Frequently Asked Questions

Get answers about The Minecraft Registry (TMR) - our mission, data collection practices, server discovery methods, and ethical research approach.

Last Updated: January 1, 2026 20+ Questions Answered

General Questions

What is The Minecraft Registry (TMR)?

The Minecraft Registry (TMR) is an independent analytics and research platform that passively observes publicly reachable Minecraft servers. It collects historical data such as uptime, player population, server versions, and availability to better understand the Minecraft server ecosystem over time.

Is The Minecraft Registry a Minecraft server list?

No. TMR is not a traditional Minecraft server list, voting site, or promotional directory. Servers cannot submit themselves, pay for placement, or influence ranking.

What is the purpose of The Minecraft Registry?

The purpose of TMR is to document and analyze how publicly reachable Minecraft servers behave in the real world — including uptime reliability, version adoption, and long-term player trends.

Who runs The Minecraft Registry?

TMR is independently developed and operated by mar as a technical, research-driven project. It is not affiliated with Mojang Studios or Microsoft.

Why does The Minecraft Registry exist?

Most Minecraft platforms focus on promotion. TMR exists to provide neutral, historical insight into the public Minecraft server ecosystem without advertising bias.

Server Discovery & Crawling

How does The Minecraft Registry find Minecraft servers?

TMR uses a discovery crawler that scans the public internet for Minecraft servers that are openly reachable and respond to standard Minecraft status checks.

Does TMR crawl whitelisted servers?

Yes. Whitelisted servers are still publicly reachable network services. TMR does not attempt to bypass authentication or access controls — it only checks public server status.

What types of crawlers does TMR use?

TMR currently operates four crawler types:

  • Discovery crawler – Discovers new publicly reachable Minecraft servers (runs every 1–7 seconds)
  • Update crawler – Re-checks indexed servers to keep metadata current (runs every 12 hours)
  • Uptime crawler – Tracks online/offline history efficiently (runs every 8 hours)
  • Player population crawler – Records player count trends over time (runs every 24 hours)

Why is my Minecraft server listed on TMR?

If your server appears on TMR, it was publicly reachable during a scan and responded to a standard Minecraft status request.

Can I opt out of The Minecraft Registry?

Yes. Server owners may request removal by contacting TMR via the email or Discord listed on the website. Opt-out requests are respected.

How often does TMR scan servers?

Scan frequency depends on the crawler type:

  • Discovery: seconds
  • Updates: 12 hours
  • Uptime: 8 hours
  • Player trends: 24 hours

Data Collection & Privacy

What data does The Minecraft Registry collect?

TMR collects non-invasive, read-only metadata including:

  • Online/offline status
  • Player count numbers (not identities)
  • Minecraft version and protocol
  • First and last seen timestamps
  • Historical uptime records

Does TMR collect player usernames?

No. TMR never collects usernames, UUIDs, chat messages, or player identities.

Does TMR collect personal data?

No. TMR does not collect personal or identifiable user information.

Is The Minecraft Registry safe for servers?

Yes. TMR performs the same type of status request used by the Minecraft client server list.

Server Pages & Analytics

What is a TMR server page?

A TMR server page is a dedicated analytics page showing:

  • Uptime history
  • Player population trends
  • Version information
  • Discovery timeline

Can server owners edit their server page?

No. All data is automatically collected and reflects observed reality only.

Can TMR be used as an uptime monitor?

TMR is not designed as a primary monitoring service, but many server owners use their server page as a public uptime reference.

What does "first discovered" mean?

It indicates the first time the server was publicly reachable and detected by TMR.

What does "last seen" mean?

It shows the most recent successful scan where the server responded.

Accuracy & Limitations

Is TMR data always accurate?

TMR reflects server state at scan time. Temporary outages, restarts, or network issues may affect individual data points.

Why does a server show zero players?

Many servers are online but idle, private, or used for testing. Zero players is common and normal.

Why do many servers share the same MOTD?

Many servers use default hosting templates, modpack presets, or automated setups, resulting in repeated MOTDs across different IPs.

SEO & Visibility

Does being listed on TMR help my server?

Yes, indirectly. While promotion is not the goal, TMR pages are indexable and may increase discoverability through search engines.

Does TMR promote or rank servers?

No. TMR does not offer featured placement, ads, or ranking manipulation.

Content & Moderation

Why are some server names or MOTDs offensive?

Server names and MOTDs are defined by server owners. TMR does not endorse or modify observed content.

Does TMR moderate server content?

No. TMR presents collected data as-is for transparency and research purposes.

Miscellaneous

Is The Minecraft Registry open source?

No. The crawlers and infrastructure are currently private.

Still Have Questions?

Contact us through the email or Discord listed on our website for further assistance or server removal requests.

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