Minecraft server list ranking: the levers you can actually pull

Ask what decides a Minecraft server list ranking and you get two different answers depending on the list. On most lists it is votes: one vote per player per day, counted for the month, reset on the 1st. On ours it is a Server Score out of 100, recalculated for every online server every 5 minutes, where live players count most and votes are one part of eight. The good news for an owner is that the honest work overlaps almost completely: keep the server up, fill in the listing, get your players voting daily, and give them a reason to be online together.

The exact weights are public on how we rank; nothing below is a secret.

What most lists rank by, and why it matters to you

A vote-ranked list is simple: the server with the most votes this month sits on top. That has three consequences. Big servers with vote-reward loops dominate, because a server with 2,000 players online produces more daily votes than one with 20, no matter how good the small one is. Owners who want to jump the queue buy votes, which every serious list tries to catch. And a new server can climb fast in its first month, because the count resets and every vote is worth the same.

Some lists sort by player count instead, and most of those show the number the server reports about itself, which is easy to fake (our fake player count guide shows how). We ping every server ourselves at least every 5 minutes and use the middle of the last three readings, so one odd reading can't spike it. That measured number is the single biggest lever on our list, which is why the rest of this guide starts there.

The Server Score, part by part, as levers

The eight parts add up to 100. The "up to" column is the most each can add; the last column is what you can actually do about it.

Two rules sit on top of the score. Offline servers always sit below online ones, whatever their score. And staff can take up to 10 points off a server caught cheating, with every change logged.

Listing strength: the 12 points you control today

When you claim your listing (a one-time code in your MOTD), the edit page shows a meter out of 12 and what each missing piece is worth. The median listing on our list scores 3.5, and 59% score under 4, so filling this in is the fastest way to pass most of the list.

• Description of 250+ characters: 2.5. 120+ earns 1. Lead with what is different; the description guide has a structure.
• Trailer or video: 1.5. A YouTube link, even 30 seconds of unlisted phone footage.
• Gameplay notes or three highlights: 1.5. What players do, or three things worth joining for.
• Three photos: 1.5. 0.5 each. Spawn, a build, an event.
• Summary of 40+ characters: 1. The line under your name in every list row.
• Two or more game modes: 1. Pick your main one as well; it makes you a specialist on that mode's list.
• Logo 1, banner 0.5, cover 0.25. See banner and icon.
• Discord 0.5, vote rewards 0.5, website 0.25. The Discord link also feeds the trust part, and servers with one have a median of 43 players against 9.
• Live badge on your website: a bonus of up to 1. The embed code is on your edit page. It is a bonus, so the total is still capped at 12.

Description, video, gameplay notes, photos, summary and logo make 9, which is past the 8 the Rising spots require. When we checked in late September 2026, a single listing on the site had reached 8.

Mode lists, Hot and the vote spotlight

The main list is not the only ranking. On a game mode's own list, a server whose main mode is that one ranks a little higher than a big network that lists it as one of many, and player counts are compared with the biggest servers of that mode rather than the whole list, so a busy Skyblock server with 300 players can lead the Skyblock list. Pick a main mode, and pick it honestly: browse every mode to see how crowded each is.

Three short-term boosts sit on top of the score: the Hot flame (up to 15% of each list, online with at least 5 players, a believable count, doing better than usual), the vote spotlight (a chance of a short boost after each vote, which is why daily voters keep showing up higher), and the three Rising spots on page one for growing servers whose owner claimed the listing and filled it to a strength of 8 or more. The featured guide covers all three.

The playbook that works on both kinds of list

1. Stay up. Uptime feeds the trust part here, and an offline server ranks below every online one on any list. We only started pinging in late September 2026, so uptime history is short, but every outage already counts against you.
2. Set an honest maximum. "3 / 500" reads as empty; "3 / 40" reads as a small community. A huge empty cap helps nobody.
3. Build the daily vote loop. Install NuVotifier (setup guide), give a small non-pay-to-win reward, and add a /vote command that prints your vote links with the username filled in. Votes are 15 points here and the entire ranking on vote-only lists. The votes guide goes deeper.
4. Fill the listing to 8 or more. The section above. Do it once, then update the photos when spawn changes.
5. Concentrate players in time. Event nights at fixed hours raise the busy-right-now part (12 points) and make the server feel alive to a new player who lands during them.
6. Ask for reviews after good moments. After an event, in Discord, once. Reviews are 8 points, weighted by count.
7. Claim the listing. Verified owner is part of trust, and it unlocks the edit page, the strength meter and the vote test button.

What gets you penalized

• Fake player counts. A count above your own maximum, a maximum of 1 with many online, a number that has not changed for hours, or a server exactly full at every check gets a visible "Player count looks unusual" flag. Flagged servers stay listed but never get Hot or a Rising spot, only part of their count goes into the score, and they sort below believable counts. Read the fake counts guide if you use a proxy that reports odd numbers by accident.
• Bought votes and vote exchanges. Staff can take up to 10 points off, and it is logged. We allow one vote per username per server per day (the day resets at midnight UTC), and up to three names per internet connection, behind a bot check. Vote-only lists have their own detection, and a server caught there is usually removed.
• Going dark. Offline servers rank below every online one, and a server that stays offline for 30 days drops off the list.
• Being on Mojang's blocked list, or confirmed as a scam. Not listed at all.
• Paying and expecting rank. Promoted spots and paid boosts are labeled and never change votes, counts or the vote ranking. Money buys visibility, not position.

The 30-minute checklist

• Claim the listing from your server page with the MOTD code.
• Write a 250-character description that leads with what is different.
• Add a 40-character summary, a logo and three screenshots.
• Paste one YouTube link, even unlisted phone footage.
• Pick two modes and a main mode.
• Link your Discord and paste your NuVotifier token.
• Set an honest max-players in server.properties.
• Add a /vote command that prints your vote link with ?username= filled in.
• Announce one fixed event time this week in Discord and your MOTD.

When the meter reads 8 or more, you are eligible for the Rising spots and 12 of your 100 points are locked in. The rest is keeping the server up and giving players a reason to come back tomorrow.

Quick questions