Installation (free)

Follow this guide to properly install ChatPlugin (free version) on your server(s).

First of all, download the plugin's latest JAR from one of the following plugin marketplaces if you haven't already:

• SpigotMC
• Modrinth
• Hangar
• CurseForge
• Ore (for Sponge, soon™️)

Single instance setup

The free version of ChatPlugin can be only installed on Bukkit or Sponge servers; if you don't use a proxy (BungeeCord/Velocity) you should follow this guide.

To begin, simply put the plugin's JAR in your Bukkit server's plugins folder (or mods for Sponge servers) and (re)start the server. Please note that reloads are supported, but you cannot overwrite a JAR (if there was one already) while the server is running: doing so will cause lots of errors and no support will be given.

If the plugin loads without errors, jump to Storage connection and configure it.

Multi instance setup

The free version of ChatPlugin cannot be installed on a proxy (BungeeCord/Velocity): to do it you need the premium version. If you want to run the free version on a network of 2 or more servers linked through a proxy, you have two options:

• buy ChatPlugin (premium); recommended, it includes lots of other features like the punishments system
• use the same storage for every server (continue reading)

Note that this kind of setup is not a replacement of the proxy plugin: some features (like the F3 server name module, the global Staff chat, some placeholders...) will not work and some of them, like the IP lookup, are not optimized.

If you wish to use this mode anyway, put the plugin's JAR in every Bukkit server's plugins folder (or mods for Sponge servers) and (re)start the servers. Please note that reloads are supported, but you cannot overwrite a JAR (if there was one already) while the server is running: doing so will cause lots of errors and no support will be given.

If the plugin loads without errors, jump to Storage connection and configure it.

Storage connection

ChatPlugin requires a dedicated storage to handle players' data. The plugin currently supports 5 storage connectors specifiable at storage.method in config.yml:

• H2: H2 database storage method, default setting; recommended over SQLite
• SQLITE: SQLite database storage method
• MYSQL: MySQL database storage method, only available on the premium version
• YAML: YAML flat-file storage method
• JSON: JSON flat-file storage method

WARNING

Do not edit manually edit .yml or .json storage files when using one of those connectors.

Single instance storage

This is the simplest setup. Default settings will be good for most users. If you wish to use SQLite, it is recommended to change the file name at storage.database.file-name to chatplugin-sqlite.

A /chatplugin reload is necessary to make effective any change made to the storage settings. If you have changed the storage method with the reload, you may safely delete the old method's files after it.

Multi instance storage

This setup requires every server under the network to use the same storage connection. Choose where you want to save the common files, copy the absolute path of that folder and paste it to every server's storage.folder setting in config.yml. Enable storage.database.use-server-mode on every server if you use a database storage method (H2/SQLite).

A /chatplugin reload is necessary to make effective any change made to the storage settings. If you have changed the storage method with the reload, you may delete the old method's files safely after it unless other servers are still using them.

Next steps

As the console has probably pointed out, you should set the server's ID at multi-instance-mode.server-id even if you are on a single instance setup.

Now ChatPlugin is completely ready and it is possible to further customize it. Remember to perform /chatplugin reload every time you manually edit a configuration file.

Plugin update

To update the plugin to a newer version, follow these steps:

• stop the server - do not reload if you have to update!
• upload the new JAR to the plugins or mods folder
• delete the old JAR file
• start the server again

The plugin will print some information and may update its libraries and the default configurations if it is required. Don't worry: you will not lose your previous settings, but it is recommended to configure new modules added with the update.