Our server costs are modest — about $40/month — and they’ve been largely funded by supporters. However, when those funds fall short, ScottyD covers the bills. Our supporters get some things in return, but nothing major. But now a few things are changing. First, ScottyD is going through a work transition, and while he can cover the costs for the next billing cycle, it would be nice if he didn’t have to. Secondly, Mojang made some clarifications on what is and isn’t acceptable for server funding. While I don’t believe our current system violates the spirit of what they’re trying to do, I want to respectfully adhere to the strictest interpretation of their rules. So, moving forward we will no longer give supporters some of our own materials through Frog Park coins, and we can no longer call them donations since we want to give something back.

Instead, when you help pay for server costs, you also get cosmetic “perks” according to the cumulative amount you have paid. This is to be compatible with our previous donation system, so all previous donations are being converted to the appropriate tier. Currently I’ve only created two tier perks, but more are forthcoming and will be retroactively applied. Accordingly with Mojang rules, all current and future perks will be cosmetic.

• $5+ tier
  You get a green name and icon showing that you’ve supported the server.
• $10+ tier
  You can shoot off randomly generated fireworks in Frog Park.
• $15+ tier
  You leave a trail and death locations on the live map in survival.

There will soon be a new page called “Support Our Server” in the above menu where you can see the current tiers, perks, server costs, and payment methods (and maybe a progress indicator of some kind, though that might be challenging), but we wanted to make a post to note the changes and so that people know that it’s a good time to contribute. Until I can setup a more appropriate payment method on the page, you can pay through this link.

If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, please comment below.

[Update #1] Scotty informed me that only 14 hours after sending out his email to past donators, we’re already set for another six months, thanks to two generous contributors.
[Update #2] Apparently we’re up to nine months now. Wow, guys!