How to Get Players for Your Game Server
Honest ways to grow a game server community: server lists, Discord, a clear pitch, a good first five minutes, and habits that keep players coming back.
4 min read · Updated Sep 23, 2026 · By GuavaHost Team
Growing a server takes time, and the things that work are mostly unglamorous: being easy to find, explaining clearly why someone should join, giving new players a good first five minutes, and running the server consistently enough that they come back. This guide walks through each one, with no spammy shortcuts.
Get the basics right first
Before you advertise anywhere, make sure the server is ready for strangers:
- It is stable. No lag at your current player count, and no crashes. See why is my server lagging?
- It is in the right place. A server close to your target players has lower ping, and ping is the first thing new players notice. See choosing a server location.
- Rules are written down and easy to find, in game and in Discord.
- Protection is in place. Permissions, land claims or a whitelist, whichever fits. See keeping griefers out.
- Backups are scheduled, so one bad night does not end the server. See how often to back up.
Write a clear pitch
"Fun survival server, join now!" describes every server. A good pitch answers what a player is actually wondering:
- Who is it for? New players, veterans, adults, a particular country or language.
- What makes it different? One or two things, stated plainly.
- The practical facts. Game version, mods or plugins, location, wipe or reset schedule, player cap, whitelist or open.
An example: "Semi-vanilla Minecraft 1.21 survival for adults in Europe. Land claims, no pay-to-win, a friendly group of regulars online most evenings. Hosted in Gravelines, so ping is low across Western Europe." In one breath, a player knows whether it is for them.
Use the same wording everywhere, so people recognise you when they see you twice.
Be easy to find
In-game server browsers
Many games list community servers inside the game, and that is where players look first. Make sure yours actually shows up:
- Rust: check the right tab (Community or Modded), and set a clear hostname, description, header image and website URL. See Rust not in the server list.
- Counter-Strike 2: you need a Game Server Login Token to appear in the browser. See CS2 GSLT.
- Valheim, ARK, Palworld, Project Zomboid, Enshrouded and Don't Starve Together each have their own listing quirks, covered in their "not showing" guides, such as Valheim and Palworld.
Put the details players filter by in your server name, like region, wipe day or game mode. On Rust, many players plan around wipe day, so saying when you wipe helps a lot.
Server list websites
Minecraft has no public server list inside the game, so players browse server list websites. List there with accurate tags and a real description. Voting on those sites is normal, and rewarding players for voting is common, but buying votes or using bots breaks the rules of every reputable list.
A memorable address
play.yourserver.com is far easier to share than an IP and port. See custom domains and SRV records.
Use Discord as your home base
A Discord server is where your community lives between sessions. Keep it simple:
- An announcements channel for updates, events and restarts.
- A rules channel and a place for questions.
- A suggestions or feedback channel, and actually read it.
- Status or player count updates so people see when others are online. For Rust, our Rust Wiper can post wipe announcements for you. See Rust Discord wipe announcements.
To reach new people, join communities for your game and follow their promotion rules exactly. Many have a dedicated channel or a weekly thread for server ads. Partnering with a server of a similar size, where each of you mentions the other, can work well too.
Show, do not just tell
Short clips, screenshots, build timelapses and event recaps say more than any description. Post them where your game's players already are, in the places that allow it, and link back to your Discord. If you or a regular streams, that is free advertising with real people in it.
Nail the first five minutes
Most new players decide within minutes whether to stay.
- Clear spawn. They should know what to do and where to go without asking.
- Visible rules. Short enough to actually read.
- A welcome. An automated message is fine; a real person saying hello is better.
- A fair start. Starter help is great. Advantages sold for money are not, and on Minecraft the game's usage guidelines restrict selling gameplay advantages, while cosmetics are allowed.
- No lag. A laggy first session is the fastest way to lose someone forever.
Keep them coming back
- A predictable rhythm. Regular events, and a wipe or reset schedule that you actually keep.
- Communicate changes before they happen, especially anything that affects progress.
- Fair, consistent moderation. The same rules for regulars and newcomers.
- Active staff who play, not just enforce. Give trusted helpers their own panel logins with sub-users rather than your password.
- Room to grow. As the community grows, you can add RAM any time from guavahost.com/account, with prorated billing and nothing wiped. See how many players your server can handle.
What not to do
- Fake player counts or bots. It breaks the rules of most server lists, can get you delisted, and players spot it quickly.
- Spam. Unrequested DMs and ad-dumping in other Discords get you banned and remembered for the wrong reason.
- Misleading descriptions. Promising features you do not have wins a click and loses the player.
- Pay-to-win. It drives away exactly the players who would have stayed longest.
Measure what works
Note your peak concurrent players each week, and ask new players how they found you. After a month you will know which channel actually brings people in, and you can put your time there.
Still stuck? Jump into our Discord at discord.gg/GuavaHost and the team will help you out.
- community
- players
- advertising
- discord
- server list
- growth
Still need help? Our team is online 24/7 to answer questions.