Set up EssentialsX homes, warps, kits and spawn on a survival server

One core jar and a handful of optional modules

EssentialsX is a set of jars. Only the core jar is required, and every module needs it. For homes, warps, kits and teleport requests the core is enough; add Spawn when you want /spawn, /setspawn and control over where new players arrive.

It runs on Paper and Purpur, not on Fabric, Forge or vanilla, and the Plugins tab tells you to switch server type when yours cannot load plugins; see Paper, Purpur or Spigot. The money side of EssentialsX has its own guide to economy and shops.

Install the build that matches your Minecraft version

Minecraft Java Edition 26.2 is the current release, and that is where people get caught. The latest stable EssentialsX, 2.22.0, supports up to 26.1.2. Support for 26.2 is in the development builds, numbered 2.22.1-dev, which the EssentialsX team publishes on its downloads page.

1. 1

   Look in the catalog first

   Open the Plugins tab. Next to Plugin catalog it says which server type and version the list is matched to. Type essentials in Search plugins, and when EssentialsX and EssentialsX Spawn show up, press Install on both.

2. 2

   Otherwise, upload the jars yourself

   Download the core jar and the Spawn jar from one development build, so both carry the same build number. In the Files tab, open the plugins folder and Upload each one.

3. 3

   Restart and check

   New jars only load on a start, so press Restart on the Console tab. Installed on this server should then list both jars, and EssentialsX creates plugins/Essentials with config.yml and kits.yml.

[Essentials] You are running an unsupported server version!

Why players can use nothing yet

An EssentialsX permission without its own default falls back to the server's standard for plugins: operators have it, nobody else does. So you, as an operator, can set homes straight away while your friends are refused. Making everyone an operator is not the answer, as the guide to operator levels explains.

What you need is a permissions plugin, and the EssentialsX team recommends LuckPerms, which is in the plugin catalog. Add VaultUnlocked from the catalog too: it continues Vault and loads under that name. Without it EssentialsX still reads single permissions, but warns that group features will not work.

lp group default permission set essentials.sethome true
lp group default permission set essentials.home true
lp group default permission set essentials.delhome true
lp group default permission set essentials.warp true
lp group default permission set essentials.warp.list true
lp group default permission set essentials.kit true
lp group default permission set essentials.spawn true
lp group default permission set essentials.tpa true
lp group default permission set essentials.tpahere true
lp group default permission set essentials.tpaccept true
lp group default permission set essentials.tpdeny true

LuckPerms puts every player in the group default, a name that cannot be changed, so these lines reach everyone.

Without any permissions plugin, you can set use-bukkit-permissions: false in config.yml. EssentialsX then gives everyone the nodes in its player-commands list. That list is the same for every player, so ranks are out of reach.

Homes, and a home limit per rank

A player stands where they want to return to and types /sethome base. /home base goes back and /delhome base removes it. With no home set, /home sends players to spawn, because spawn-if-no-home is on by default.

Without essentials.sethome.multiple a player gets exactly one home. With it, the limit comes from sethome-multiple in config.yml:

sethome-multiple:
  default: 3
  vip: 5
  staff: 10

Those names are home ranks, not groups, and they do not have to match anything in LuckPerms. A player with essentials.sethome.multiple gets the number under default; add essentials.sethome.multiple.vip and they get 5. With several rank nodes the highest number wins, and essentials.sethome.multiple.unlimited removes the limit.

lp group default permission set essentials.sethome.multiple true
lp creategroup vip
lp group vip permission set essentials.sethome.multiple.vip true
lp user RiverFox22 parent add vip

parent add keeps the player in default as well, so they hold both nodes, which a rank needs. At the limit a player sees You cannot set more than 3 homes. For a rank of your own, add a line such as builder: 8 and give out essentials.sethome.multiple.builder.

Warps everyone can reach

Homes belong to one player; warps are shared places such as the market or the nether hub. Stand on the spot and run /setwarp market. Players go there with /warp market, /warp without a name lists all warps page by page, and /delwarp market removes one. Each warp is its own file in plugins/Essentials/warps.

By default anyone with essentials.warp can use every warp. To keep a staff room or VIP area private, set per-warp-permission: true. Each warp then needs its own node, and players only see the warps they may use:

lp group default permission set essentials.warps.market true
lp group vip permission set essentials.warps.viplounge true

Kits with a delay

Kits live in plugins/Essentials/kits.yml, not in config.yml. The quickest way to make one is in the game: fill your inventory with what the kit should hold and run /createkit starter -1. EssentialsX writes it to kits.yml and reports the number of entries and the delay.

kits:
  starter:
    delay: -1
    items: [stone_sword 1, bread 16, torch 32]
  food:
    delay: 86400
    items: [cooked_beef 8, oak_log 16]

• The delay is in seconds. 86400 is one day between claims, 0 means no wait, and -1 makes a kit each player can claim once.
• Every item needs an amount after its name.
• Kit names are lowercase, which is also how they appear in permissions.
• A line that starts with a slash runs a command when the kit is claimed, with {USERNAME} replaced by the player.

Claiming takes two permissions: essentials.kit for the command and essentials.kits.food for the kit itself. A player who asks too soon is told how long they still have to wait. Staff with essentials.kit.exemptdelay skip the delay, and kit-auto-equip: true puts kit armour into empty armour slots.

Spawn, and where new players arrive

With the Spawn module loaded, stand at your spawn and run /setspawn. That saves a spawn for the group default, and /spawn takes players there. The world's own spawn point is a separate setting, covered in the world spawn guide. The first join is handled in the newbies section at the bottom of config.yml:

newbies:
  announce-format: '&dWelcome {DISPLAYNAME}&d to the server!'
  spawnpoint: newbies
  kit: tools

spawn-on-join: false
respawn-at-home: false

• `spawnpoint: newbies` sends first-time players to a spawn called newbies, which you make with /setspawn newbies in your welcome hall. Until it exists they land on the default spawn, and without that on the world spawn.
• `kit: tools` hands out a kit on first join, skipping permissions and delay. The tools kit only exists in a fresh kits.yml, so point this at your own kit, such as starter, or set it to ''.
• `spawn-on-join: true` sends players to spawn at every login, which suits a lobby more than a survival world.
• `respawn-at-home: true` makes players respawn at their bed or first home after dying instead of at spawn.

A spawn per group, such as /setspawn vip, needs EssentialsX to see groups, which is what VaultUnlocked is for.

Teleport requests between players

/tpa Kai asks to teleport to Kai, and /tpahere Kai asks Kai to come to you. Kai answers with /tpaccept or /tpdeny, and the asker can withdraw with /tpacancel. A player can have at most 5 open requests.

On a PvP server a teleport-delay of a few seconds stops players from escaping a fight with /home. Staff who should not wait get essentials.teleport.timer.bypass.

Apply your changes

Edit config.yml or kits.yml in the Files tab with Edit and Save, then run the reload in the console, without a slash. It reads the settings, kits and warps again and answers Essentials reloaded.

essentials reload

Two things need a real restart: new or updated jars, and the respawn-listener-priority and spawn-join-listener-priority settings, as their own comments say. When a start throws errors, the guide to plugins that fail to load helps you read them.