Tips for Administrators

There are a few things you can do to keep your server grief-free that plugins can't do for you.

Pick a Reliable Hosting Provider

If you're paying less than $15 for a 1 gigabyte server, you should switch hosting providers. Eventually, an angry griefer will try to DoS or BOTNet your server, and you will need your hosting provider which responds quickly to requests for help, and knows how to quickly and effectively shut down attacks like these.

If you go cheap or try to run a server from your house, angry teenagers will download free tools and make your life difficult, and shut down your server while you wait for help or teach yourself how to combat a network attack. Get a reliable service provider.

Brand Your Server Well

You have to be smart about how you name and advertise your server. If you put "vanilla" anywhere in your server name, you will get MANY more griefers (they won't bother to read the fine print before joining the server). Try to mention anti-grief prominently, like on the main page of your website, near the top of any forum posts, and in your server banner.

Advertise Smart

Don't "bump" forum posts and other types of advertisements late at night. Griefers are mostly teenagers with anger management issues, and most of them are nocturnal. Bumping in the early afternoon will get you the most new players overall, and fewer will be griefers.