Players & retention
ServersPulse tracks every player join and leave event on your server, building a per-player history that includes session times, playtime, platform information, and the domain they connected through.
Player tracking
The Players tab on each server page lists all tracked players with the following data:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Username | The player's current Minecraft username |
| UUID | The player's unique Minecraft UUID |
| Join count | Total number of times this player has joined the server |
| Total playtime | Accumulated playtime across all sessions |
| First seen | Timestamp of the player's first join |
| Last seen | Timestamp of the player's most recent activity |
| Platform | The client platform used most recently (e.g., Java, Bedrock) |
| First hostname | The domain or IP the player used on their first connection |
Each row represents one unique player per server. A player who plays on multiple of your servers will have separate tracking entries on each.
Session history
Click on a player to view their individual session log. Each session records:
- Join time -- When the player connected
- Leave time -- When the player disconnected (blank if currently online)
- Duration -- Session length in minutes/hours
- Platform -- The client platform for this specific session
- Join domain -- The hostname/IP the player connected through for this session
Sessions are automatically reconciled -- if a player disconnects unexpectedly (server crash, network issue), the session is closed based on the last known activity.
Domain tracking
The first hostname and per-session join domain fields track which domain or IP address players use to connect. This is useful for:
- Acquisition analysis -- See which domain (e.g.,
play.example.com,hub.example.com) brings in the most players - Network routing -- Understand how players are distributed across your proxy/hub domains
- Marketing attribution -- If you promote different domains in different places, track which ones drive joins
Hostnames are sanitized and stored without port numbers.
Retention reports
Retention reports measure how many players return to your server after their first join. Reports are generated daily and break down retention by cohort date and platform.
Cohort model
A cohort is the group of players who first joined on a specific date. Retention is measured at three intervals:
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| D1 retention | Percentage of the cohort that returned within 1 day |
| D7 retention | Percentage of the cohort that returned within 7 days |
| D30 retention | Percentage of the cohort that returned within 30 days |
Retention rates are calculated as retained players / cohort size.
Reading retention data
Each retention report row contains:
- Cohort date -- The date this group of players first joined
- Platform -- The client platform (retention is tracked separately per platform)
- Cohort size -- How many new players joined on this date
- D1 / D7 / D30 retained -- Absolute counts of players who returned
For example, if 50 players first joined on March 1 and 20 of them came back within a day, the D1 retention is 40%.
Using retention data
- Compare platforms -- See if Java and Bedrock players retain at different rates
- Track trends -- Monitor whether retention improves or declines over time
- Evaluate changes -- Compare retention before and after server updates, events, or content additions
- Identify issues -- A sudden drop in D1 retention may indicate a problem with the new-player experience
Retention reports are available on the Retention tab of each server page.
Player sessions overview
The server-level player sessions view shows all recent sessions across all players, giving you a timeline of activity on your server. This is useful for:
- Seeing who was online during an incident
- Understanding player activity patterns throughout the day
- Identifying peak hours and quiet periods
Contributors
Thanks to everyone who keeps this docs area accurate.
