Minecraft server lists: where to list your server and climb the rankings

In short: list your server on several sites — international ones if you want players from everywhere, Russian-speaking ones if your players are from the CIS. The server must answer pings, and you usually prove ownership with a code in the MOTD. Rank is mostly decided by player votes that reset monthly, plus uptime and paid promotion. Vote rewards come through a plugin using the Votifier protocol or through the list's own system. The lists' rules forbid vote botting and fake player counts — the penalty is a vote reset or removal.

What a server list is#

A server list is a directory with filters by game mode, version and player count. The owner adds a server and fills in the listing, and the site regularly queries the server — players online, version, MOTD — and shows it to players. MinecraftServers.org, for example, takes the version from your server's status ping, and if it's a range like 1.7.2-26.2, it shows the highest — 26.2.

For a list to see your server, it must answer pings: with enable-status=false the server looks offline in lists, even though players can still connect. Some lists also read the query protocol — MineServ, for example, asks for enable-query=true. Query runs over UDP on query.port. The other keys are covered in server.properties; on a Velocity network the description comes from motd in velocity.toml, and query is enabled in its [query] section.

enable-status=true
enable-query=true
query.port=25565
motd=Survival with a player-run economy

How rankings work: votes, uptime and paid promotion#

• Votes. The main factor almost everywhere. On MinecraftServers.org, per its help page, rank is decided entirely by votes. Votes reset on the 1st of every month at MinecraftServers.org, TopG, MinecraftRating, MCRate and MineServ, monthly at Minecraft-MP, and Minecraft.buzz deletes votes older than 15 days.
• Uptime and age. Minecraft-MP's score combines uptime, time since registration, votes and an achievements bonus; TopG's combines votes and uptime. MinecraftServers.org deletes servers listed for more than 10 days if uptime drops below 25%.
• A complete listing. TMonitoring awards points for descriptions over 500 and 1,000 characters, screenshots and a connected reward script.
• Paid promotion. Sponsored servers on MinecraftServers.org sit at the top with a green background, TopG Premium adds bonus votes, and MinecraftRating's FAQ says its top is sorted by purchased promo points first and by votes only on a tie. MCRate, on the other hand, says its rating isn't for sale. Prices are on each list's own pages.

Server lists compared#

Alphabetical order; facts come from each list's help pages, rules and terms as of October 2026. We describe voting by the rules, not by quality: which list brings you more players is something to check in your own stats.

International server lists

Russian-speaking server lists

Each list's own rules#

• Minecraft-MP.com — doesn't accept servers on Aternos or Hamachi, forbids advertising cracked or offline mode and showing a fake player count. On a network, only the main server can have votes.
• Minecraft.buzz — the server must be free to play: donations are fine, a paid entry isn't. An English description is required; a local-language one can go below it.
• MinecraftServers.org — forbids rapidly flashing banners and trading or selling votes; you may only encourage players to vote for the listing of the server they came from — even if the other server is yours too.
• TopG — asks for a description in your own words, without AI tools.
• MCRate — checks vote uniqueness by IP and VK account id; treats paid "vote for us" tasks as vote cheating, bans advertising other lists, and may block a server for deliberate misinformation in its description.
• MinecraftRating — requires accurate information about the server and doesn't allow claims of superiority or uniqueness without documentary proof. For Votifier, enter the IP, not a domain.
• MineServ — one page per project, empty projects are deleted after 5 days, no more than 6 emoji in the title, and point penalties for wrong categories and swearing.
• TMonitoring — the TLauncher launcher's list: no filler words like "Dupe", "VIP" or "Admin" in the name, only real parameters — the site says it checks them. Banner: 468×60.

How to add your server to a list#

1. 1

   Make sure the server is reachable

   It's running, answers pings (enable-status=true) and the port is open — see server IP and port. If the list reads query, enable that too.

2. 2

   Sign up

   Every list needs an account; MinecraftServers.org and MCRate also ask you to confirm your email.

