Why does your Minecraft server community and server exist?

CommenceSMP is a hub for community, and that's why it's important to establish a wholesome, engaging experience for all players. The server rules are approved by the community and are equal, representing gameplay that is fluid and fair. We take our rules very seriously, but also take each and every situation into consideration to provide the best possible outcome. Our goal and "why" CommenceSMP exists is to provide a wholesome, unique and engaging experience for any player, not categorized or defined in specific ways and providing hand-made unique game-modes and experiences.

Who is your target audience and how do you advertise to them?

CommenceSMP took a new approach a few years ago, and we've been hard in development creating a custom experience. We're just starting to branch out and advertise the server, so we're still getting our foot in the door. The biggest part of our community is story-telling, and that's the foundation of the experience. Player's craft their own experiences, while following a light structure that allows them to branch out in any way they would like, whether that be completing story quests, building a kingdom economic empire, or starting a farm in the middle of nowhere, the choice is yours. We try to target an audience of any age as we have numerous features intended for different age groups. The general server is targeted toward younger teenagers to young adults. During questing or stories, you won't encounter any situations that may be too difficult to handle, however, the chat is uncensored. We take respect very seriously, however, and any disrespect will be handled immediately.

In the next 12 months, what three metrics will define success for your server?

Within the next year, the server community will grow exponentially with dedicated players and our main gameplay experiences will become complete. Our headlining game-modes will define our success, with their originality and concept alone. Player's have praised the functionality of the server for being well balanced and consistent features throughout. The developer is able to push out updates and fixes instantly and loves to experiment with different aspects of Minecraft, really pushing the boundaries of capability. Ultimately, our unique gameplay experiences, powerful features and tools, and wholesome community will define our success.

What are three principles that are most valuable to your community?

As stated in a previous answer, the core of CommenceSMP is the community. With that, we enforce a strict respect policy, but without shoving it down player's throats. We lead by example, which allows player's to adapt to the rules naturally instead of just being told how to act and expected to act like that. Our ultimate goal is respect for everyone. Even 12 years ago when we first started, it was always a point that all player's will always be treated with respect. Along with respect, we also take criticism very seriously. Any feedback is important, and criticism allows us to improve aspects of the server we may have not known previously. Another area we focus on is the wholesomeness and ultimate vibe of the server. It's important to us that we provide a chill, calming vibe to the server in general. We try to focus on minimal designs, but also on creating a specific experience. So we strive to provide a respectful, wholesome experience where feedback is welcome and criticism is encouraged.

How does each player’s experience start when they join your server?​ How does this express your values in action?

When you first join CommenceSMP, you're greeted by a beautiful Spawn Hub. From here, you can take 1 of 4 paths, going straight forward, behind, left or right. Left and Right are Parkour areas, with Forward having the player travel through a hallway with snippets of server information, leading to a Game-Mode selection area, followed by ... some secrets. If you go behind, you'll find a large staircase to the overlook and a large wall with tons of signs, each one including ideas or suggestions from the community that made it into the server. Each game-mode tells you about it before you join, especially our main MMORPG game-mode, where you go through a tutorial and take a small, fun quiz to determine what kind of experience you could have and give players a bit of direction, if they desire. Each area clearly communicates important information, and allows the player to know what to do without having to engage in long text dumps or do anything that could be considered "boring". There's a lot you can do immediately upon joining, but if that's overwhelming, the server directs you toward the game-modes. For adventurous players, there's secrets and areas for anyone to find. Ultimately, our goal is to provide an experience to anyone, regardless of your preferred gameplay experience. This allows players to calmly get to know the server and chill out, moving at their own pace and figuring things out as they wish.

What are the different roles that members can play in your community? What does each role do?

There are many roles available for players to fulfill, but they ultimately boil down to 2 types of players: Players and Staff (surprise, surprise am I right?). We've tried to keep this aspect as simple as possible, but also allow for players to use powerful tools to achieve their ultimate experience. Ranks are utilized to define where a player is at on the server. Each rank means something different, and allows for different commands, features and tools to be used. Some ranks are obtained completely automatic, either by doing things on the server or playing for a specific amount of time. When a player becomes staff, they are able to utilize powerful staff tools that allow them to easily manage large aspects of the server. We take security very seriously, and we strive to keep each tool safe and simple to use, while always being fair. On top of server-wide ranks, there are also ranks featured in game-modes, that allow for even more depth and complexity for each player, and allows each player to become who they truly are on the server, instead of letting only 1 rank define their entire experience. Player's start as an Entrant, a guest on the server. Once an Entrant plays for a while, they become a Constructor, a member on the server. After that, a player can take multiple paths. They can become a Builder for the server, split into Artisan, a simple builder on the server, or Engineer, an architect for the server. They can also become Staff, which starts at Inspector, and allows for basic server moderation. After that is Presider, which is an Admin for the server, who handles most aspects of moderation and manages many parts of the server. After that are Legate's, who are the highest admins, and manage the server, website, discord, etc. You can also obtain donation ranks, which allow for cosmetic functions and tools and silly prank-like commands. The game-modes also have ranks that, for example, define your position, royalty and divinity in a Kingdom for our MMORPG style game-mode, or define your which level you're on in KitPvP.

What are the most important rules that you have to help you achieve your server's purpose and values?​

Our main rule is to provide respect to not only yourself, but to everyone else AND the server. This encourages a positive, wholesome experience without toxic behaviors. We also strive to provide a hacker-free environment by enforcing a strict no hacks policy. Each game-mode also has their own rules that help them define themselves, but ultimately we go by situation, context, equality and circumstance when determining what to do, whether it be for punishment, etc.

How do you make decisions for the server? Who gets to decide what?​

As we strive to provide a community-driven experience, CommenceSMP is committed to taking each piece of feedback and criticism seriously. Each idea, suggestion or comment from player's help determine what kind of server we are, and ultimately what kind of experience player's want. At the moment, the server is owned, operated and developed by 1 person who ultimately makes all the decisions, but the decisions are based on what the player-base says.

What are the risks that can prevent your community from thriving? What tools do you use to protect your server and players? Are they reactive or proactive?​

As stated in previous answers, we provide many powerful tools to our staff to manage the server. We take security very seriously, and do not allow for unintended actions on the server. We keep frequent backups of the server and all important aspects, so if anything were to happen, we can restore the server to a point when it was safe and deal with the culprit(s). We use powerful plugins like CoreProtect to manage important aspects like griefing, allowing us to handle any issues without disturbing the server overall. In the event of a more serious situation, we are more than prepared to provide the necessary action, whether it be a simple ban, or up to and including legal action. Our server is hosted for free, provided and sponsored by Neumatix x Hosting. This allows us to run completely free, 24/7 with a plenty-capable server able to handle dozens of players at a time. If, for some reason, this server was no longer provided, some issues would arise, but we have a backup plan in this event with another hosting service!

What are the simplest channels for you to communicate with other staff? With players? How often do you talk with them?

As we've stated many times, our core is our community. Our discord is a hub for communication, though we do have players that do not have access or do not have discord. Because of this, we have in-game commands that allows for players to report ideas, suggestions, etc and read about new features and server news. Our website is also a communication hub, allowing for players to do numerous things like directly contact us, upload media from the server, engage in the forums and blog, and learn about the server and all its features, tools, etc. It's easy for players to contact staff, and staff tries to provide an answer as quickly as possible. If an answer or solution can't be provided, we will try our best to help. We have an extensive FAQ on the website and in-game that allows for players to find answers if, for some reason, they were unable to contact staff.