So You Want to Stream Minecraft

Websites to Stream On

Usually, when considering the idea of streaming video games, two websites come to mind: YouTube Gaming or Twitch. Both websites have their own benefits of streaming on and can be equally enjoyable if done to their full potential.

You have many options when choosing how you want to do your Minecraft stream, depending on the platform that you choose to use. The options generally deal with layouts, complexity vs. simplicity, audience interactions, and things of that nature. Usually, for more complex streams with more audience interaction, Twitch is used as it’s easier to manage and more appealing in terms of relaying information to/from the audience.

YouTube Gaming is more-so meant for those of whom would want to outright stream, worrying less about the interaction between the audience and broadcaster. While YouTube Gaming streamers aren’t entirely void of audience interaction, you are more likely to find more over at Twitch, undoubtedly.

When choosing Twitch, streamers will have a much more reliable time. As Twitch is purely a website centered around streaming (rather than being a website centered around videos, music, etc.), you will likely find higher quality content here versus YouTube Gaming. This website is home to a very large community of streamers of Minecraft. Twitch’s large community of streamers for Minecraft has also amassed an extremely large audience surrounding it as well. Usually, on Twitch’s front page, you will see Minecraft as “Featured”. When a game is Featured, it is chosen due to the influx of viewers it is getting. While it may be hard to get viewers at the very beginning, the more frequently you stream, the more you will become noticed.

Minecraft Twitch Integration

In certain past versions of Minecraft, Mojang added Twitch integration into the video game. This integration not only allowed the ability to stream without using outside software but also added your Twitch chat into the game for easy viewing. This feature is still available in various versions below the 1.9 update and can be very beneficial to streamers. Very few games add a well built, functional integration between outside social media and services. Due to the very well created functionality, Minecraft’s Twitch integration was used quite often by streamers who were new to the scene of streaming.

While this function has since been removed from the game, various mods currently exist for specific versions that are built solely around replicating the process that was originally released by Mojang and are definitely worth checking out.

Software Tools

If you’re finding yourself wanting to make your broadcasts of higher quality, you may soon realize that Minecraft’s Twitch integration isn’t necessarily what you should be using. Many developers of software have noticed the growing popularity in streaming and have created tools available to the public for use. While some software can be a bit pricey at times, others are free and very easily compare to the exclusive, more “extravagant” ones. Just because a software/piece of equipment costs more money, doesn’t mean it’s better than the free alternative (in regards to making online content).

A free software that most streamers would very gladly point you in the direction of is OBS (Open Broadcaster Software). This open source software was created for both live streaming and recording video from computer. Open Broadcaster Software comes in two versions known as “OBS” and “OBS Studio”. Both softwares are free to public use, although the recommended of the two is easily “OBS Studio”. OBS Studio offers nearly full customization of your livestream’s visual set up, as well as audio, amongst other things. Multiple sources of video/audio are allowed at a time, offering a large deal of creativity to those of whom are in charge of the stream. With OBS, your imagination is your limit when designing and creating your layouts amongst various ideas for streaming. Plenty of tutorials exist both in the form of posts on forums and videos on YouTube for your learning pleasure.

OBS is compatible with both YouTube Gaming, Twitch, and most various streaming sites.

What to Stream

For many, finding something interesting to stream within Minecraft can be frustrating. In a game with endless possibilities, at times, you can’t help but feel limited. The common dilemma that players run into is specifically finding what they’d like to share with their audience. With YouTube, you can easily edit out the boring bits of a video to keep the momentum strong, but with streaming, you’ve got yourself and the media you’re sharing. Finding a way to remain entertaining with a concept that may not exactly be the most exciting is a struggle and is definitely worth working on.

While it might not feel like it, Minecraft streamers have a large arsenal of activities they can do within their game to keep their audience entertained. These ideas can range from playing Mini-Games, Adventure Maps, the Survival/Creative/Hardcore game modes and much more. You could even stream yourself playing multiplayer on various servers, among other things. The fact that Minecraft is a game fueled by its community’s creativity allows for plenty of interesting content that is able to share. It’s a matter of how you share these various pieces of content that identify you as a streamer. If you’re known for being the best on Twitch or YouTube Gaming for the Minecraft mini-game “Survival Games”, your audience will more than likely come to see you do great. If you enjoy creating, they will more than likely love to see your process and will be interested in how you go about your methods.

Broadcasting on a server that is open to the public can also be a great addition to your streams! Minecraft’s multiplayer option adds a new level of audience interaction, allowing your viewers to join in the fun that you’re having, not only in a viewing sense but also in the sense of playing the video game with you. The more fans of your stream that come onto the server to play with you, the higher chance you will have of other server players (that don’t necessarily know you are) watching your stream. This audience interaction in-game can be a great form of advertisement if they continuously try to get your attention. Many servers have rules about advertising on various social media platforms that are not official under the server’s likeness, so be careful, follow rules, or get permission.​

How to Stream

There are many ways to go about streaming. Some involve software some involve modifications to the game, some involve less popular/conventional means and should probably be avoided so you can start off strong and know what you’re doing right out of the gate. Many tutorials are spread around the internet teaching those of how they should go about streaming and can be found specifically on websites like YouTube and things of that nature. For a less direct tutorial, the advice we can give to you is to look up a video online involving your software and the preferred streaming platform of your choice. Generally, they all follow the same methods, but for certain websites, specific preferences work best.

Another piece of advice that can be offered is to be interesting. When streaming, you are competing with the other streamers on the website to grab the attention of potential viewers. Work your hardest to entertain your crowd and keep them. If you’re a silent streamer playing a boring game, you will more than likely not last very long. If you’re silent but are doing interesting gameplay, you may garner some views. If you’re speaking, energetic, all the while having interesting gameplay, you will have a higher chance of keeping those of whom have stopped by. Keep the momentum of your stream consistently flowing at a specific pace. If your personality is all over the place, try and keep that excitement going. If you’re a more laid back streamer, show that and try your hardest to excel in whatever you’re doing specifically within the game.

A final piece of advice in regards to this stuff, in particular, is to have a good internet connection. Turning off anything that uses a large amount of bandwidth during a stream would be extremely beneficial and highly in your interest if your connection is slow. Streaming takes up a lot of your internet, depending on the quality you are going for. The lower the resolution that you’re sending to a service like Twitch or YouTube Gaming, the faster your audience will receive it. The higher the quality, the more likely there is to be a delay. Keep this in mind when speaking to your audience, as if your delay is fairly long, you may forget what you were speaking about.