So, you’ve finally gotten your server up and running, have you? You’ve got a website, you’ve worked out all the gory details surrounding bandwidth and firewalls, you’ve managed to force your way through the unwieldy, arcane labyrinth of NAT, and now…you’re finally ready to open your doors to the world.

Wait, no you aren’t- not yet. First thing’s first, there’s a few things you’re going to want to install in order to ensure that your users have the best experience you can give them- and to make certain that they keep coming back for more.

1. Craftbukkit: A considerable percentage of server mods are made for Bukkit servers- as are most of the plugins on this list. I’ll keep this one simple- if you’re going to be running a server, you’re going to want this plugin-there’s not even any question. Well…unless you’re okay with everyone on your server being subjected to a rather drab, vanilla Minecraft experience. Sounds pretty boring, doesn’t it?

2.  Towny/iConomy: Whether or not you want to install these two bad boys (and in my opinion, they should definitely be installed as a pair) depends entirely on what sort of experience you want for your users. If you’re looking to set up a ‘city’ server where users can team up and create settlements, towns, and nations, you’re going to want both of these- together, the two allow for the establishment of a world economy through in-game currency and the creation of factions and nations, each with their own borders, rules, allies, and enemies. A well-run towny server is a completely unique Minecraft experience. Long story short? It’s damn fun.

3. Essentials: Here’s another must-have, regardless of what sort of server you’re running. It adds a whole plethora of commands  (one hundred in total) – everything from flight to god-mode to setting home locations and spawn points. Not only does it make running and managing the server far, far easier on the admin, it also provides a great deal of enrichment for the users, to boot. Pretty nifty, eh?

4. Nocheat/Orebfuscator: You’d be surprised at the number of people who used hacked or modded Minecraft clients, which either give them an unfair advantage in PVP, construction and exploratory capabilities far beyond that of ordinary players or the ability to see ore and other valuables no matter where in the world they happen to be situated. Never mind that these functions ruin the game for other people who they’re playing with, these people care nothing for anyone but themselves, in most cases. These two plugins, then, are nigh-essential in preventing hackers from marching their merry way onto your server.

5. Multiverse/Worldedit: The former is the perfect tool for the management of multi-world servers, and the latter, well…it’s a godsend even if you aren’t a server admin. It’s like a sort of ascended creative mode, and gives you capabilities far beyond those of the in-game construction tools. If you want to create a massive, sweeping, epic world for your players to wander about and inhabit, well…Worldedit is the way to go, my friends.

Note that these are just a few of the many plugins available for server mods- we’ll definitely be revisiting this in the future, and providing you with more suggestions at a later date. For now, these should be enough to get you well on your way to setting up a grand server.

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