Building Minecraft Server Modifications

Create and customize your very own Minecraft server using Java and the Spigot API

About This Book

• Set up a Minecraft server that you control
• Use object-oriented programming to modify Minecraft regardless of your level of experience
• This interactive guide will help you create a unique experience for you and your friends

Who This Book Is For

This book is great for anyone who is interested in customizing their Minecraft server. Whether you are new to programming, Java, Bukkit, or even Minecraft itself, this book has you covered. All you need is a valid Minecraft account. 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.

What You Will Learn

• Install and run a Spigot server for free on your home PC
• Adjust the server settings to customize Minecraft to your liking
• Install an IDE and configure a project to write code
• Install and test plugins on a Spigot server
• Test your plugins through debugging the code
• Program in game commands and permissions
• Get to know advanced programming concepts such as event-driven programming, configuration files, saving/loading data, and scheduled tasks
• Implement configuration files to make your plugins customizable
• Save and load your plugin's data to persist across server restarts

In Detail

Minecraft is a sandbox game that allows you to play it in any way you want. Coupled with a multiplayer server powered by Spigot, you can customize the game even more! Using the Bukkit API, anyone interested in learning how to program can control their Minecraft world by developing server plugins.

This book is a great introduction to software development through the wonderful world of Minecraft.

We start by instructing you through how to set up your home PC for Minecraft server development. This includes an IDE complete with the required libraries as well as a Spigot server to test on. You will be guided through writing code for several different plugins. Each chapter teaches you new skills to create plugins of increasing complexity, and each plugin adds a new concept of the Bukkit API By the end of the book, you will have all the knowledge you need about the API to successfully create any type of plugin. You can then practice and build your Java skills through developing more mods for their server.

Style and approach

This hands-on guide is filled with interactive examples to help you modify Minecraft. Programming terms and concepts are explained along the way so even those who have never written code before can keep up.

Cody M. Sommer

Cody M. Sommer has always been interested in computers. In his free time he would take them apart just to learn more about how they worked. He eventually began building computers for himself and others. Cody would spend many hours a day on his computer whether he was playing games, browsing the internet, or learning more about how they work. It wasn't until his college career that he was introduced to software development. During his senior year of high school, Cody began taking courses in Computer Science at The College at Brockport: State University of New York. The college primarily taught the Java language due to its vast presence in modern software.

After a year or so, Cody had a solid understanding of Java and various programming techniques. He was anxious to put these to use. His first out-of-school project consisted of programming a solitaire type card game to play itself and print out statistics on the results. This is when he discovered that the game he had been trying to win for the past few months only dealt a "winning" deck about once in every 1000 games. Being able to control a computer to complete a task fascinated Cody. Programming the card game took less than one week so he had to find another project; preferably one that would be challenging, keep him busy, and not be completed for a long time. This is when he discovered the Bukkit project.

Both Minecraft and the Bukkit API are programmed in Java which Cody knew very well. On the Bukkit forums were countless server administrators just waiting for a developer to come along to create their idea. All that was required of him to begin creating Bukkit plugins was to learn the Bukkit API. Cody first dissected a few public projects to study their structure and get an idea of how these server plugins were programmed. Through self-teaching and with the aid of more experienced developers, he eventually managed to create his first project, called Turnstile. This plugin required that players on a Minecraft server pay in-game money to enter specific areas, such as subway stations. He developed several plugins his first few months. Most of these were requested by other people. However, two of his favorite projects, PhatLoots and TextPlayer, were his original ideas.

Cody enjoyed pushing the game to its limits. The creation of TextPlayer is one example of this. The plugin allowed Minecraft players or server admins to always be connected to the servers that they play on. This was all done through e-mail and text messages. People could be alerted on their phone of events that occurred on the server. These events included a friend logging on, a player vandalizing the game world, or a player entering their house or property. The plugin grew to allow people to communicate back to the server which also allowed admins and moderators to run server commands from their cell phone.

These various projects aided Cody in learning Java. Most of his programming knowledge came from school but some things are not fully understood until they are put to use in a real-life scenario. Depending on their complexity, Bukkit plugins can even help developers practice advance programming techniques, such as recursion, algorithms, and data structures. Through timing reports, a developer can improve their code by finding slowly executing blocks of code. Some of the most important steps of the software development life cycle are emphasized in Cody's Bukkit plugins. These steps include bug fixes, addition of new features, and writing code that is prepared for future changes in the project.