There are many gamemodes out there already, but it's not too late to figure out your own "niche" in this and come up with your very own, custom gamemode which makes your server stand out a bit more.
So first, we must know, what are the main gamemodes at the moment?
Prison
Skyblock
Factions
Survival
Towny
Minigames (Bedwars, Skywars, etc.)
Creative
Each gamemode is really different from one another which makes it unique - each gamemode also provides really different features that players can play with. There is no such thing as a "most successful gamemode". Each gamemode can be successful as long as you put your mind to it and really work hard on making it stand out from others.
You can make the gamemode stand out from other ones by adding a couple of custom features to it. For example, let's say you own a skyblock server - you can make it unique by adding features to it that not every skyblock server has. If it's a server that has the same basic features then you should think to yourself; why would people choose my server over other servers if I don't offer anything unique.
Gamemode Summary
Now, you might want to know what each gamemode is really about, right? How are they so different from each other - here's a quick summary of every gamemode:
prison
In the prison gamemode, usually, your (the player's) duty is to mine in different mines with a pickaxe. Through mining, you gain ores that you sell for money and with the money you earn, you rank up. Through ranking up, you get access to better mines, with better ores, and sometimes even access to perks that lower ranks do not have access to.
skyblock
Skyblock is basically pretty obvious. You are in the sky on your own "block" island, haha. Your goal is to expand this island to be bigger and offer everything you would need on a basic Minecraft world.
factions
This gamemode right here is the most competitive one out there. In factions, your goal is to be a part of the most powerful faction with the best base with the richest features. This is the best gamemode to play with your friends and start your own "clan", or as we like to call it, a faction.
survival
Do I really need to explain this one, haha? It's the same thing as you would do in single-player, but usually, servers offer more features in this gamemode. They add more interesting things to make it better than basic survival - such as adding RPG features to it, or more interesting mobs - stronger and more difficult ones.
towny
Towny is quite similar to Factions, but it's more peaceful. It's basically like you're running your own village. This is also really great to play with your friends, build your own village and expand it. This gamemode usually offers fewer PvP situations than Factions, which makes it more peaceful.
minigames
In here, you really just play for fun. This is the best gamemode to play whenever you just want to hit a couple of quick games with your friends to have fun or play competitively. There are so many different minigames out there that you can play that is so much fun either alone or with friends - literally.
Skywars and Bedwars are some of the most played minigames and each game usually lasts around 20 minutes - depending on how good you are, haha. They can be quite competitive and fun.
creative
We all love building in Minecraft since this is the core thing to do, right? In creative, each person gets their own land, or as we call it, their own "plot". In the plot, they can let their creativity loose and build whatever they want in there. It's such an amazing gamemode if you're one of those creative types of people.
I hope that you found this blog post helpful and in summary - you can pretty much make any gamemode successful and stand out as long as you put your mind to it. There is a community for every gamemode.
Thank you for reading this and I hope you have a great rest of your day!
- Zach M.