Towny Server Setup Guide for Minecraft (2026)
Towny is a land management plugin that adds towns, nations, taxes, and plot systems to Minecraft. Players create towns, invite residents, claim chunks, and build communities. It is the go-to choice for semi-vanilla survival servers that want organized land protection.
How Towny Works
- A player creates a town and becomes the mayor
- The town claims chunks using in-game money
- Residents join the town and get plots to build on
- Towns can form nations with other towns
- Taxes fund the town treasury
- Unclaimed land is the wilderness with no protection
Installation
- Download Towny from GitHub or SpigotMC
- Place the jar in
plugins/ - Install dependencies: Vault, an economy plugin (EssentialsX)
- Restart the server
- Configuration files generate in
plugins/Towny/
Essential Companion Plugins
- Vault + EssentialsX - Economy for town costs and taxes
- LuckPerms - Permission management per town role
- TownyChat - Town and nation chat channels
- TownyFlight - Fly within your own town
- Dynmap-Towny or BlueMap - Show town borders on a live map
- SiegeWar (optional) - Add warfare between nations
Key Configuration
Town Costs
In config.yml:
new_town_price: 1000
claim_price: 50
upkeep_per_plot: 10
Balance these based on your economy. Towns should be achievable but require effort.
Plot Types
Towny supports different plot types:
- Residential - Standard living plots
- Commercial - Shop plots
- Embassy - Plots outsiders can buy
- Farm - Agricultural plots
- Arena - PvP-enabled plots
Permissions
default_town_permission:
build: resident
destroy: resident
switch: resident
item_use: resident
Controls who does what in town land. Residents get build permission. Outsiders get nothing by default.
Town Hierarchy
Nation Leader
└── Nation
├── Town A (Mayor + Residents)
├── Town B (Mayor + Residents)
└── Town C (Mayor + Residents)
Nations provide bonuses like extra claims and shared defense.
Gameplay Tips for Server Owners
- Set a daily upkeep cost to prevent abandoned towns from cluttering the map
- Towns that cannot pay upkeep get deleted automatically
- Create a starter town near spawn for new players
- Use TownyChat for town-only and nation-only chat channels
- Add a live map so players can see town boundaries
Hardware Requirements
Towny servers run lean. The plugin itself uses minimal resources. RAM requirements depend on player count and other plugins:
| Players | RAM | |---------|-----| | 1 to 20 | 3 to 4 GB | | 20 to 50 | 4 to 8 GB | | 50 to 100 | 8 to 12 GB |
Start your Towny server. View Minecraft Hosting Plans
