This book is an introduction to programming Minecraft server plugins with the Bukkit API. Minecraft is a very versatile sandbox game, and players are always looking forward to doing more with it. Bukkit allows programmers to do just that. This book is geared towards individuals who may not have a programming background. It explains how to set up a Bukkit server and create your own custom plugins that can be run on the server. It starts with the basic features of a Bukkit plugin, such as commands and permissions, and continues towards advanced concepts, such and saving and loading data. This book will help readers create a complete Bukkit plugin, irrespective of whether they are new to Java or just new to Bukkit. The advanced topics cover portions of the Bukkit API that could even aid the current plugin developers in expanding their knowledge in order to improve their existing plugins.
Chapter 1, Deploying a Spigot Server, instructs readers how to download and set up a Minecraft server that runs on Spigot, which includes the forwarding of ports to allow other players to connect. In this chapter, common server settings and commands are explained as well.
Chapter 2, Learning the Bukkit API, introduces Bukkit by teaching how to read its API documentation. In this chapter, common Java data types and Bukkit classes are discussed.
Chapter 3, Creating Your First Bukkit Plugin, guides readers through installing an IDE and creating a simple "Hello World" Bukkit plugin.
Chapter 4, Testing on the Spigot Server, discusses how to install a plugin on a Spigot server as well as simple testing and the debugging of techniques.
Chapter 5, Plugin Commands, instructs how to program user commands into a server plugin by creating a plugin called Enchanter.
Chapter 6, Player Permissions, teaches how to program permission checks in a plugin by modifying Enchanter. This chapter also guides readers through installing a third-party plugin called CodsPerms.
Chapter 7, The Bukkit Event System, teaches how to create complex mods that use event listeners. This chapter also helps readers learn by creating two new plugins, namely NoRain and MobEnhancer.
Chapter 8, Making Your Plugin Configurable, teaches readers program configuration by expanding MobEnhancer. This chapter also explains static variables and communication between classes.
Chapter 9, Saving Your Data, talks about how to save and load program data through the YAML file configuration. This chapter also helps create a new plugin called Warper.
Chapter 10, The Bukkit Scheduler, explores the Bukkit Scheduler while creating a new plugin called AlwaysDay. In this chapter, Warper is also modified to incorporate scheduled programming.
In order to benefit from this book, you will need a Minecraft account. The Minecraft game client can be downloaded for free, but an account must be bought at https://minecraft.net/. The other software that is used in this book includes the Spigot server.jar (this is different from the normal Minecraft server.jar) and an IDE, such as NetBeans or Eclipse. This book will walk you through the process of downloading and installing both the server and the IDE on a Windows PC.
This book is great for anyone who is interested in customizing their Minecraft server. Even if you may be new to programming, Java, Bukkit, or even Minecraft itself, this book has you covered. All that you need is a valid Minecraft account. This book is a great introduction to software development. If you have no prior knowledge of Java or writing software, you can visit http://codisimus.com/learnjava for some introductory teaching to prepare yourself for working through the chapters of this book. If you are interested in programming as a career or hobby, this book will get you started. If you are simply interested in playing Minecraft with your friends, then this book will help you make that experience even more enjoyable.
In this book, you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.
Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: "<java bin path> should be replaced with the location of the Java installation. The java path depends on the version of Java that you have on your computer."
A block of code is set as follows:
"<java bin path>\java.exe" -jar BuildTools.jar
Any command-line input or output is written as follows:
>op <player>
New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, for example, in menus or dialog boxes, appear in the text like this: "Open the File menu and click on New Project...."
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