Sleeping
Not everyone has to sleep in order to skip the night. If a majority of players are sleeping, the night will speed up rapidly.
How it works
When someone tries to sleep at night, all players will be notified. It will tell everyone how many more players are needed to skip the night. If enough players are sleeping, the night will be skipped. 51% of players must be sleeping to skip the night, so it's majority rule.
note
- Players in the Nether and The End will be ignored, since there's no day-night cycle there
- AFK players will also be ignored
Phantoms
As long as you don't sleep for three nights, phantoms will spawn for you. Skipping the night without sleeping doesn't clear your insomnia. This is so you still have access to phantom membrane.