Game server listing and voting sites

Server listing sites are directories that poll your server to show whether it is online and how many people are playing, and most of them rank servers by votes that players cast once a day. To be listed properly you need a server that answers the site's status check (for Minecraft, the normal server-list ping on the game port, sometimes the query port as well; for Steam games, the query port), an honest description and banner, and for vote-ranked lists on Minecraft a Votifier listener - usually NuVotifier on its own port, 8192 by default - so the site can tell your server who voted and you can hand out a small reward. The rules that get servers removed are consistent across sites: no vote bots, no paying for votes, no alternate accounts, no faked player counts. Sponsored top slots exist, and below a few hundred regulars they are rarely worth the money.

How listings fit into growing a community is in growing a game server community. This post is the mechanics.

How server lists work#

Every list does the same three things: it stores what you tell it (name, address, description, tags, banner), it polls your server on a timer to check it is up and read the player count, and it orders the results. The ordering is where they differ.

Vote ranking is the Minecraft model and the reason voting plugins exist. Votes usually reset monthly, so a server's position is a measure of how many players vote, daily, this month. Player-count ranking is the model for most Steam games and for FiveM, where the game's own browser and trackers like BattleMetrics sort by who is online.

The status check and the vote notification are separate connections to separate ports. A server can show as online on a list and still never receive a vote, and that split explains most of the troubleshooting later in this post.

Getting polled correctly#

A listing that shows your server offline or with zero players is worse than no listing. Get the status check right first.

For Minecraft Java, most lists use the same status ping the client's multiplayer screen uses, on the game port (25565 by default). That needs enable-status=true in server.properties, which is the default. Some lists additionally use the older query protocol, which needs enable-query=true and the query.port reachable; by default it is the same number as the game port but over UDP, and on a hosted server it may need its own allocation. Players are hidden from the sample list if hide-online-players=true, and some lists show that as zero. server.properties explained has every key.

enable-status=trueenable-query=truequery.port=25565hide-online-players=falsemotd=Vanilla-plus survival, no resets, EU

If you run a proxy, lists poll the proxy, and the count shown is whatever the proxy reports. Velocity and BungeeCord both report the network total by default.

For Steam games - Valheim, CS2, Rust, DayZ, Project Zomboid and most others - lists and trackers use the Steam query protocol (A2S) on the query port, which is often the game port plus one but varies by game. If the query port is closed, the server is invisible to the Steam browser and every tracker that reads it, even though players who type the address can join. Query ports and A2S and game server ports explained cover which port each game uses. Some games also need a Steam game server login token before they will list at all; Steam game server tokens covers which.

For FiveM, the in-game server list is the list that matters. It reads sv_hostname, sets sv_projectName, sets sv_projectDesc, sets tags and sets locale from server.cfg, and sv_master1 "" hides the server from it entirely. FiveM server.cfg explained goes through them.

Use the address players will type. A domain with an SRV record on Minecraft hides a non-standard port and survives a move to another server; most Minecraft lists accept a domain. SRV records for Minecraft has the record.

Writing a listing people read#

A listing is read for about two seconds. Write it in the order people scan:

1. The name - short, searchable, no symbols that break the site's search. "Longhaul SMP", not "★彡 LONGHAUL SMP 彡★ [1.21] [NEW]".
2. The one-sentence pitch - what the server is and who it is for. "Vanilla-plus survival for adults, two evenings a week, no resets."
3. Version, region, address - the three things that decide whether someone can join right now.
4. Tags - choose the honest few. A server tagged with every mode the site offers appears in every search and disappoints every visitor.
5. The banner - Minecraft lists commonly use a 468 x 60 banner; check each site's size. Text should be legible at that size, which means few words.

The description below can be longer, but it is rarely read. Put the rules link and the Discord invite in it, with an invite that does not expire.

Do not copy the same text across twenty sites word for word if you can help it. Some lists have their own search; tailoring tags per site helps more than identical paragraphs.

Vote rewards on Minecraft with NuVotifier#

Vote-ranked lists notify your server over the Votifier protocol each time someone votes. You need two plugins: a listener that receives the notification, and a reward plugin that decides what to give. NuVotifier is the maintained listener, works on Paper, Velocity and BungeeCord, and replaces the original Votifier. VotingPlugin and SuperbVote are the common reward plugins.

1. Install NuVotifier on the server (on a proxy network, install it on the proxy and forward to backends, or on each backend - the plugin's documentation covers forwarding).
2. Start the server once so it writes its configuration and keys, then stop it.
3. Allocate a port for it. On a hosted server the listener needs a port of its own, not the game port. On RE:NODE you add an allocation on the Network tab and use that number.
4. Set the host and port in NuVotifier's config.yml, restart, and check the console for the line saying it is listening.
5. On each listing site, enter your server address, the Votifier port, and either the public key (v1 protocol) or a token (v2), whichever the site supports.
6. Use the site's test-vote button and watch the console.

host: 0.0.0.0port: 8192debug: falsedisable-v1-protocol: falsetokens:  default: 'generated-on-first-start-keep-this-secret'forwarding:  method: none

host: 0.0.0.0 makes the listener accept connections on every address the server has, which is what you want in a container. The v1 protocol uses an RSA key pair written to the rsa folder beside the config; the site gets public.key and the private key never leaves your server. The v2 protocol uses the token instead and is preferred where sites support it. Keep both secret in the sense that matters: anyone holding the token or the private key can send your server fake votes, which hands out free rewards.

