Votifier for Minecraft servers: how vote delivery works and what the rules allow
Votifier is a Minecraft plugin that connects a server to server-list websites, so that a player who votes on a list can be rewarded in game. The vote itself is cast and counted on the listing site, and a separate listener plugin turns the notification into a reward. NuVotifier is the current plugin to download for Spigot servers. Each list's own rules decide what counts, and Hyvote's rules prohibit automated tools, bots or scripts.
Published by BuyingVotes editorial desk ยท Current as of
What Votifier is and how it works
Votifier is a plugin that connects a Minecraft server with many server-list websites, and its purpose is narrow: it lets the server reward players who have voted for it on those sites. Three parties take part, and each has a fixed job. The listing site hosts the vote form and keeps the count. The plugin receives a notification. A listener plugin decides what the player gets.
The sequence is short. A player votes on a listing website; that site sends a signal to the server's Votifier port, and the signal triggers whatever rewards the owner has configured. Nothing in that chain gives the server any control over the count, which is kept on the listing site alone. The server sees a notification, never the vote itself.
Votifier in Minecraft: where the count is kept
A Minecraft server list keeps its tally on its own pages. Minecraft-MP, for one, displays a vote count in each listing's statistics, and it states that all votes are reset when a new month begins. A count on that list therefore describes one month at a time, and the list, not the server, decides when it restarts.
Minecraft-MP also asks visitors to vote every day for the servers they support, so a listing works as a running tally, unlike a one-time contest. For the server owner the reading is plain: the number on the listing is the list's number. No plugin setting raises it, lowers it or restores it after a reset.
NuVotifier: what the download adds and what it leaves out
NuVotifier is the current plugin to download for Spigot servers, and its own description says it makes sure that vote notifications are delivered by authentic top lists. It adds voting functionality to a server and lets that server appear on voting sites. The plugin receives votes for a single server or for an entire network, and when it runs on a proxy it forwards them to the other servers on that network.
The comparison of Votifier vs NuVotifier is a matter of names. The download is NuVotifier. The folder it creates on Spigot servers and the port in its setup instructions both still carry the Votifier name. Both names point at one job on the server, which is receiving the notification.
What the download leaves out is the listener. NuVotifier does not include any listeners by default, and that part is left to other plugins. Without a listener the notification arrives and nothing follows.
The Votifier public key and what a server list is given
A server list needs three things from the owner before it can deliver a notification: the server's address, the port the plugin listens on, and the public key. The votifier ip host entered on a list is that address, and it has to be paired with the port the server has open for the plugin.
The public key is one half of a pair. It is the half handed to server lists, and the other half stays on the server. NuVotifier creates its folder when it first runs, named Votifier on Spigot servers, and the key belongs to that install. A key copied from another server does not match this one.
Setup instructions for a single server give the sequence plainly: configure the port, then add the server to each list using that port while also supplying the public key. A votifier public key pasted into one list serves that list; the next list needs the same key and the same port entered again.
Votifier on Spigot and on proxy networks
On Spigot servers, NuVotifier is the plugin to download, and the setup instructions call for the latest version. It works on Bukkit servers and on proxies such as BungeeCord and Velocity, and it handles both a single server and a whole network.
Setting up Votifier on a single server is the simple case: the plugin sits on that server, listens on its dedicated port and hands each notification to a listener plugin. A network is arranged differently. When NuVotifier runs on a proxy it receives votes for the entire network and forwards them to the other servers on it, so the lists deal with one receiver instead of one per server.
VotingPlugin: the listener that turns a notification into a reward
VotingPlugin is a plugin for Spigot servers that works on the listener side of the chain: it acts when a notification arrives, and the rewards a player receives are set up there and not in NuVotifier. The split follows from the receiver's own description, which says that NuVotifier only receives vote notifications and does not handle rewards on its own.
Reloading follows the same split. The command /nvreload reloads the NuVotifier configuration, while VotingPlugin has its own reload command, documented in the VotingPlugin wiki. After an edit to reward settings, reload the plugin that holds them; after an edit to the NuVotifier config, run /nvreload.
Where delivery breaks and what a tester shows
A report of votifier not working describes several different faults, and the mechanics narrow them quickly. A notification travels from the listing site to the address and port entered on that list. If the address is wrong, if the port on the list differs from the one the server has open, or if the key entered on the list is not the install's public key, the notification has no valid destination.
A tester narrows the fault further. A minecraft votifier tester sends one test notification to the server's own IP and port and shows whether the plugin received it. A vote is cast on a listing, so a test sent straight to a port never enters any list's count; it checks the owner's receiver and nothing else.
The NuVotifier wiki on GitHub is the reference for the config settings themselves.
Platform rules, fake votes and what a listing site does about them
Each listing site writes its own rules, and the plugin has no say in them. Whether buying or selling votes in a contest or poll is tolerated is set by the platform's own rules; Hyvote's rules prohibit vote manipulation and name that practice as an example.
The same rules give Hyvote three remedies: invalidating votes, resetting counts and removing listings that engage in manipulation. Removal is the platform's version of disqualification: the listing leaves the ranking.
The checking happens on the listing site's side of the chain. A vote is cast there, so the count, the records and the moderation step all sit there, and the server owner receives only the notification that follows. Whether a vote is later judged fake is therefore a decision of the list, taken under its own rules. NuVotifier's own description speaks to the other direction: it says notifications are delivered by authentic top lists, which tells the owner that the sender is a list, and leaves the question of whether an individual vote is genuine with the list.
- Hyvote's rules prohibit using automated tools, bots or scripts to cast votes.
- Hyvote's rules prohibit coercing or incentivising users to vote in deceptive ways.
