You join and start as the lowest rank of prisoner you can mine and such to earn money while avoiding being killed by other prisoners and hiding contrabands from guards. You use your money to buy your way to the next level, which includes more/faster and safer ways to make money. the next level is more expensive though, but you are less likely to get killed. If you play long enough you will get enough money to buy yourself free and help your mates in the prison from outside.
Actually Op Prison depending on the server is like ranks A-Z Free and others such as prestige 1-10 The mines are very over powered and have diamonds in about rank d Diamond Blocks and Emerald Blocks normally around p-z And d-o is normally diamond ore iron blocks coal blocks depending on the server