When I look for a server to play privately on my non-marked account I look mostly for:
- World size chosen according to the player count, e.g. neither too small nor too large
- No typical "QoL" mods and at least High Collaboration (but again taking player count into account), as most of those mods tend to break the intended game balance horribly in ways that just arent fun to me and how I play
- Global Currency, as I am team "Bartering is meh"
Premade government and restrictions is neutral to me, but I generally prefer playing on servers where admins are creative and have made custom concepts beyond base Eco and as such tend to play on one with some degree of premade government given its necessary for that. I don't mind restrictions if they make a clear game experience, and variety in game experiences is what I'm looking for.
I prefer, but that doesn't play major role:
- Fair admins and clearly communicated rules
- ...