- Hyvote's rules permit server owners to offer in-game rewards for voting through legitimate Votifier or similar systems.
| Part | Job | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Listing site | Hosts the vote, keeps the count and shows it in the listing's statistics. | Sets its own rules; Hyvote's include invalidating votes and removing listings. |
| NuVotifier | Receives the notification on the dedicated port and passes it to the server. | Includes no listeners by default and handles no rewards on its own. |
| Listener plugin | Acts on each received notification, for example by triggering configured rewards. | Depends on NuVotifier to receive the notification in the first place. |
| Server owner | Opens the dedicated port and supplies the public key and port to each list. | Has no control over a listing's rules or its count. |
| Proxy install | Receives votes for a whole network and forwards them to the other servers. | Runs on proxies such as BungeeCord and Velocity. |
What to do
-
Download the current NuVotifier plugin
Download the latest NuVotifier, the current plugin for Spigot servers, and install it on the server; it also runs on Bukkit servers and on proxies such as BungeeCord and Velocity. Start the server once so that the plugin creates its own folder.
-
Open a dedicated port
Open a secondary port on the server and dedicate it to Votifier, because listing sites send their notifications to that port. Set the number in the plugin config and keep it fixed, since the same number is entered on every server list.
-
Locate the public key
Find the public key that belongs to this NuVotifier install in the plugin's own folder. Copy the public half only; the private half stays on the server and is not given to any list.
-
Enter the details on each server list
When adding the server to a list, enter the server address, the configured port and the public key together. The address and port tell the list where to deliver its notification, and the key comes from the install that will receive it.
-
Install a listener plugin for rewards
Add a separate listener plugin such as VotingPlugin, since NuVotifier receives notifications and handles no rewards itself. Set the rewards in that plugin and read its wiki for the settings it offers.
-
Reload, then test delivery
After editing the NuVotifier config, run the /nvreload command. Then use a tester to send one test notification to the server's own IP and port, and check that the listener plugin responds.
Frequently asked
What is Votifier?
Votifier is a plugin that connects a Minecraft server with many server-list websites and lets the server reward players for voting on those websites. The listing site casts and counts the vote, and the plugin only receives the notification, so rewards need a listener plugin beside it.
What is Votifier in Minecraft?
In Minecraft, Votifier runs as a server plugin on Bukkit servers and on proxies such as BungeeCord and Velocity, receiving the notifications that server lists send. NuVotifier can receive votes for one server or for an entire network, and on a proxy it forwards them to the other servers.
How to get the Votifier public key?
NuVotifier's public key is created when the plugin first runs and is read from that install's own folder, named Votifier on Spigot servers. The owner then gives it to each server list together with the configured port. Only the public half goes to the lists, and the private half stays on the server.
How to reload VotingPlugin?
VotingPlugin has its own reload command, listed in that plugin's wiki, and it is separate from the /nvreload command that reloads the NuVotifier configuration. Reload the plugin whose settings were edited: reward settings sit in VotingPlugin, and the port setting sits in the NuVotifier config.
Which should a Spigot server install, Votifier or NuVotifier?
NuVotifier is the current plugin to download for Spigot servers, and the setup instructions call for its latest version. The folder it creates and the port it uses keep the Votifier name, so the two names describe one job: receiving the notification from a server list.
Why does Votifier need its own port?
Votifier needs a secondary port open and dedicated to it because a listing site sends its notification to that port when a player votes. The number configured on the server is the number entered on each list, so a mismatch between the two means the notification never arrives.
What happens when a server list finds manipulated votes?
Hyvote reserves the right to invalidate votes, reset counts or remove the listings involved in vote manipulation. Removal takes the listing out of the ranking, and the plugin has no part in that decision. Other lists set their remedies in their own rules text.
Cited sources
- github.com. github.com/NuVotifier/NuVotifier/wiki/Setup-Guide.
- github.com. github.com/NuVotifier/NuVotifier/wiki/Setup-Guide.
- hyvote.org. hyvote.org/terms.
- obsidianservers.com. obsidianservers.com/knowledgebase/minecraft/setting-up-votifier-for-server-voting.
- help.winternode.com. help.winternode.com/Games/Minecraft-Java/Setup/Minecraft-Editions/Spigot-Paper/Plugins/Votifier.
Nothing here can say what any listing site will do with a particular vote, and nothing replaces a platform's own rules text. NuVotifier receives notifications only; it does not decide whether a vote counts, and no plugin setting changes a listing's count or its rules. Rewards, rankings and removals are decisions of the listing site and the server owner, never of the plugin.
Reddit prohibits vote manipulation and counts using voting services, or asking people to vote on specific posts for personal gain, as manipulation. Product Hunt prohibits asking for upvotes, using bots and incentivizing upvotes. The Search for a Champion rules void votes from commercial contest subscriptions and vote-swapping sites, and the organiser may disqualify the entrant.
support.reddithelp.com help.producthunt.com championautoparts.com
Hacker News says it uses software to detect and protect against voting rings, and that its anti-abuse software drops some votes. IMDb says it may apply a different weighting calculation when it detects unusual rating activity. Ordinary participation is a spread of unconnected people voting at different times, which is the baseline these systems measure against, and this describes their checks without offering any way past them.
The documents cited here are platform terms, so the consequences they state are contractual: removal, vote resets, suspension, delisting or account termination. Hyvote prohibits vote manipulation, including buying or selling votes for a server listing. Whether a payment for votes is also lawful in a given country is outside these sources and belongs to a lawyer. Boards whose terms bar paid votes, contests that void them and political ballots are refused.
Once voting closes, an order for a board or contest that has not reached its published count is refunded for the part not delivered. Nothing is refunded for action by the platform: Hytale Servers says servers found manipulating votes face vote resets, suspension, delisting or account termination, and TopG may reset votes and freeze a listing when it catches cheating. No rank or result is promised.