Hi there! You'll definitely enjoy the server as there's many things to do, so welcome In addition to building on your Town plot there's the expansive Wild that you can explore on each smp. Sometimes it's fun going around giant Victorian mansions (/wild c on smp2) or massive public farm terminals on smp3 or smp8. The economy is a large factor of the server, so you can try visiting shops and malls around the smp's to find items you want! Here's a few that have good prices (+aquarium utopia, +missz smp3, +wither smp6, +katy smp8), but a full list is here: https://empireminecraft.com/threads/shop-mall-directory.82580/ To earn rupees, you can sell items at shops (do /tpreview and right click a chest to see if there's space), or just vote regularly using the voting link. It just takes a few minutes each day, and that alone should be enough to support you in building endeavors. Make sure to do /promo and shift-click what's there to collect special promotional items! These are the server valuables, and you can keep or sell them as you wish. Whenever you have a question, just ask! Large majority of the players are adults so you'll usually get a proper answer fast.
Welcome to emc! If you're having issues just let me know and i will be in touch! Anyways, here's my introduction thread Happy stay in emc!