How do I install a plugin on my Minecraft server?

Plugins add features to your server without players having to install anything: protection, economy, permissions, minigames, chat formatting. They run on Paper, Purpur and Spigot (not on vanilla, Fabric or Forge; those use mods). Installing one takes two steps: get the .jar file into the plugins folder and restart.

Step 1: check your server software

Type about in the console; the answer should mention Paper, Purpur or Spigot. If it says vanilla, switch to Paper through the version selector in the panel first. A world made on vanilla works on Paper without changes. Which one to pick is explained in our blog article mods versus plugins.

Option A: the Plugin installer in the panel

1. Go to the game panel and click your server.
2. Open the Plugin installer page.
3. Search for the plugin by name, pick the version that matches your Minecraft version and click Install.
4. Restart the server.

The installer downloads the file straight into your plugins folder from the official sources, so you cannot end up with a wrong or malicious file.

Option B: upload the .jar yourself

1. Download the plugin from a trusted source: Hangar (Paper's own site), SpigotMC, Modrinth or the developer's GitHub. Check that the version supports your Minecraft version.
2. Open File Manager in the panel and go to the plugins folder.
3. Click Upload and select the .jar file. Do not unzip anything; the jar goes in as-is.
4. Restart the server. Large files upload faster through SFTP.

Step 3: check that it loaded

Type plugins in the console. Loaded plugins show in green; a red name means it failed. On first start the plugin creates a folder plugins/PluginName/ with a config.yml in which you adjust its settings. After editing a config, restart or use the plugin's own reload command; avoid the general /reload, which often causes errors.

Dependencies

Some plugins need another plugin to work: many need Vault (economy and permissions), ProtocolLib or PlaceholderAPI. The console tells you at start-up: Could not load 'X': Unknown dependency: Vault. Install the missing plugin the same way.

A plugin does not load

• "Unsupported API version": the plugin is too new for your server version, or the other way round. Pick a matching version.
• "UnsupportedClassVersionError": the plugin needs a newer Java; see changing the Java version.
• Error in config.yml: YAML is picky about indentation and colons. Paste the file into an online YAML validator to find the line.
• Two plugins conflict: remove them one at a time to find the culprit.
• Nothing changes: the file ended up in the wrong folder, or has a .zip extension. It must be a .jar in plugins.

Where to start

Recommended for almost every server: EssentialsX (homes, warps, kits), LuckPerms (permissions), WorldGuard (protection), CoreProtect (rollbacks) and Vault. Our blog article on moderation plugins lists more. Stuck? Open a ticket and include the error from the console.