for access

The guidelines let you charge for access to your server under three conditions. The price is the same for everyone. Everyone who pays gets access to all the mods you chose to enable (admin tools reserved for staff are the exception). And you own or control the server for the whole time you charge for it.

That rules out the "pay more to get into the special mode" setup. If access is paid, it's the same access for every buyer.

Access can also only go to players with a genuine paid-for copy of Minecraft, and it can't depend on the player owning some product or service outside the game.

Donations

Donations are allowed "so long as you don't offer the donor something that only they can use". Once a donation comes with a personal reward, it's a sale, and the sale rules apply.

What Mojang does allow is a shared reward: when a donation goal is met, the whole server gets something. A double XP weekend for everyone or a new event going live are rewards of that kind.

Ranks and perks: where the line is

This is where most of the confusion lives. The text allows "selling entitlements that affect gameplay provided they don't ruin other players' experience or give a competitive advantage in the game".

The guidelines don't list what counts as an advantage. A useful test for each rank perk: does it help the player beat someone else, or progress faster than a non-paying player, in something they both compete for.

Perks that usually stay on the safe side:

• a chat tag and name color;
• particles, pets and visual effects;
• extra homes, /hat or a kit of building blocks;
• convenience commands in the lobby, such as /fly outside combat areas.

Perks that tend to cross the line:

• a kit with better armor and a better sword on a PvP server;
• a money or XP multiplier in an economy where players compete;
• access to an area with resources other players can't reach.

The same perk can land on either side depending on the game mode. /fly in a lobby is a convenience. On a Skyblock server with an island leaderboard, it can be an advantage. Judge each perk against your own server. Once the perk list is settled, how to price server ranks covers what to charge for each tier.

Cosmetics

Cosmetics can be sold, with one explicit exception: capes, or anything that tries to look like the Minecraft player cape. Hats, particles, tags, titles and pets are all fine.

Since cosmetics don't touch game balance, they're the lowest-risk way to build a rank: put most of its value into visuals and keep only small conveniences outside them.

Server currency

Selling a server currency is allowed when it:

• has no real-world value and can't be cashed out, used or transferred on other servers, or converted into real money;
• doesn't give the impression that it comes from Mojang or is affiliated with it;
• doesn't look like Minecoins or carry a similar name.

Cashing out comes up again in the section on mods: a mod is only allowed if it "doesn't create a play-to-earn function where players earn real-world or out-of-game currency or in-game currency that can be cashed out for real-world currency". A server that pays real money to the players at the top of a leaderboard, or for hours played, runs into both rules.

Crates and paid random rewards

Mojang's guidelines don't mention loot boxes by name. They require every way you make money to be suitable for audiences of all ages, and gambling is the first example they give of content that isn't.

Mojang's rules aren't the only ones that apply. The law where your players live can also cover paid random rewards, and a crate key that's fine in one country may not be in another.

Rules that apply to every sale

Whatever the model, the guidelines ask you to:

1. Keep everything suitable for all ages and avoid harming the Minecraft brand.
2. Make it clear that you're responsible for players' data privacy and protection.
3. Never hide or change Minecraft's own dialogs, such as the EULA, warning messages and error messages.
4. Give anyone who pays you real money an online payment and purchase history.
5. Show all content and prices before a player joins, signs up or signs in.
6. Never use the server to host or distribute malware or for illegal activity.
7. Require influencers who promote the server to disclose their relationship with you and follow the U.S. Federal Trade Commission guidelines.

Item 5 is the simplest reason to run an online store instead of selling through Discord DMs: a public page with products and prices shows everything before the player joins. For item 4, check that the payment method you use leaves a record the buyer can look up later. If you don't have a store yet, how to create a store for your game server walks through the decisions in order.

The section closes with: "In short, don't do evil things to players and you should be fine." The Minecraft EULA applies to every server and completes the rules on this page.