FOSS gamedev and creative worlds

1. Enable TNT
This can be done quite easily by adding to minetest.conf
2. Enable Mods
This is also done very easily. First, configure your world in singleplayer with the mods you want. Then, just open the (your world name here) folder in the worlds folder and edit world.mt so that all the mods you want to include are set to true, instead of false.
3. Add more default privileges
To do this, add but replace priv1, priv2 with privilege names like shout or fly. For a full list of privileges, look here: http://wiki.minetest.net/Privileges#Built-in_privileges
4. Announce your server publicly
Using the same world.mt file as Tip 2, change to
5. Read the post at https://forum.minetest.net/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=8924
CraigyDavi has created a fantastic guide to starting up a Windows server, perfect for newcomers

why is enabling TNT a top tip for servers?
most servers have it disabled because children like to destroy everything ...

In my opinion 1 and 4 are a terrible idea

Don't you mean 1 and 3?

I think 1, 3, 4, and 5 are bad ideas, those are not 100% needed.

EthanD57 wrote:1. Enable TNT

No, unless you definitely want your world destroyed by griefers.

EthanD57 wrote:2. Enable Mods

Not much of a "tip". Depends if you want a modded game, or plain vanilla game (not necessarily "Minetest Game". Also, if you plan on hosting the server for a long time, or even sharing the world dir via other means, I'd personally recommend putting mods into `<world>/worldmods/` (which removes the need to enable each mod individually), and putting a custom `minetest.conf` file in the world dir and start `minetestserver` with `--config` pointing to that file (example assumes *nix):

EthanD57 wrote:3. Add more default privileges

Again, depends on the case, and what you want to do. Giving `fast` to everybody is probably fine (depending on your preferences). Giving `fly` is not good for PvP or true survival servers. Giving more privs to everybody will probably result in disaster. Always check what the privilege allows (or disallows) before giving them to untrusted players! You definitely don't want to give anyone `basic_privs` besides yourself, and very trusted "moderators".

EthanD57 wrote:4. Announce your server publicly

That allows more people to find your server, which has advantages and disadvantages. If you go public, consider using `no_guests` or similar, requiring passwords (`disallow_empty_password = true` in `minetest.conf`), and probably some kind of interact-on-request if you plan on it being a serious server. That will weed out most griefers looking for a quick target.

EDIT:

Also of note:

• DISABLE FIRE. Definitely needed for the same reason as TNT. Use `disable_fire = true` in `minetest.conf`.
• Disable bones. This one depends on your preferences and the server's goal. It removes the "bones" functionality, letting users keep their items after dying.

I just put them up here because I wanted to do almost all of it but the info was in different places all over the web.

So people should post their top 5 tips. Here are mine:

1. I actually don't have any.

But it'd be great if others shared, because the threads dealing with server configuration are gold.

Aw man, that's so sad! Your servers are always a hit!

Here are mine:
1- Choose your moderators (if any), carefully, some of them will abuse privs.
2- No player is worth the effort if it is not a good player.
3- Make the rules clear, if any.
4- Use a nice name for the server, no subtitles on the title, use the description for that.
5- Do not ever ignore your players, doing that will lead to disrespects from them.

I noticed that most of this player-related "tips". Heh...