I installed x11vnc on Mint and it works fine as long as I have a monitor plugged into the server. I want to run the server without a monitor though. That apparently doesn't work with Cinnamon. I already bought a dummy plug to simulate a monitor but that seems clunky. Is there a better way? I'm also open to using a different VNC server or even a different distro (as long as it's not Ubuntu or Arch).
that's because x11vnc is an extension to an Xserver. what you need is either a standalone vncserver or a framebuffer Xserver that runs headless with x11vnc.
oh. i don't have mint, so i don't know the specifics, but usually you would install tigervnc (or tightvnc), set up a password, allow users, set up a per user startup file (containing a desktop environment or window manager to start) and start the systemd service (maybe you have to create a textfile service definition if mint didn't install one automatically).