Minecraft Server Plugins: What You Must Have and When to Order Custom
The essential minimum by name, how to install plugins without breaking the server, where plugins conflict most often, and when ordering a custom one pays off.
The core gives you only the engine: the world, mobs and physics. Everything else comes from plugins. Here is the essential minimum with exact names, the install order, typical conflicts, and when it makes sense to order your own.
How a plugin gets installed
- Download the jar for your game version. A plugin built for 1.16 usually will not start on 1.20.
- Put it in the
pluginsfolder next to the core. - Restart the server with
stopand start it again. The/reloadcommand is a bad idea: half of all plugins do not survive it. - Check the console: at startup every plugin prints a line about loading. Any error shows up immediately.
- Open the generated config at
plugins/PluginName/config.ymland configure it.
Install them one at a time and check the console after each. Add five at once and you are hunting for the culprit by trial and error.
The essential minimum
| Task | What covers it | What happens without it |
|---|---|---|
| Permissions and groups | LuckPerms | either everyone can do everything, or no one can do anything |
| Basic commands | EssentialsX | no homes, teleports, kits or decent chat |
| Build protection | GriefPrevention or WorldGuard | the first griefer wipes out the builds |
| Logs and rollback | CoreProtect | complaints get settled on someone's word |
| Economy | Vault plus an economy plugin | nothing to earn and no reason to come back |
| Diagnostics | spark | finding the cause of lag turns into guesswork |
| Anti-cheat | depends on the situation | PvP turns into a circus |
Everything listed is free and publicly available. That is enough to make the server run, but not enough to make it interesting.
Common conflicts
- Two plugins for one job. Two anti-cheats, two claim plugins, two chat plugins: weirdness guaranteed. Keep one.
- Different API versions. A plugin built for an old version may start but crash on a specific action. Check the plugin's page, not just "works for me".
- Permissions. Half of all "the plugin doesn't work" reports are wrongly assigned permissions in LuckPerms, not the plugin itself.
- Economy. Vault is a bridge layer: if the economy plugin is not connected to it, shops see a zero balance for everyone.
When you need a custom plugin
Public plugins cover the basics but give you no identity. A custom one makes sense in four cases:
- A mechanic nobody else has. The one thing that cannot be copied along with your IP.
- Linked systems. When the donation store, events, economy and menus need to work as one whole.
- Performance. A public plugin often drags along features you never use.
- Control. Your own code is adjusted to your balance instead of waiting for the author to wake up.
It is cheaper not to write from scratch, but to take a ready-made plugin from a studio that has already built something similar and tune it to your needs.
Our plugins
| Plugin | Price | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| CloudBuggy | 1999 ₽ | The studio's flagship: a combat buggy with classes, a turret and a PvP mode! |
| CloudBossArena | 1999 ₽ | 66 bosses on a PvP arena: a fight every hour, with rewards based on percentage of damage dealt! |
| CloudAztec | 1499 ₽ | An Aztec donor set: relics with abilities and a forge at the Archaeologist NPC! |
| CloudSpheres | 1099 ₽ | A sphere system: shell, effect stones, a Sorcerer NPC and unique statuses! |
| CloudHellMassacre | 999 ₽ | A separate hell world, "Hell Massacre": an arena, killer piglins, Hell Souls and a Soul Collector! |
| CloudEnchants Pro | 699 ₽ | 46 custom enchantments for weapons, armor, bows and tools, with books and an anvil! |
| CloudPrivates | 699 ₽ | 9 types of claim regions: cube protection, explosion, funnel, buffs, alarm! |
| CloudBlackPearl | 499 ₽ | An improved version of the HolyWorld ship! |
| CloudTotems | 499 ₽ | Reusable totems with charges and 10 unique abilities! |
| CloudSuperSpawners | 499 ₽ | Donor spawners: 6 mob sets + the Indiana Pickaxe for 100% drops! |
The rules are the same for all of them: numbers, chances, texts and rewards are edited in the config and picked up with a reload, no restart needed. Dependencies are soft: without Vault the plugin does not crash, it just disables the money part. Russian texts work out of the box, and updates and support are free.
The full list is in the plugin catalog. If what you need is not there, we write it to order.
Post-install checklist
- The console is clean, with no errors at startup.
/tpsholds at 20 after ten minutes of running.- Permissions are checked as more than just an operator: join as a regular player.
- Configs are backed up separately from the world.
- You have written down which plugin version is installed. When you update the core, that saves time.
Do not want to put all of this together by hand?
We have been building server builds, plugins and websites for Minecraft servers since 2022. A ready-made solution goes onto your hosting in an evening, and we install it for free.