Add a Plugin to Your Paper or Spigot Server
Upload the JAR to the plugins folder, restart, confirm it loaded with /plugins, and give yourself permission to use the commands.
Plugins are the easiest kind of build to install. Your players do nothing. You upload one file, restart, and run a command to confirm it loaded.
#What you need
- The plugin JAR from Creator Hub
- A Paper or Spigot server on the Minecraft version you picked when you generated
- Access to the server's files: your host's file manager, SFTP, or the folder on your own machine
Paper runs Spigot plugins, so a plugin built for Spigot works on Paper. The reverse is usually true too, but match what you picked.
#Install it
Open the plugins folder
In your hosting panel's file manager, or on disk, find the folder named plugins next to server.properties. Not mods. If it doesn't exist, the server isn't Paper or Spigot.
Upload the JAR
Drop the file into plugins. Don't unzip it and don't rename it to anything without .jar at the end.
Restart the server
Plugins load on startup. A full restart is the reliable way. Watch the console while it starts.
Check it loaded
Run /plugins in-game or plugins in the console. Your plugin should be listed in green. Red means it failed to load, and the console will say why a few lines up.
Try the command
Type the command you asked for. If it says "unknown command", the plugin didn't load. If it says you don't have permission, read the next section.
#Permissions
Most generated plugins restrict admin commands to operators. Give yourself OP from the console:
op YourMinecraftNameIf you run a permissions plugin, grant the plugin's permission nodes to the right rank instead. The generation notes in Creator Hub usually list the permission nodes the plugin registered. If you want a different permission setup, say so in a follow-up message and the plugin will be rebuilt with it.
#Config files
Many plugins write a folder under plugins/ with a config file the first time they start. Edit it, then restart or use the plugin's reload command if it has one.
If you find yourself editing the same values a lot, ask Creator Hub to make them configurable. "Put the cooldown and the reward amounts in a config file" is a normal follow-up.
#Updating
- Keep a copy of the old JAR somewhere outside
plugins. - Delete the old JAR from
pluginsand upload the new one. - Restart.
- Run
/pluginsand try the command again.
Two versions of the same plugin in the folder at once will fight each other.
Test somewhere else first
Put new plugins on a test server before your main one. Creator Hub can launch a 30-minute test server for a completed server-only Paper or Spigot build if your account has a completed credit purchase or an active Warp subscription. Test before your players see it has the details.
#If it's red in /plugins
- Version mismatch. Built for 1.21.1, server is on 1.20.4. Check the version line at the top of the console.
- Not Paper or Spigot. A Fabric or vanilla server has no plugins folder and won't load one.
- Missing dependency. The console will name it. Install it in
pluginstoo. - Corrupt upload. The file size in the panel doesn't match the download. Upload again.
Still stuck? The troubleshooting checklist tells you what to collect before asking for help in Discord.
Build it yourself
Turn an idea into a working Minecraft mod
Describe it in plain English. Download the build. Drop it in your mods folder. No coding.
Start building