Recently I had to shut down a server that I really liked, and wanted to keep going. It was a humble, whitelist server with all the right intentions but all the wrong execution. I'm going to list the five reasons why my server failed, and I urge everyone who reads this to never do the things I did in this list. Don't try this at home, kids.
Number 5: Be aware (and beware) of what you are getting into.
Alright, I'm not really in any sort of infraction of this rule. I've run servers part-time-ish before. Never a tekkit server and never something that was meant to last, mostly I'd just do LP's with my friends.
A few things I was guilty of:
Not knowing exactly how I was going to run the server, before I started the server. I didn't know what permissions all my plugins (of which there were few) were, and I didn't know how I planned to distribute them about the mods. I didn't know why factions wasn't working, so I switched to the equally glitchy Towny and started advertising the server before I even knew, 100%, how it worked. This is a bad idea.
Not knowing how to take your server "public". Not knowing, basically, what's going to happen to the whitelist you currently keep on your server. Should I take the whitelist off? Should I open applications to everybody? Should I close applications permanently? I HAVE NO IDEA.
Pretending the griefers aren't interested. Because they are.
Beware of the above. They'll sneak up from behind you after you start the server. But once you have those out of the way, you still have these to deal with.
Number 4: Set down the guidelines for what is banned and what isn't.
I had a certain player (he knows who he is and he isn't a bad person, I'm just using this as an example) who would use equivalent exchange to his advantage. He was really good at it. He had this really amazing energy condenser/collector/glowstone setup and he was on the verge of making a red matter katar.
I also had an admin who was strongly anti-Equivalent Exchange. He wanted all the antimatter relays and all the energy collectors, along with the condensers, gone. I was entirely torn who to follow; the player who made a castle out of, like, nothing, or the admin who calls the mod "Over-powered"?
One thing I should have specified - before the server even started - what was banned, and what wasn't. That way, people who wanted certain items unbanned wouldn't come on the server. You need to know what your target server audience is, before you start the server.
Number 3: Get 24/7 hosting. Don't host locally. Seriously.
Hosting locally makes you freak out so bad if anything at all happens to the server. It magnifies your fear tenfold because they aren't messing with someone else's server rack, they are screwing with your laptop. Suddenly, it gets personal.
Non-24/7, local hosting is really needed for a server like the one I was running. It's the type of server you just get on and play. It's not the type of server you plan to get on in advance, knowing exactly what time it comes up and being primed for when it does. If you want to host a server, I can recommend Fluctis Hosting. (I'm not giving you a link. Google it.)
Number 2: Don't expect a popular server. Be ready if it happens.
I broke both those statements. I expected everyone to instantly fall in love with my perfect, tiny 10-slot server. This did not happen. I got about 10ish applications and then, when I reopened them, I had one person apply. One! I was really, really hoping for more.
I also was not primed if the server did reach a state of relative "popularity". I didn't have a "anti-noob" system setup like I told myself I would, where you would have to get to a certain level to get certain items, like all the real servers do. I barely had permissions set up. The server was charming, but in reality it was a total mess.
Number 1: Grief happens. Don't panic.
Eventually, someone will blow something up. Someone else will be pissed.
Things happen! Even if there is a rule preventing it, it's only a written rule. 12 year old griefers suck. But it happens. You are not invulnerable if you are a small, charming server, even if everyone who comes on the server is greeted warmly. (Although, a really good way to combat griefers is to just be nice to them, before they start griefing. Be proactive. Welcome everyone to the server. Give them a starting kit. It helps.)
Don't panic when it does happen! A player managed to wriggle past the whitelist (see our first honorary mention) and subsequently blew up our "admin town". Which we had built a nuclear reactor to power.
The server nearly fell over from the lag. But then, I treated the world like a virus. It wasn't that bad. I had SWatchdog, I could just do a rollback, right?
No. Instead, I panicked. I treated the server folder as a virus and I tossed it in the trash. This is entirely my fault. If I had an ounce of common sense, I would have not panicked, because this happens. Instead, I decided it was all a failed experiment.
Honorary Mentions:
online-mode: true
You don't need worldedit unless it's a CMP server.
You do need essentials. You do.
Nuclear reactors need to be housed in reinforced stone.
4 Nova Cataclysms are as bad as 1 nuke. Ban them too.
Former recuperating griefers should never be given admin. Especially if they have their own server.
Don't accept invitations to be head admin of another server if you already have your own.
Don't make an "admin town(or palace, or chunk)".
Everyone should beware these things before starting a server. Otherwise, you could end up like me...