[ocelotpotpie]

There's a bit of a distinction in the Minecraft world between "mods" and "plugins". Even though to the outside perspective they're the same thing, the terms are used for two different communities/ecosystems, basically.

"Plugins" are for bukkit-based compatible servers, like Spigot and Paper (and Folia, with some modifications).

"Mods" are more for forge, sponge, etc servers.

So you can kinda pick which direction you want to go. But the Paper project has a ton of API documentation and a few Github repos to even get you started writing your own plugins. The Discord server has a dev help channel with people happy to answer any questions.

The Sponge team has a similar setup as well if that's the route you'd like to go.

[bredren]

Are any of these choices restricted in their existing or likely future compatibility with where Microsoft is taking the game?

My understanding is server admins will spend money on mods / plugins. Are there any server types more likely to garner paid license or plugins?

[ocelotpotpie]

Microsoft has struct rules about the stuff you can sell for the server, and servers need to be EULA compliant. If they aren't they can get blacklisted or shutdown.

People do buy plugins but the vast majority of the plugins you'd want to use are free open source plugins. A lot of the paid/closed source stuff is kinda crappy or misleading anyway.

You can run a great server using free plugins and software. It might not be a money maker, but if your goal is to have people play and have fun and not buy stuff it's super easy and doable.

People do still donate to projects to support the authors who make the wheels spin.