Best plugins for a Paper survival server

Paper runs vanilla survival well on its own, but a few good plugins make a server feel looked after. Below are well-known, free plugins. Check each plugin's page for a version that matches your Minecraft version. To install them, see installing plugins, mods and modpacks. You need Paper or Purpur, not Fabric or Forge.

Protection and anti-grief

CoreProtect logs block changes and container access, so you can see who did what and put it right. Tip: use /co inspect, then click a suspicious block to see its history before you roll anything back.

GriefPrevention lets players claim land themselves with a golden shovel. No staff are needed. Tip: tell new players about the shovel in your welcome message. Most complaints come from people who never knew claiming existed.

WorldGuard protects regions you define, such as spawn or a shop district. It is the staff-side tool. It needs WorldEdit to select regions. Tip: protect spawn first.

You do not need both for player builds. Use GriefPrevention for player claims and WorldGuard only for areas you control.

Permissions

LuckPerms controls who can use which commands, with groups such as member, helper and admin. Tip: use the web editor (/lp editor) instead of typing every permission by hand.

Everyday commands

EssentialsX gives homes, warps, teleport requests, kits and more. Tip: start with the core jar only. Add the extra modules when you want them, and turn off commands you do not need.

Performance

Spark is a profiler that shows what is using your server's tick time. Tip: when players report lag, run /spark profiler start while it is happening, then share the report link. See also fixing lag.

Maps

BlueMap draws a smooth 3D web map. Dynmap is the long-standing alternative. Tip: pick one, not both. The first render of a large world is heavy, so start it at a quiet time. A web map needs its own port to be reachable, so open a ticket first if you want one.

Quality of life

GSit lets players sit, lie down and crawl. Tip: check its config to choose which poses you allow.

You do not need a plugin for sleeping. Run /gamerule playersSleepingPercentage 50 and only half the online players need to be in bed to skip the night.

Anti-cheat

Grim (GrimAC) is a free, actively developed anti-cheat with good movement and combat checks. Tip: start with the defaults and watch the alerts for a week. Only tune it if you see false flags.

Many older anti-cheats are no longer maintained, so check a plugin has recent updates before relying on it.

Less is more

Every plugin costs memory or tick time, and is one more thing to break after an update. Before adding one, ask what problem it solves and whether a plugin you already run does the same job. Spark will tell you if something is slowing you down.

Back up before you add anything

Make a manual backup before installing, updating or removing a plugin. See Backups. Add one plugin at a time, restart, check the console for errors, then add the next.