Best Minecraft Server Plugins in 2026 (Top 10 for Paper)

Plugins are how a plain Minecraft server becomes a proper community server with homes, land claims, ranks and rollbacks, all without players installing anything. These are the ten plugins we would put on almost any Paper survival server in 2026, plus a few worth knowing about. All of them are free and actively maintained.

Before you install

• Plugins need Paper (or a fork like Purpur). The official vanilla server does not load plugins, and Fabric or Forge use mods instead. If you are new to this, our Minecraft server guide explains how to switch to Paper.
• Match your Minecraft version. Minecraft now uses year based version numbers like 26.1 and 26.2, and many plugins publish separate builds per version. Check the version list on the download page before you install.
• Download from the official pages. Use Hangar, Modrinth, SpigotMC or the project's own site. Random reupload sites are the easiest way to get malware on a server.
• Install by dropping the .jar into plugins/ and restarting. Avoid /reload, which causes subtle bugs with many plugins.

1. EssentialsX

The plugin almost every server runs first. EssentialsX adds the everyday commands players expect: /home, /sethome, /spawn, /tpa, /msg, /warp, kits, nicknames, an economy and moderation tools like /mute and /tempban. Its optional add-ons include EssentialsX Chat for chat formatting and EssentialsX Spawn for spawn handling. It officially supports Paper and uses Paper features like async chunk loading for smoother teleports.

2. LuckPerms

LuckPerms controls who can do what. You create groups such as default, member and admin, give each group permission nodes, and assign players to groups. Its web editor (/lp editor) turns what used to be a painful config file into a point and click page. Every other plugin on this list uses permissions, so set up LuckPerms early.

3. VaultUnlocked

Vault is the bridge that lets economy, permissions and chat plugins talk to each other, so a shop plugin can take money from an EssentialsX balance, for example. The original Vault is no longer maintained, and VaultUnlocked is the actively developed continuation. It keeps full compatibility with plugins built for Vault and supports Paper, Purpur and Folia. You only need it if you run plugins that ask for Vault, which most economy and shop plugins do.

4. CoreProtect

CoreProtect logs every block placed or broken, every chest opened and every item moved. When someone griefs a build, you inspect the damage with /co inspect, then undo it with a rollback such as /co rollback u:PlayerName t:1d r:20. It is fast and stores data efficiently, and on a server with strangers it is not optional. The free Community Edition supports current Paper versions.

5. GriefPrevention

GriefPrevention lets players protect their own builds without staff help. Players get a golden shovel, right click two corners, and the area is claimed. Claim blocks accumulate with play time, so new players cannot claim the whole map. It also gives the owner commands like /trust to let friends build. For a friendly survival server this is usually the only protection plugin you need.

6. WorldEdit

WorldEdit is the in-game building tool: select an area with the wooden axe, then fill, replace, copy, paste, rotate or undo thousands of blocks in one command. Admins use it to build spawn, fix terrain and set up events. Busy servers often use FastAsyncWorldEdit (FAWE), a performance focused version that handles very large edits without freezing the server.

7. WorldGuard

WorldGuard protects areas that belong to the server rather than a player: spawn, shops, arenas and event zones. You select an area with WorldEdit, turn it into a region, and set flags like pvp deny, mob-spawning deny or block-break deny. It needs WorldEdit (or FAWE) installed to work.

8. Chunky

Chunky pre-generates your world. Generating new terrain is one of the most expensive things a Minecraft server does, and it causes lag when players explore. Run /chunky radius 5000 and /chunky start while nobody is online, and the server builds the terrain in advance. Pair it with a world border, set with /worldborder set 10000, so players stay in the area you generated.

9. Geyser and Floodgate

Geyser lets Bedrock Edition players on consoles, phones and Windows join your Java server, and Floodgate lets them do it without owning a Java account. Together they are the easiest way to play with friends on other platforms. Geyser listens on UDP port 19132 by default, so on a home server you need to port forward that as well. Geyser tracks the newest Java version closely, so servers on older versions add ViaVersion.

10. DiscordSRV

DiscordSRV links your server chat with a Discord channel, so people can talk between the game and Discord, see join and leave messages, and get alerts when the server starts or stops. It can also link Minecraft and Discord accounts to sync roles. For any group that already lives on Discord it is a big quality of life upgrade.

Worth knowing about

• spark: Paper has bundled the spark profiler since 1.21, so you already have it. When the server lags, run /spark profiler start, wait a few minutes, then /spark profiler stop and open the link to see exactly which plugin or machine is using the tick time.
• BlueMap, Dynmap or squaremap: live web maps of your world that players can open in a browser.
• ViaVersion: lets players on newer Minecraft versions join a server that has not updated yet.

A sensible install order

On a fresh server, install in this order and configure each one before adding the next:

1. LuckPerms, so you can grant permissions as you go.
2. VaultUnlocked, if you plan to run an economy or shops.
3. CoreProtect, so logging is running before anyone joins.
4. EssentialsX.
5. GriefPrevention or WorldEdit plus WorldGuard, depending on how you want protection to work.
6. Chunky, then pre-generate before opening the server.
7. Geyser, Floodgate and DiscordSRV if you want them.

Performance tips

Every plugin costs a little CPU and memory, and a stack of 60 plugins will need more than vanilla. If you add a lot, read how much RAM a game server needs. A 4 GB Paper server comfortably handles a typical plugin set with 10 to 25 players.

On Minecraft server hosting your server runs Paper by default, so it is ready for every plugin on this list from the first start.