3. 3

   Prove the server is yours

   MinecraftRating asks you to temporarily change the MOTD so the name ends with your id (its example: Minecraft _id3423); MineServ asks for a five-digit code at the end of motd. After the check you can change the MOTD back.

4. 4

   Fill in the listing

   Name, description, banner, versions, game modes, links to your site and community — more below.

5. 5

   Pass review

   MineServ answers within 3 days and requires 80% uptime over a day; TMonitoring lists the server without review but awards points only after it.

6. 6

   Set up rewards and test them

   Votifier — see NuVotifier; custom systems — per the list's instructions. Minecraft-MP (Test Vote), Minecraft.buzz (Votifier Tester) and MineServ let you send a test vote.

The listing: name, description, banner, MOTD#

• Name. Short and your own. Under Mojang's rules, Minecraft can't be the main word in your server's name — details in how to promote a server.
• Description. What makes you different, game modes, version, rules, a Discord link. Only what's actually on the server: lists check parameters and modes and penalize made-up ones.
• Banner. MinecraftRating and TMonitoring ask for 468×60; MinecraftRating allows up to 2 MB. MinecraftServers.org removes flashing banners.
• MOTD and icon. The first thing a player sees, both on the list and in the game's server list. How to make them: MOTD and icon; the MOTD editor builds a colored line for you.
• Screenshots and links. Real screenshots, your site, Discord — that's where players go for rules and news.

Vote rewards: what's allowed and what isn't#

Rewarding votes is normal practice: the lists themselves offer Votifier or their own reward systems. The NuVotifier plugin receives the vote and a separate listener plugin hands out the reward — setup in NuVotifier. If the reward is currency or rare items, account for it in your economy: see economy and Vault.

• One vote a day. MinecraftServers.org — once a day per server and up to three servers a day; Minecraft-MP, Minecraft.buzz and MineServ — once a day; MCRate — once per 24 hours; TopG — every 6 hours.
• No vote cheating. Bots, scripts, proxies and VPNs for extra votes are explicitly banned in the rules of MinecraftServers.org, Minecraft-MP, Minecraft.buzz, TopG, MinecraftRating and MCRate; penalties range from a vote reset to removal and a ban.
• Votes aren't for sale or trade. MinecraftServers.org forbids trading votes between servers; MCRate forbids paid "vote for us" tasks.
• A network gets one voting listing. On Minecraft-MP only the main server of a network can have votes.
• The name in the link. MinecraftServers.org and Minecraft-MP prefill the vote form if you add ?username=name to the link — fewer typos and lost rewards.

Where your players come from#

Give each list its own subdomain — all pointing to the same server. When connecting, the Minecraft client sends the address the player used (after SRV record resolution); the vanilla server ignores it, but proxies and plugins can see it — Velocity's forced-hosts works off it, for example. That way you see which list brings players who stay, not just votes. Setting up a domain and an SRV record: server IP and port.

mso.example.com  A    203.0.113.10   ; MinecraftServers.org
mmp.example.com  A    203.0.113.10   ; Minecraft-MP.com
play.example.com A    203.0.113.10   ; website and Discord

The lists give you stats too: MineServ shows visits to your project page, MinecraftRating notifies you about votes and reviews. And the simplest method of all — ask new players where they heard about you.

The first session decides#

A player from a server list tries several servers in a row and judges each by the first session. If someone with KillAura kills them at spawn or a player with Fly flies past, they quit, don't vote and don't come back. Fewer votes and players mean a lower rank — and the list sends you even fewer people.

DGuard — the best anticheat for a modern Minecraft server — catches all 47 cheat types from the comparison with GrimAC, Vulcan, Polar, Intave and Matrix; the nearest rival, Intave, has 27. It watches combat, movement, packets, inventory, building and the world, gathers evidence and doesn't rush to a verdict. For a new server just getting onto lists, it also matters that DGuard is free up to 30 players online — with the same protection as the paid plans. Other ways to bring players in: how to promote a server.

FAQ#