As news and social media stories continue to be spread far and wide about Autcraft, the topic of money keeps coming up in the comments so I thought I'd address some of that here, and hopefully put some concerns to rest, or at least, answer some of those questions.

First, I want to emphasize that Autcraft is free to play. No one has to give anything. But at the same time, without donations... Autcraft would not be possible.

How does Autcraft make money?

Autcraft primarily makes money from our Patreon page. There, people can give to the server on a monthly basis in any amount they wish. It could be a dollar, it could be a thousand dollars. But most people choose to give $10 per month as that will give their family the Patreon rank on the server.

We also accept donations via Paypal but those are very far and few between.

Finally, we also make money from our store here on the website. Each "credit" equates to $1, but we make almost nothing from this as we encourage players to do "Jobs" on the server to earn those credits. Jobs consist of things players already do such as chopping trees, building houses, or even fishing.

Do you need to pay or give money?

No, absolutely not, never. We have many players who have the highest ranks and everything they could want on the server but have never spent a dime. We give players avenues to do anything and everything that anyone else can do without ever using real money.

I am autistic and a parent of an autistic son. I know the costs of special diets, medicines, therapy, and more. I also know that for many children, their parents can't or maybe even won't spend more money on a video game server, even if it is proven to be beneficial. For many young players, those who need a place like this the most are the ones least likely to be able to afford another expense.

Where does the money go?

I started Autcraft in 2013 and ran it alongside my full time job until October 2015. It was at this time that I realized that there was just no way that I could do both.

I know a lot of people in the comments say "You click a button and you have a server. It's easy! There's no reason to quit your job." These people do not monitor the server 24/7, recording and reporting any issues and even the good deeds that people do, nor do they have a team of staff to manage, events all year long to organize and run, nor do they have 250+ autistic children on the server throughout the day all needing something of some sort, while a few need extra time and attention when they are bullied at school, or their parents are abusive towards them, or they're feeling depressed or even suicidal... 

Autcraft is not a server for my kid and his friends. This is a global initiative with players all around the world, researchers constantly monitoring and asking questions, journalists and podcasters wanting interviews... on top of that, I write most of the code that goes into the server, I create the systems that make the things work on the server, including swear filters and more, I do the promotions, I answer all of the emails, including handling Mojang and Microsoft's tech support for them much of the time as parents need extra help getting their children set up, and SO MUCH MORE.

So where does the money go? Well, first and foremost it goes to the cost of the server, the websites, and so forth. Then, it goes to me and my family. This is my job from 7am to 3am daily, 365 days a year, except for Christmas and New Years when I'm on the server from 20 to 24 hours a day. I get no breaks. I take no vacations.

And, if you must know, I make JUST enough that if I stick to ramen noodles the last few days of the month, I can just cover my bills until the next month of Patreon support comes in. I have nothing extra, nothing left over. But it's enough, so I don't complain.

Still though, I almost never post asking for money, I don't promote, I don't try to get more out of people, I don't even like to mention it. I'm literally the worst at self promotion or at business or anything involving making money. I feel icky about it. But this is the world we live in and without money, I can't survive, I can't support my kids, and I most certainly can't keep a Minecraft server online and monitored.

How can you help?

First of all, again, no obligations. No one has to give anything. And those who have very little, I encourage to just not.

If you do still want to help support Autcraft, and myself, here's how to do it:

To pledge support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/autcraft

To give via PayPal, either one time or monthly: https://www.autcraft.com/donate

We know there are a lot of scams out there in the world, and even more greedy people. If you have concerns, please do hold onto those concerns. Play it safe.

But at the same time, Autcraft has been here for over 12 years now, we have a TED Talk, we're in the Minecraft book, we are in Time Magazine, we even have a mini-documentary on the Minecraft YouTube channel, and we're featured in countless research articles. We've been around a while, we've established ourselves.

If you still have concerns, we understand. We invite you to be on the server, play a while, get to know everyone. If you still don't trust us, that's fine... keep playing, nothing will change, nothing will cost you.

But if you do find Autcraft to be good for you, your children, or people in general during your time with us... your support really would mean the world. It's not just me or even the server itself that you support by donating... it's all those children who need it but can't afford to donate themselves.

This server has done a lot for me, even if I couldn't offer much in return but the fact that you keep AutCraft running 24/7, is more of a selfless thing you could ever do with kids with special needs. 

I offer a pound or two whenever I can because of this and I appreciate coming on and saying hi and watch chat nowadays. and help the odd soul or two.

as an artistic teenager. I have been bullied a lot.  And I hate to admit I had bad thoughts. until my mom has recommended this. And I had mixed feelings. And in the past, I have joined servers who were nice, who were caring, but the thing with autism I can read the room. And I knew how people felt about me. So I started to spiral into depression. About three days ago, I applied, and it was a wait. And then I got an email that I got in. So when I joined, everyone greeted me. And it was the nicest interaction ever. almost had me in tears of how nice this is. and i was really happy. I am proud of everyone of how nice even though i might not know where to go in times XD.

You can buy a sub on the twitch channel of AF or get free sub with prime. So you can support AF and the server for free. I do that every months