Best Plugins for Minecraft Servers

Are you looking for the best Minecraft plugins for your Minecraft server? Well, you are at the right place, as our recommended plugins can skyrocket your server and bring more players.

Minecraft server plugins can help your server become more functional and popular amongst players.

You can find all kinds of Minecraft Plugins for your server. From basic world protection, to more complex solutions.

Table of Contents

What is a Minecraft plugin

Minecraft Plugins are files that allow players to change the way Minecraft works. They can be used to make multiple worlds, modify textures and others.

Currently, there are more than 61,000+ Minecraft plugins created, which can enhance every Minecraft server.

Although Minecraft plugins can help with more Minecraft features, they require a specific jar. For example, Bukkit plugins require the craftbukkit jar or any alternative.

You cannot install Minecraft plugins on a LAN game or offline games. Minecraft plugins are meant and can only be installed on servers.

The installation process is very basic and requires you to create a Minecraft server before you start downloading any plugin.

The Best Minecraft Server Plugins

Finding the most suitable Minecraft plugins has never been easier without our list. The whole thing is crafted based on user experience, votes, and mainly testing.

After all, there are some incompatible with the current Minecraft version plugins, so we created an easy and fast-to-track list with the most up-to-date working ones.

EssentialsX

EssentialsX

EssentialsX is one of the essential plugins, to make your server more established.

EssentialsX adds over 100 commands, such as:

• Basic ranks, which are changeable.
• Setting user permissions.
• Kit creations.
• Payment options and the use of /pay.
• Messages to other players and returning them.
• The use of /AFK. It means Away From Keyboard.
• Warp signs – teleport players to a certain destination.
• Payment signs – players can right-click to buy or left-click to sell an item and much more.

It is is one of the best permissions plugins, that enhances Bukkit and Spigot servers. It offers many commands for use to manage your server and protect better.

However, you will need a separate list of plugins such as an economy plugin, for further establishment.

The developers recommend using plugins such as Vault, and Votifier to enhance your Minecraft server experience.

Holographic Displays

Holographic Displays is unique and yet simple recommended Minecraft plugin to have on your server.

If you have been checking out popular servers, they all have these holographic displays, which showcase custom MOTD’s or players online.

Yet this is done through the Holographic Displays Minecraft plugin. You can set basic text information, or go all the way to creating changeable texts.

It is updated regularly and kept as one of the top Minecraft plugins.

As a con about Holographic Displays, the text can be seen through walls . Each hologram works individually for the player and can’t be seen by others.

World Guard

Have you ever had issues with griefers? WorldGuard is an essential Bukkit plugin and top-performing in the category of world protection.

With WorldGuard, you can protect any area that you like on your Minecraft server, but not only that.

With the WorldGuard Minecraft plugin, you have the full capabilities to:

• Create protected areas and set permissions to certain players or ranks for editing.
• Prevent certain blocks or items to be used by players in certain zones.
• Prevent fire spreading or TNT damage in a certain area or whole world.
• Create any rules that players will follow.
• Create zones in your world and much more.

Citizens

If you would like to create an amazing server, Citizens can enhance and bring the ultimate gameplay for you and your players.

With Citizens, you can create custom NPC’s with unlimited commands, such as:

• Quests.
• Citizen shoppers.
• Guarding NPC’s.
• Attacking NPC’s.
• Make paths for your NPCs so they can walk.
• Create NPC teleporters, which take you to certain destinations and much more.

Citizens can be used in many different ways and comes with many plugin addons. Citizens is compatible with all popular plugins.

If you wish to convert your Citizens to Citizens 2.0, you can do so here.

Citizens regularly update the NPC characters and you can find all of these characters here.

AuthMe

Every server needs protection. AuthMe is the greatest Minecraft plugin for protecting your server and player accounts.

With AuthMe, you can set custom registering options and require any kind of special combinations for players to use.

The login and registering messages can be fully customized by your liking and be displayed to players in any language.

AuthMe is fully compatible with any permissions plugin and does not interfere with any server settings.

Players who have not registered on the server will be asked to register in a certain time period. If the period time is not met, the players will be kicked.

Simple Voice Chat

Simple Voice Chat lets Minecraft players communicate through a Voice Chat system, which can be triggered in many ways.

With Simple Voice, Chat players can talk directly in a certain world automatically or through a button set for Push-to-talk.

Simple Voice Chat offers password-protected voice chats and player open chats, which can be used to communicate with all existing players in a world or server.

