Guides
Why Modded Servers Take So Long to Join
Where the wait comes from, what an owner can cut, and why the person running the server has never experienced it.
· 7 min read
522 articles
SweetMask
SweetMask is a gaming enthusiast and content writer covering gaming news, updates, guides, and online communities. Focused on delivering clear, accurate, and useful content, he helps players stay informed about the latest developments, game updates, and trends across the gaming world.
Articles — page 12
522 resultsGuides
What a Player Count on a Server List Really Tells You
Bots, reserved slots, idle connections and a number sampled minutes ago. What the figure is, and the three ways it gets inflated.
· 7 min read
Guides
Peak Hours: When a Server Is Actually Worth Joining
Every server has a shape to its day, set by the timezone of the people who built it. Reading it opens up most of the directory.
· 7 min read
Guides
Advertising a Game Server: What Works and What Wastes Money
An honest accounting of every channel a server owner is sold, and why retention sets the ceiling on all of them.
· 7 min read
Guides
Putting a Live Server Banner on Your Site or Discord
A screenshot from 2024 cannot tell a visitor whether anything is happening now. A live banner can, in one line of HTML.
· 8 min read
Guides
Appealing a Ban Without Making It Worse
What an admin reads first, the three openings that guarantee a rejection, and a template that works because it forces the right structure.
· 7 min read
Guides
Should You Block VPN Players?
VPN blocks stop some ban evaders and silently reject players on mobile networks, campus Wi-Fi and bad routes. Here is where the line actually belongs.
· 8 min read
Guides
Handling Toxic Players Without Killing Your Community
Word filters fail within a day, and the hardest call is a regular everyone likes. How graduated mutes, honest reports and firm calls keep a server civil.
· 8 min read
Guides
Ban Appeals: A Process That Isn't a Popularity Contest
Public appeal channels decide bans by headcount, not evidence. How to record proof at ban time, separate reviewer from banner, and say no once.
· 8 min read
Guides
Alt Accounts and Ban Evasion: Detection Without False Positives
IP bans catch the wrong people. How to recognise a returning banned player from network, account and behaviour signals without punishing newcomers.
· 8 min read
Guides
Ranks and Progression: Giving Players a Reason to Return
Most rank ladders feel excellent on day one and are dead scenery by day twenty. How to space rungs, what to gate, and how to tell if yours works.
· 8 min read
Guides · FiveM
txAdmin: Running a FiveM Server Without the Terminal
It ships inside the artifacts you already downloaded and binds to 0.0.0.0:40120. Restart schedules, staff permissions, and the backup it never takes.
· 10 min read
Guides
Server Owner Burnout and Handing Over the Keys
Why long-running servers close, what has to be transferred before the keys change hands, and how to shut one down deliberately instead of just going quiet.
· 8 min read
Guides · Minecraft
Recovering From a Griefing Incident
The first hour after someone burns your world down decides what you get back. Which logs to pull, why a full rollback is the wrong reflex, what to post.
· 8 min read
Guides
Player Support: Running Tickets Without a Helpdesk Team
Your DMs are the support queue, nobody else can see them, and they stop when you do. How to sort the five request types and actually close things.
· 9 min read
Guides
Minors on Your Server: Age Safety and Your Responsibility
Whatever your rules say, some of your players are children. The platform rules that already bind you, and what to do when a report actually lands.
· 10 min read
Guides
Anti-Cheat on Community Game Servers
What official anti-cheat covers on a community server and what it does not, why false positives cost more players than cheaters, and how to handle reports.
· 15 min read
Guides · Minecraft
Custom Domains and SRV Records for Game Servers
DNS cannot point at a port, which is why game server addresses are awkward. What an SRV record does, which games read one, and how to move hosts invisibly.
· 9 min read
Guides
SteamCMD and app IDs: installing a dedicated server
The game and its dedicated server are different products with different IDs. What validate does, why betas empty a fleet, and how much disk to keep free.
· 6 min read
Guides
Ping, Interpolation and Rubber-Banding: Netcode for Players
Why you get shot behind a wall, why you rubber-band, and why a steady 60ms connection beats a jumpy 30ms one. The client side of netcode, explained.
· 8 min read
Guides
Growing a Game Server: From Empty to Regulars
An empty server stays empty because nobody joins an empty server. How to break that loop honestly, why fake player counts backfire, and what wins regulars.
· 15 min read
Guides
The First 10 Minutes: Why New Players Leave Immediately
Players are finding your server and leaving inside a minute. Here is the friction in the join, the spawn and the first session, in the order it hits them.
· 7 min read
Guides
Server Events That Bring Players Back
A launch party spikes your player count for one night. A repeating weekly event moves the floor. How to choose the night, the hour and the format.
· 7 min read
Guides
Routing, GRE Tunnels and Why Ping Isn't Distance
A player 300km away pings worse than one 2,000km away. The cause is BGP, hot-potato peering and a tunnel nobody told you about, not your hardware.
· 10 min read