The folder name and some keys can differ between NuVotifier releases; check the file the plugin actually wrote rather than pasting one from an old guide.

Rewards that do not wreck the economy

A vote reward has to be worth a click and not worth farming. If it is powerful, you have built a pay-to-win server where the currency is votes from alternate accounts.

• Small amounts of in-game currency, a common crate key, a short-lived cosmetic.
• A streak bonus for voting several days in a row, which rewards habit rather than volume.
• Offline votes queued until the player next joins. Reward plugins support this; without it, players who vote from their phone lose the reward and stop voting.
• A monthly top-voter cosmetic, if you want a prize, rather than a powerful item.

On Minecraft, Mojang's usage guidelines restrict selling gameplay advantages for money. Votes are free, so ordinary vote rewards are not a sale - but a scheme where votes can be bought, or a reward ladder that mirrors a paid store, invites trouble. Monetising a game server within the rules covers the line.

The rules that get servers removed#

Each site writes its own rules, and they are worth reading once for each site you list on. The common ground:

Faked player counts deserve a note. A server can be made to answer the status ping with any number it likes, and some do. Lists compare that number with what they see over time, with join tests, and with complaints; servers caught are removed and sometimes publicly flagged. It also does nothing useful: a visitor who joins a "300 players online" server and finds four people leaves faster than if it had said four.

Staff should not vote from alternate accounts or ask friends of friends to do so with VPNs. It is the same manipulation by smaller hands, and it is visible to sites that log addresses.

Sponsored slots and premium listings#

Large Minecraft lists sell the top positions, often by auction for a month at a time, and many sites sell premium placement or highlighted entries. Whether that is worth it depends on one number: what a player who stays costs you.

A sponsored slot brings a wave of visitors who were browsing the top of a list, which is the least loyal audience in the hobby. Most of them join, look, and leave. A server with a strong first ten minutes, a clear identity and staff online converts a useful share of them; a server without those converts almost none and has paid for the privilege of finding out. Below a few hundred regular players, spend the money on the server and the time on the first-session experience instead. If you do buy a slot, ask new players how they found you for the whole month, and compare the cost with the number who are still around a month later.

Measuring what each listing brings#

You do not need tracking scripts. Two cheap measurements tell you which lists are worth maintaining:

• Ask. A Discord onboarding question or an in-game welcome prompt: "How did you find us?" with the lists as options. Imperfect, and far better than guessing.
• Votes per site. Reward plugins log which site each vote came from. A site that sends votes is a site your players use, and therefore one new players are likely to find you on.

Drop the lists that send nothing after a couple of months. Each one is a listing to keep accurate when the version, address or description changes, and an out-of-date listing is a bad first impression.

Troubleshooting#

The list shows the server as offline. The status check cannot reach it. Check the address and port on the listing match what players use, that enable-status is on for Minecraft, that the query port is open and allocated for Steam games, and that the site is polling the public address rather than an internal one. Lists cache status; give it the site's refresh interval before assuming it is still broken.

The player count is zero but people are playing. hide-online-players=true on Minecraft, a proxy reporting differently from the backend, or a Steam game whose query port is not the one listed.

Test votes never arrive. Work outwards. The console should say NuVotifier is listening on the port you expect; if not, the config or the allocation is wrong. If it is listening, the port is not reachable from outside: confirm the allocation and that you entered the Votifier port on the site, not the game port. Then check the protocol: a site sending v1 to a listener with disable-v1-protocol: true is refused, and a mismatched public key or token produces a decryption or signature error in the console.

Votes arrive but no reward is given. The listener works and the reward plugin is not receiving from it, or the service name the site sends does not match a site configured in the reward plugin. Turn on debug: true in NuVotifier temporarily to see the service name, then match it.

FAQ#

Do I need Votifier to be listed on a Minecraft server list?

No. Listing only needs your server to answer the status ping. Votifier is needed only if you want the site to notify your server about votes so you can reward players, which is what keeps people voting.

What port does NuVotifier use?

8192 by default, over TCP, set by port in its config.yml. On a hosted server it needs its own port allocation separate from the game port, and the listing site needs that port number.

Are vote rewards allowed under Minecraft's rules?

Ordinary vote rewards are widely used and voting itself is free. What Mojang's guidelines restrict is selling gameplay advantages for money, so keep rewards small, never let votes be bought, and keep vote rewards separate from anything in a paid store.

Is buying a sponsored slot on a server list worth it?

Usually not for a small server. It brings browsers who are quick to leave, and the money is better spent on the first-session experience. If you try it, measure how many players from that month are still active a month later.

Why does my server show different player counts on different lists?

Lists poll at different intervals, some use the status ping and some the query protocol, and some count unique players over a period rather than the current number. Small differences are normal; a list stuck at zero is a configuration problem.

Can listing sites see my players' details?

They see what the status or query response contains: the player count and, unless hidden, a sample of player names. Votes are submitted on the site with the player's name, so the site holds that too. Mention it in your privacy note if you keep one.