If there is one plugin you will find on almost every plugin server, it is EssentialsX. It bundles most of the comforts players look for on day one: homes, a way back to spawn, private messages, warps, starter kits and server rules. Left on its defaults, though, it tends to go one of two ways: either nothing works for regular players, or everybody can do everything. This guide walks through installing EssentialsX, configuring the parts that matter and handing out its commands to the right permission groups.

Which parts to install

EssentialsX is not a single file but a set of modules that work together. For most servers these four are enough:

  • EssentialsX: the core plugin, with homes, warps, private messages, kits and moderation commands.
  • EssentialsX Spawn: handles /spawn, /setspawn and where new players appear.
  • EssentialsX Chat: controls how chat lines look, which is what makes rank prefixes show up.
  • Vault: a separate project rather than part of EssentialsX. It is the bridge that passes permission, prefix and economy information between plugins, and LuckPerms prefixes need it to reach chat.

If you run software from the plugin family (Paper, Purpur, Spigot), install them from the panel or upload them to the plugins folder with the file manager. Make sure every EssentialsX module comes from the same release; mixed versions are the most common reason for errors on startup. Restart the server afterwards. On first start a plugins/Essentials folder appears, containing files such as config.yml, kits.yml, motd.txt and rules.txt.

config.yml: start with these settings

config.yml is long, and each setting has a comment explaining it. You don't need to touch most of it. Open it in the file manager, edit, save, then run /essentials reload in game.

  • locale: the language of the plugin's messages, for example locale: en. Lines without a translation fall back to English.
  • teleport-cooldown: how many seconds a player must wait between teleports.
  • teleport-delay: how long a teleport takes after the command is typed. Moving during that time cancels it, which makes escaping mid-fight harder.
  • sethome-multiple: how many homes each rank may set (see below).
  • per-warp-permission: when true, every warp needs its own permission.

YAML files are indented with spaces, never tabs. Shift one line out of place and the plugin cannot read the file and prints an error to the console, so keeping a copy before you edit is a good habit.

Homes: how many per player?

A player saves their current spot with /sethome, returns with /home and deletes it with /delhome. Multiple homes get names: /sethome mine, /home mine. To give ranks different limits, edit this section of config.yml:

sethome-multiple:
  default: 2
  vip: 5

The names default and vip are the last part of a permission node. For a player to get five homes they need both essentials.sethome.multiple and essentials.sethome.multiple.vip. We grant those with LuckPerms below.

Spawn and new players

To set the spawn point, stand where you want it and type /setspawn. Players can then return with /spawn. EssentialsX Spawn also defines what happens to first-time players, in the newbies section of config.yml:

newbies:
  announce-format: '&dWelcome to the server, {DISPLAYNAME}!'
  spawnpoint: default
  kit: starter

announce-format is the welcome message everyone sees, and kit names a kit handed out automatically on first join; leave it empty if you don't want one. Many servers keep spawn-on-join at false so players return to spawn only when they die, not every time they log in.

Protecting the spawn area from damage is a separate job, covered in region protection with WorldGuard.

Kits: starter items

The easiest way to make a kit is in game. Put the items you want to give in your inventory and type:

/createkit starter 86400

The number is the cooldown in seconds before the same player can claim the kit again, here one day. EssentialsX saves the kit to kits.yml, which you can edit later to add items or change the delay. Players claim it with /kit starter, and typing /kit alone lists the kits they can use. Using a kit requires both the general essentials.kit permission and the kit-specific essentials.kits.starter.

Messages: MOTD, rules and chat format

  • Message of the day: whatever you write in motd.txt is shown when a player joins, and /motd shows it again. Colour codes start with &.
  • Rules: the contents of rules.txt are shown by /rules.
  • Chat format: with EssentialsX Chat installed, the format line in the chat section of config.yml shapes each chat line. For example, format: '{PREFIX}{DISPLAYNAME}&7: &f{MESSAGE}' prints the rank prefix, the player's name and the message. {PREFIX} is only filled in when Vault is installed and a prefix is set in LuckPerms.

Handing out permissions with LuckPerms

Every EssentialsX command is tied to a permission node, and players who aren't OP can't use a command until they are granted it. Setting up groups is covered in ranks and permissions with LuckPerms; here we only look at the EssentialsX side. A typical starting point for the default group:

lp group default permission set essentials.home true
lp group default permission set essentials.sethome true
lp group default permission set essentials.delhome true
lp group default permission set essentials.sethome.multiple true
lp group default permission set essentials.sethome.multiple.default true
lp group default permission set essentials.spawn true
lp group default permission set essentials.kit true
lp group default permission set essentials.kits.starter true
lp group default permission set essentials.msg true
lp group default permission set essentials.motd true
lp group default permission set essentials.rules true
lp group default permission set essentials.warp true

For the VIP group add only the difference: lp group vip permission set essentials.sethome.multiple.vip true, and perhaps essentials.back to return to the last location or place of death. Keep moderation nodes such as essentials.setspawn, essentials.setwarp and essentials.mute for helpers and admins.

When a player can't use a command, LuckPerms' lp verbose on is the quickest way to see which node was checked.

Common mistakes

  • Mixing module versions. A core plugin from one release and a Spawn module from another will throw errors. Update them together.
  • Granting essentials.*. That asterisk permission also opens moderation commands like banning and changing game modes. Grant what is needed one by one.
  • Editing without reloading. Saving the file isn't enough; run /essentials reload or restart.
  • Prefixes missing from chat. Usually Vault isn't installed or {PREFIX} is missing from the format line.
  • Wrong unit for kit cooldowns. The value is in seconds, so one hour is 3600.

For how EssentialsX fits with the other core plugins, see essential plugins for a survival server.