How clan.me polls your server

Every time you open the Minecraft multiplayer menu, your client sends a brief query to each server in your list asking for its status. clan.me does the same thing, automatically, on a regular schedule for every server it tracks.

The server list ping protocol

The Server List Ping (SLP) protocol is a lightweight exchange built into Minecraft's networking layer. A client sends a handshake and a status request; the server replies with a JSON object containing the MOTD, version string, online player count, max players, and a sample of up to 12 currently online players. The whole exchange takes under 100ms on a healthy server.

clan.me uses a library called gamedig to send these queries, which provides better error handling and timeout behaviour than raw socket code. Nothing special is installed on your server and no ports need to be opened beyond the standard Minecraft query port.

What gets recorded

From each successful poll, clan.me records the online or offline result, current player count, max player count, the player name and UUID sample (up to 12), and the server version. If the server is offline, the poll is still recorded as a failed check, contributing to your uptime percentage calculation.

Map type detection runs alongside polling. The poller checks known BlueMap, Dynmap, and Squaremap endpoint patterns on your server's hostname. If found, the map type is recorded and a weekly screenshot is taken.

Polling cadence

The polling interval adjusts based on server activity:

• Hot cadence, every 2 minutes: used when the server had 5 or more players on the last poll
• Normal cadence, every 3 minutes: the default for active servers
• Cold cadence, every 15 minutes: used after 3 or more consecutive failed polls

Cold cadence reduces load on servers that are consistently offline while still catching them when they come back. Once a cold server responds, it returns to normal cadence immediately.