On GTScope, votes weigh the most in the ranking. Here is how they count and how to get more of them.
Why votes matter
The heaviest part of the ranking is the number of different people who voted for your server this month. A player's later votes in the same month still count, but much less than the first. Ten players who vote once are worth more than one player who votes ten times. The rules in force are always on the how the ranking works page.
So the goal is not more votes from the same three friends. It is more of your players voting at least once a month.
The monthly votes reset on the 1st of each month, so every server starts the month's count from zero. There is also a monthly podium: the claimed servers with the most distinct voters win credits for places 1, 2 and 3, paid on the 1st of the next month. It takes at least 10 distinct voters in the month to get on it.
Who can vote, and how often
The rules your players will meet:
- An account is needed, made with an email or with Steam. There is no guest voting: that stops one person with a VPN from deciding the ranking.
- Once every 24 hours per server, per account or IP. After a vote, the button shows Voted · again in … with the time left.
- One connection, one vote. Two players on the same internet connection, like brothers at home or friends at a LAN, cannot both vote for the same server within 24 hours.
- A daily limit. Each account has a number of votes a day across all servers, and it grows with the account's level.
Tell your players about the shared connection before they find out alone. Otherwise the second player in the house thinks the button is broken and gives up.
Make voting a one-click habit
There is no special vote link: you share your server's page. Players vote there with the VOTE button, in the header of the page, in the Votes card and in the bar at the bottom on phones.
- Share your page's address with
#top-votersat the end: the link then opens right on the Votes card. - Put the live widget on your website or forum. Its Vote button leads to the same card.
- Once the server is yours, add the live status to your Discord: in My Servers, open your server's Alerts, paste a channel's webhook and tick A live status message in the channel. It has a Vote link too. Pin it.
- Put your banner in forum signatures and on your website: it leads to your server's page.
- Ask your players to make their account once and log in. A visitor who is not logged in sees Log in to vote for this server. A logged-in player votes with one click.
Then repeat the link in your server's chat adverts, your Discord's welcome message and your forum.
Here is the live status of the #1 server right now, as Discord shows it:
How the live status looks in your channel
GTScopeAPP Today at 21:35
Address
91.216.250.10:27015
Map
ctf_2fort
Place
🥇 #1 / 75
Who plays now
1. GaijiNGameR · 333
2. anti · 314
3. RockiTwolf · 220
4. Dath the Proto · 186
5. SGT Rex [5th SFG] · 173
and 37 more
Live status · GTScope • Today at 21:35
With the figures the server has right now. Once ticked, it keeps itself up to date every 5 minutes; pin it so it stays at the top of the channel.
Reminders: bring voters back
Most players don't refuse to vote. They forget. Under the vote button there is Remind me when I can vote again. After 24 hours, the player gets one message, You can vote again, at the bell on the site and as a browser notification. There is no email.
Ask your regulars to switch it on right after they vote. Their repeat votes count less than their first, but they still count, and votes pay you credits.
Thank the voters you have
People vote again when they feel noticed.
- The Votes card shows This month and All time, then Top voters this month: your five top voters, each with an optional in-game nickname. Ask voters to add theirs, so you can find them on the server.
- Once the server is yours, your panel has the full list of your voters, with a CSV export, to pick winners or see who comes back each month.
- Rewarding loyal voters in the game is fine. The site says so itself, under the list: "The owner sees this list and may reward loyal voters in the game."
Rewards that work: a week of VIP for the month's top voters, a tag, a reserved slot, a thank-you in chat or on Discord.
Announce the prize before the month starts and hand it out on the 1st, when the monthly votes reset. Players then know what they are voting for.
What doesn't count
Your own votes. Your votes, and votes from your own internet connection, count in All time only: never for the month, the ranking or the podium. They don't pay you credits either.
Fake accounts and VPN tricks. Skip them. The Top voters this month list is public, and your players notice names that never play. Fake voters never join, so you climb with empty slots and the visitors you get leave again. You also lose track of your real voters, so rewards go to the wrong people.
Votes alone are not enough. The ranking also weighs the real players on your server over 7 days, against the other servers of the same game, then uptime, favourites and reviews. A server as "full" at night as at peak looks fake and gets less, and a silent server gets no activity or uptime points. Good maps, fair admins and a stable server keep the players your votes bring in.
Votes pay you too
Once the server is yours, its votes pay you credits:
- the first votes of the day pay 2 credits each, the later ones less;
- votes pay at most 40 credits a day.
Credits are only earned, never bought with money. You spend them on promotion, such as a Bump or a Highlight. A promotion shows your server to more people, but adds 0 points to the ranking.
Votes also open a free spot: a server with enough distinct voters in a week, more than its own usual, can appear in Rising this week. The details and numbers are on the credits rules page.
Next steps
- Claim your server if you haven't yet: vote credits, the voters list and the podium need an owner.
- Put your banner and widget where your players are: the banner and widget guide.
- Bring in new players, not only votes: how to promote your game server.