I agree about age, but not always about age, more about maturity. Of the server admins.
A lot of it to me is about the community - isn't that why we all go to a server anyways? to meet people that enjoy the same game we do. So I say Events are really nice. Example Mob arena or that kind of thing. Even with my server of 3 of us, we have a Mob arena.
Great mods help, think your mods through before using them.
I also agree about the not selling the ingame crap, If your players are really happy they could donate. I wouldn't mind donating a few $$ here and there if I found that perfect server.
Get rid of the what I would call trouble makers quickly. I mean if they come on cussing and complaining or begging for free items or one I see all the time, can I be mod. that is a player(s) you don't want.
Quality is better than Quantity right?