Just wondering with all the servers out there, do the server owners make the entire place from scratch?
do they just make the starting spawn point?
i don't really understand… When you first get into a server and you want to build a place, do you just walk away from the start point to an empty point on the map?
Owners use a plugin called worldedit
Yes, they make everything that is protected by plugins which make players not be able to destroy important places.
You usually walk around 500 blocks from spawn, or go through portal or use /warp command, depending on the server.
It depends on the server, some build everything themselves, some use schematics. My server Bosscraft http://bosscraft.enjin.com/home we build everything ourselves because I personally think it's better to invest your time and skills in your own server. When you use schematics, it makes you look lazy and like you just threw something together really quickly and half-assed.