Grief Prevention

One of the greatest protection plugins for server for is Grief Prevention. Without the need for a database or saves on your world, you can protect worlds from griefers.

It can run smoothly without slowing down your server and keeps the player base nice and calm.

Minecraft servers usually get griefed by some players, which can be annoying and will require you to restore the broken parts.

Grief Prevention is one of the best Minecraft plugins for this job, as it can fully protect your servers without the need for too many commands or extra space on your server.

Marriage Master

Relationships in games are cool. But what if you could get married inside one? Marriage Master offers players the experience to pick their half in-game and play as a couple.

Marriage Master has simple, yet effective functions, which lets players choose their half and get married.

But not only this. With Marriage Master you also get:

• XP boost when you are near your partner in the game.
• No gender specifications. You can marry any type of person.
• You can kiss your partner.
• Use any kind of surnames.
• Increased health regeneration when you are near your partner.
• Send gifts to your partner and much more.

With Marriage Master you can turn any server into a real-life adventure.

DynMap

DynMap is a unique plugin, which lets people create a map similar to Google Maps.

With DynMap you get:

• Real-time World sync on your website.
• Players and their locations are shown.
• Player messages can be seen as chat bubbles.
• Map viewers can chat on the website.
• Real-time weather and world time are shown.

When you integrate the plugin, you get your own page of Google Maps for your Minecraft world.

Drop Heads

Drop Heads is a simple and perfect Minecraft plugin for players who would like to add more custom blocks to the game.

Simply said you receive player heads as blocks, and the rules to the head drops can be specified within the plugin.

With Drop Heads, once a player gets defeated, he will drop his skin’s head. These heads are placeable and can be used for decorations or trading.

Skript

Minecraft is cool with all the plugins and best plugin categories for Minecraft. But what if you could create your own plugins with zero knowledge in the field?

Skript may look outdated and not compatible, but is the best Minecraft plugin if you want to customise Minecraft.

With Skript you can code by using basic sentences and create all types of plugins in Minecraft hassle-free.

LuckPerms

LuckPerms is a useful permissions plugin, which receives regular updates and is when it comes to management.

While other plugin developers leave their plugins, LuckPerms is the total opposite. It receives its updates very often and is even promoted by BisectHosting.

They currently offer the massive 25% off your first purchase, if you are a LuckPerms user!

LuckPerms is an easy to manage and develop Minecraft server plugin, which is recommended by the best servers admins.

ViaVersion

Most of the server owners keep their server updated. However, some players prefer old versions, and hesitate updating.

To prevent losing players, ViaVersion becomes an essential plugin for your server. 

With ViaVersion Minecraft admins can make older Minecraft versions playable. This means players can enjoy older server versions and never have to update again.

To spice things up, you can additionally download ViaRewing and ViaBackwards to your plugins folder, and enhance your server.

These are must-have plugins, which allow players to join older or newer server versions.

Matrix AntiCheat

Server owners as well as other players hate cheaters. That’s for sure! Matrix AntiCheat is a all in one solution to keep the pesky cheaters away from your server.

Matrix Antcheat prevents hacking on your server, by kicking or banning players.

Hacks like botting, auto clicking, x-ray, chat spam and login spam are prevented and punished.

With Matrix you can easily keep your server clean, without worrying about server griefing.

Residence

Residence is the perfect Minecraft plugin for players who would like to protect their areas and builds, which prevents builders to harm their property.

Along with the building they have protected, animals receive a non kill protection too.

If a player tries to damage your crops, they will never get destroyed.

Residence gives players multiple flags and commands, which they can utilize to protect their homes and property.

It also serves as a player permissions plugin. Players can define the protection of their home, and invite others to their residence.

Some of the most used residence commands are:

• Pushing player away from the protected zone.
• Displaying the name of the residence created by players.
• Protecting animals from burning damage if players try to set them on fire.
• Give certain permissions to players, such as door opening, passing through your area or use a door/button/trapdoor and others.

Jobs Reborn

Jobs Reborn lets Minecraft players to choose jobs based on their interest. 

It functions in a way that every player with a hobby in the game can benefit from it.

Everything you do, gets rewarded in a certain way! If you are a farmer or animal breeder, you will receive money and XP.

The same goes if you like hunting players and mobs.

Jobs Reborn can pay you if you are working as:

• Enchanter
• PVP Player
• Monster Slayer
• Woodcutter
• Miner
• Builder
• Animal Breeder and much more

Each of the jobs has its own pricing for the item you are placing/removing or player/mob that you kill.