Installing Plugins on Your Minecraft Server: The Easy Way

You want to add homes, teleports, or a shop to your server. You need a plugin. But you have never installed one before. Here is how to do it from start to finish.

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Step 1: Find the Plugin

Plugins are available from these trusted sources:

| Source | URL | Notes | |---|---|---| | SpigotMC | spigotmc.org/resources | Largest plugin library | | Modrinth | modrinth.com/plugins | Clean interface, growing library | | Hangar | hangar.papermc.io | PaperMC's official plugin repository | | Bukkit/CurseForge | dev.bukkit.org | Older but still maintained |

Warning: Never download plugins from random websites, YouTube video descriptions, or Discord servers. Only use the sources above. Malicious plugins can steal your files, install backdoors, and destroy your server.

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Step 2: Check Compatibility

Before downloading, check:

1. Server software: The plugin page says which software it supports (Paper, Spigot, Purpur). If your server runs Paper and the plugin says "Spigot," it will almost always work on Paper too (Paper is compatible with Spigot plugins)
2. Minecraft version: Make sure the plugin supports your server version. A plugin for 1.20 might not work on 1.21
3. Dependencies: Some plugins require other plugins to work. EssentialsX requires Vault for economy features. WorldGuard requires WorldEdit. The plugin page lists dependencies

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Step 3: Download the Plugin

Click Download on the plugin page. You get a .jar file (Java Archive). This is the plugin.

Save it somewhere on your computer. Do not unzip it.

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Step 4: Upload to Your Server

Using the Panel File Manager

1. Log into your server panel (Pterodactyl, etc.)
2. Go to the File Manager
3. Navigate to the plugins/ folder
4. Click Upload
5. Select the .jar file
6. Wait for the upload to complete

Using SFTP

If your panel's file manager is slow for large files:

1. Get your SFTP credentials from the panel (Settings page)
2. Use an SFTP client like FileZilla or WinSCP
3. Connect with your server's SFTP address, username, and password
4. Navigate to /plugins/
5. Drag the .jar file into the folder

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Step 5: Restart the Server

Plugins load when the server starts. After uploading the .jar file:

1. Go to your server's Console page in the panel
2. Type stop in the console (this saves the world and shuts down gracefully)
3. Click Start

Do not use the Kill button unless the server is frozen. Kill does not save data.

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Step 6: Verify the Plugin Loaded

After the server starts, check the console for messages from the plugin. You should see something like:

[EssentialsX] Enabling EssentialsX v2.21.0
[EssentialsX] Using Paper provider for NMS access

If you see errors in red, the plugin failed to load. Read the error message for clues (see troubleshooting below).

You can also check in-game:

/plugins

This lists all loaded plugins. Green names are working. Red names failed to load.

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Step 7: Configure the Plugin

Most plugins create a configuration folder inside plugins/ on first startup:

plugins/
  EssentialsX/
    config.yml
    messages.yml
    ...
  LuckPerms/
    config.yml
    ...

Edit configuration files through the panel file manager:

1. Navigate to plugins/PluginName/
2. Click on config.yml
3. Edit the settings
4. Save
5. Restart the server (or use /pluginname reload if the plugin supports it)

YAML files are sensitive to formatting. Use spaces, not tabs. Indentation matters. If you break the YAML structure, the plugin will fail to load.

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Troubleshooting Common Issues

Plugin shows red in /plugins

The plugin failed to load. Check the console for error messages. Common causes:

• Missing dependency: Install the required plugin (usually mentioned in the error)
• Wrong Minecraft version: Download the correct version of the plugin
• Duplicate plugin: Two copies of the same plugin in the folder. Delete the old one
• Corrupted download: Re-download the .jar file

"An internal error occurred" when using a command

The plugin loaded but has a runtime error. Check the console when the error occurs. The stack trace tells you which plugin caused it.

Plugin works but settings do not save

• Check file permissions. The server needs write access to the plugins folder
• Some plugins require a restart to apply config changes (not a reload)
• Make sure you saved the file after editing

Two plugins conflict

If two plugins modify the same feature (like chat formatting), they can conflict. Check if either plugin has a config option to disable the conflicting feature. If not, choose one and remove the other.

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Updating Plugins

When a plugin has a new version:

1. Download the new .jar from the plugin page
2. Delete the old .jar from plugins/ (do not keep both)
3. Upload the new .jar
4. Restart the server

The plugin's config folder stays. Most updates are backward compatible with existing configs. If a new version changes config format, it usually migrates automatically.

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Removing Plugins

1. Stop the server
2. Delete the plugin's .jar from plugins/
3. Optionally delete its config folder from plugins/PluginName/
4. Start the server

Leaving the config folder behind does no harm. It takes up minimal disk space and makes it easy to reinstall later with the same settings.

Space-Node servers come with a browser-based file manager for easy plugin management. Upload, configure, and update plugins without installing any extra software. Get started here.