Note that this thread is quite old. We've been discussing things for quite some time. This opening post reflects the current plans for the new servers. So if you read things in this thread that don't seem to make sense given this opening post, that's why
For the past 4 years I have kept the HappyDiggers servers up and running with the help from a couple of awesome volunteers. During that time I've pocketed most of the expenses involved with this. I've done this because I consider this a hobby and I wanted to keep my servers open to the public as much as possible without them having to join a 'pay to win' server. After some people (Jiro can be a real nag ) have repeatedly asked me to open up the flood gates that are your wallets, I'm now thinking about doing a server donation drive to pay for a server upgrade so we can run more and better servers. I'd like your input on the idea, how to present it, the perks and anything else you may have ideas for.
HappyDiggers currently has 2 physical servers. On these two physical servers we are currently running the following:
- HappyDiggers MC
- HappyDiggers Vanilla (V.I.P. access only)
- HappyDiggers Snapshot
- HappyDiggers TFC
- HappyDiggers TFC Hardcore
- HappyDiggers Lobby (for TFC servers)
- HappyDiggers FTB (V.I.P. access only, runs dev builds of HappyDiggers AMP mod pack)
- BungeeCord Proxy
- HappyDiggers website
- Cross-server backups
If we were to rent two servers with comparable specs we'd be looking at $323 / month for the primary and $178 / month for the secondary server. Prices from here. So that's roughly $500 / month worth of hosting. Obviously we're not paying that much However it does give you an idea that what we're doing here costs quite a lot of money.
Both of the HappyDiggers servers were bought by myself. Sverf is generously paying the electric bill for one of them. It's not $500 / month, but take the cost of two servers, divide that by 36 (3 years, 12 months) and add around $50 for electricity and bandwidth and you get a monthly cost of around $130,- So what we're doing is quite cost effective compared to renting a server elsewhere.
The plan is to upgrade the main server. The parts I bought are:
Scythe Mugen 4 SCMG-4000 € 39,90 Asus X99-A 90MB0K50-M0EAY0 € 247,40 Kingston Technology HyperX Fury - DDR4 2133Mhz CL14 Kit - 64GB HX421C14FBK8/64 € 398,90 Intel Core i7-5820K - Boxed BX80648I75820K € 399,90 Western digital Purple - 4TB € 164,80 Total including tax €1250.90
Obviously we don't need a donor drive to fund the parts now. However I'd still like to continue with a donor setup for those willing to support our community. I'm not going to go through all the hassle of creating a seemless world. It's a nice idea, but I just don't have to time and energy to do it.
The plan is to create/configure the following (new) servers. Please note that the following lists are subject to change:
- Lobby server, free
- TFC freebie server, free
- Jail server, free
- ARK survival evolved, free
- TFC regular, donor tier 1
- TFC hardcore, donor tier 1
- TechnodeFirmacraft, donor tier 1
Current plan for pricing:
- free means free.
- tier 1 €15,- / for as long as we're running Minecraft servers. Access to all the tier 1 servers.
People who have donated in June of 2015 or later will gain access to the servers based on the amount they've donated for a full year from the moment we open the servers.
We will open up a market which people can use to donate. This market will also offer several other donate options for those who wish to donate more than €15,- Please keep in mind that we will reward ANY donor package with access to the tier 1 donor servers. Also none of the donor packages will have any kind of pay to win stuff. It's just a few little cosmetic perks you can use to show of your support.
These are the current donor packages:
Donor 15,00 EUR
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Donor Awesome 30,00 EUR
Donor Legendary 60,00 EURSpoiler!
Donor Epic 100,00 EURSpoiler!
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Outdated perk stuff and server specifications. Please read our Servers page to view the current status.
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