Running Minecraft Middle Earth has a few fixed costs:

• Server hosting costs
• Software licenses
• Addons (website, Minecraft, ...)
• Domain services
• Exceptional expenses

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Server hosting costs
We are renting capacity at a datacenter at Hetzner to run the Minecraft servers and hosting the websites, which require a high-speed and reliable internet connection and hardware. These are generally fixed at a certain price, no matter how much we use the server. Exceptionally, there may be extra costs when there are hardware failures or we need to request a remote session to debug the problems.

Software licenses
The forum software license that needs periodic renewal is Xenforo. We self-host our Xenforo installation on a server/VPN at Hetzner, keeping costs lower.

Addons
Some addons that we use are paid-for. Addons are usually a one time (larger) purchase, followed by paid extensions for updates and support (which are usually cheaper).
Examples of addons are:

• Xenforo Forum styles
• Xenforo Addons (example: Donation system on our website)
• Premium Minecraft plugins
• Renewal plans for addons/plugins

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Exceptional expenses
Are expenses that are rather exceptional in nature. Though rare, it happens that I sometimes have to ask a technician or another expert to intervene, and this falls outside the scope of the renting agreement.

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As Minecraft Middle Earth does not generate revenue or make profit, the entire cost of running this community is split between the monthly contributors, our Patreons and q220.