My Articles

You have probably heard about shaders in Minecraft, but what actually are they, and is Java or Bedrock better for them?

There has been a fair amount of talk about how upcoming versions of Java will improve Minecraft. What's coming and how will it change things?

Spark is the most popular tool for identifying performance issues on a Minecraft server. It can be difficult to read if you don’t fully understand how it works.

As of today, Minecraft has had multiplayer for a decade. We have created a comprehensive history of the multiplayer community.

Running a Minecraft Server can be a daunting task. In this article you'll find answers to questions, guides for various systems, and advice on server administration.

Minecraft block lookups have gotten slower over time, but just how much slower have they actually gotten?

Server admins often ask what is the best version of Minecraft for their server to run. This article goes over everything you should consider when choosing.

When running a Minecraft server, having to choose between Forge or Fabric mods, or Bukkit plugin can be a difficult task. Hybrid servers can sound promising, but they do have some downsides that are important to be aware of.

Paper and Spigot are the two leading platforms for Minecraft servers. Which is better? This article goes over the main benefits of using both platforms

If you’re a Minecraft server admin, chances are you’ve heard the term “Bukkit” before. So, what exactly is it?

You may have heard rumblings in the community about a Paper 'hard fork'. This article covers what it is and what it means for Paper and the wider Minecraft server community.

When running a public Minecraft server, it's vital to understand the main security risks. Giving a server too much access to your machine can allow hackers or other malicious actors to do substantially more damage.

A common question amongst Minecraft server administrators is whether WorldGuard, or a similar protection plugin, will work on modded platforms such as Forge, NeoForge or Fabric

Fabric, Forge, and NeoForge are all massively popular modding platforms for Minecraft. So which one should you use?

Malware can be scary, annoying to remove, and extremely disruptive. It’s important to be aware of what it can look like and how to avoid getting it, as well as how to remove it.

Should you run the --forceUpgrade flag when updating your Minecraft server? What are the pros and cons? And ultimately, should you use it?

Over the past year, numerous forks of Paper have popped up. The question, though, is should you use a fork of Paper over Paper itself?

CraftBook 5 has been in the works for a few years, and is now ready for general use. Betas are now available.

CraftBukkit is Minecraft server software that first started development well over a decade ago. But should you still be using it?

This release has been a very long time coming. WorldEdit 7.3 is full of many new features and underlying system reworks, which I'll go over in this post.

If you run a Minecraft server, you might have come across cryptic errors such as “zip file closed” from various plugins, mods, or even the server itself.

The reload command in Bukkit is fundamentally broken and flawed, here's why, and what you should be doing instead.

You've likely heard of plugin conflicts. But what are they? What issues can they cause? How common are they? How can they be resolved? This article answers all these questions and more!

Offline Mode is a feature of Minecraft servers that allows disabling user authentication. It does, however, come with security risks and less software support.

The Minecraft server community has many misconceptions floating around about using MySQL or other databases with plugins, some of which cause servers to perform significantly worse.

The Minecraft server plugin ecosystem has changed a lot over the years. This article is an always up to date list of the most useful recommended plugins to have on your Minecraft server.

My journey over 8 years with the Minecraft community. From The Powder Toy, to CraftBook, AntiCheat, Sponge, and WorldEdit.

You may have heard mention of CraftBook 5. This post should give you all the information you need to understand what it is, why it exists, and what to expect.

It's been almost a year since the last big WorldEdit update. We're pleased to present WorldEdit 7.2, containing many new features, improvements, and bug fixes.

There is a lot of controversy around large plugins being worse than multiple small plugins, but is it true?

Using WorldEdit with blocks added by mods on versions of Minecraft before 1.13 can be confusing, but there are a few ways to make it simple

Back in Minecraft 1.13, Mojang added a feature to Minecraft called Data Packs. These are becoming increasingly popular over time, but should you use them over plugins for your Minecraft server?

With over half a year since the last big WorldEdit update, we're now releasing WorldEdit 7.1, with many new features and improvements!

After over a year in the making, WorldEdit 7 is complete. This is a major update with hundreds of brand new features, find out more here!

Mob or entity stackers are a new craze in the Minecraft server administration space, with claims to massively improve performance. Is this true, though?

Premium plugins are incredibly popular amongst Minecraft servers today, but should you use them instead of free ones?

Updating CraftBook to 1.13 has had a few issues, however it works properly now. A few major changes are also expected in the future.

Updating WorldGuard to 1.13 has been a complicated process, however not as time-consuming as WorldEdit.

Updating WorldEdit to Minecraft 1.13 has been a long and arduous process. Find out what's changed!

Minecraft server admins face unexplainable behaviour which they can't track down. Throughout this article, I'll outline some of the best ways to make it easy.

Quite often we get support requests from users where their server host is at fault. Find out common problems with server hosts, and how to solve them.

Over the past few months, I've taken on the task of updating WorldEdit, WorldGuard, and CraftBook to Minecraft 1.13.

A typical task that people want to achieve with WorldEdit is to load in a schematic, replace a few blocks, and then save it again. With WorldEditCLI, this couldn't be easier!

There are two separate versions of Minecraft, Java Edition and Bedrock Edition. If you're thinking of starting a Minecraft server, this choice can be a daunting one.

A step-by-step guide on how to work with schematics and clipboards in the WorldEdit 7 API.

MCEdit no longer exists for new Minecraft versions, so how should you use schematic files now? We have the solution! Use MCEdit Schematic files in Minecraft 1.13 through 1.18, and newer.

Learn how to load and paste schematic files into Minecraft with WorldEdit, and even make your own to share with friends or the internet!

A common tool for finding lag on Minecraft servers moment is Timings. But there is more than meets the eye when it comes to Timings report, and they're not always able to tell you what is causing lag.