Where to Start
So if your a beginner with plugins these are a few important factors to consider before trying to download and use plugins on any server.
- Do they work with my version of Minecraft?
- Are the compatible with one another
- What plugins are the best?
- Do I know how to add and configure a plugin?
- What are the most essential plugins?
Prepare
So to answer some questions, official Bedrock servers can not use plugins, you do have other options though such as mods you can access from the market place or if you look around you can also find some really cool mods for free! These can change resource and texture packs.
How ever if you run a MCPE or Nukkitx server on bedrock edition you can indeed download and use plugins.
Java has the biggest plugin choice how ever as they run many different versions of Java, so you have many different mods and plugins and on the most part they are all free! You can of course purchase premium ones if your looking for a really pro plugin.
Compatibility
You should always check what versions your plugin works with, for example if you run a 1.16.4 server, you cant expect to run a plugin that works for 1.12.2 very successfully.
So always check before you download. As you can see here, the plugin works for 1.16 versions.
How to find the Best Plugins
So this is a hard one to answer as they change all the time, developers update them or stop working on projects. What I found the best method is to check the latest reviews and what version they were using.
You can also check for when they last updated it to see how frequently they keep up with bug fixes. Also a good support channel or site is always a pro for me as you can usually ask the developers directly and they are usually happy to help.
How to Configure my Plugins
Check out my YouTube channel for help with installing plugins to configuring them and much more.
The Essential Plugins You Need
Essentialsx
Now this one is hard to understand the need for when you first start with hosting. In short your told its all the essentials you will need for your server.
Well that is just the case as it opens up a variety more commands for you, and also adds an economy, warps, trade signs, buy and sell signs, worlds teleporting and so much more. All this can be enabled through your config.yml for your essentials plugin.
Not only that, it is compatible with many other plugins as this one has been running for so long whilst also been updated but it makes your life easier with many other things when developing a map.
Vault
Vault is another essential plugin for your server especially if your planning to use an economy. For much of the time it goes un noticed but it sorts so many things its a must have for all my servers.
Vault is a Permissions, Chat, & Economy API to give plugins easy hooks into these systems without needing to hook or depend on each individual plugin themselves. It was born out of a distaste for how both Register and the current Permissions API are run, and their lack of features or over-complicated implementations. Vault attempts to solve these issues by being intuitive and providing plugins with support for any system that they may use.
Not only that but it works well with Essentialsx!
LuckPerms
Another essential plugin is LuckPerms, you have many other permission plugins available how ever I found this the easiest to configure and set groups for. Plus the way they allow you to add permissions is really easy and reliable. By typing /lp editor you get brought up with a link which redirects you to a page to add permissions to sepperate groups.
Once happy with group permissions you simply hit save and copy and paste the link into your chat bar and its done!
There are many more things you can do with this plugin such as changing player name colours or prefix and suffixes but even with out using that its a great plugin.
Multiverse Core
This brilliant plugin allows you to easily create new worlds or import others with ease and link them all up on one server. It allows you to change configurations for each world independently and also has some very helpful follow up plugins such as multiverse portals to allow you to create portals that transport players between worlds simply by running into them.
Set up only taking a few minutes for each world, I thoroughly recommend this plugin if your planning to have multiple worlds.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, if your looking to start a server yourself I would recommend using SeekaHost for Java or Bedrock servers. https://www.seekahost.co/
