How to Make a Minecraft SkyWars Server, Step by Step

What you need

A Minecraft Java server with Paper, because SkyWars is a plugin, not a mod: it won't load on Fabric, Forge or NeoForge.

The plugin: here we use SkyWarsReloaded, the best-known SkyWars one. It's free, its code is published on GitHub and it keeps getting fixes. It includes normal and centre chests with different loot, glass cages, chest and time voting, kits, stats and spectator mode.

The version: classic SkyWars is played on 1.8, with combat without a cooldown between hits, and SkyWarsReloaded supports it in its code. For the latest Minecraft version, the one your server comes with when created, its page doesn't say it works. That's why this guide sets it up on Paper 1.8.8: players join with 1.8.9, the one almost everyone uses for PvP (you can't from Bedrock).

Switching the server to 1.8.8

At NapNodes you don't have to install Java or download anything for this: the panel changes the version for you and, for 1.8.8, sets Java 8 by itself. The only thing it won't do is downgrade with a world inside, because a world from a new version breaks in an old one.

1. Make a backup

   In “Backups”, create one. (The free server has no backups: if you care about the world, compress the world folder in “Files” and download it first.)

2. Move the current world aside

   In “Files”, rename the world folder (for example, to world-before). If the server is new and you don't care about its world, do it too: the server will create a 1.8.8 one.

3. Choose Paper 1.8.8

   In “Mods & plugins” → “Server type” tab, press Paper, choose 1.8.8 from the list and confirm the change. It takes a few minutes and the panel tells you when it's done.

4. Remove the old plugins

   Plugins for new versions almost never load on 1.8. If you had any in the plugins folder, remove it or find its 1.8 version.

Installing SkyWarsReloaded

1. Download it

   Search for SkyWarsReloaded on SpigotMC and download its latest .jar. If it shows up in “Mods & plugins” for your version, install it from there and skip the next step.

2. Upload it

   In “Files”, go into the plugins folder and upload the .jar.

3. Restart

   With “Restart”. The “Console” should show that Skywars has loaded, and the plugins/Skywars folder with its configuration appears in “Files”.

4. Give yourself permissions

   The map setup commands are admin commands. If you're not op, in the “Console”: “op YourName” (no slash in the console).

Setting up the arena, command by command

The commands are typed from the game, standing on the spot you want to mark: the plugin takes your position. Where it says “islands”, put your map's name: only letters without accents, numbers, hyphens and underscores, and always the same one.

1. The return point

   Go to where you want players to go back to after each match (your world's spawn, or a lobby you've built) and type “/sw setspawn”. Without this it won't let you create maps.

2. Create the map

   “/swm create islands” (with “swm”, the maps command). It takes you to an empty world, in creative and flying, above a stone block. That's where you build the islands: one per player, at the same distance from the centre, and a central island.

3. Place the chests

   While you edit the map, every chest you place is registered by itself (“Added a new chest”). For the centre ones, with better loot, type “/swm chesttype islands” first: the next chests will be centre ones. Repeat the command to go back to normal ones.

4. Where each player spawns

   Standing on each island, right where you want the cage: “/swm spawn player”. It places a diamond block where you are, so you can see it, and tells you the spawn number. You need at least two; the map holds as many players as spawns.

5. Spectators and waiting

   Where eliminated players appear to watch: “/swm spawn spec” (required). If you want a lobby to wait in before starting: “/swm spawn lobby” (required only in team matches).

6. Save

   “/swm save islands”. It takes you back to the return point and saves the map in plugins/Skywars/maps.

7. Open it for play

   “/swm register islands”. If something is missing, it tells you what: fewer than two spawns, or no spectator spot. If it answers that it has registered it, you can play.

Using a ready-made SkyWars map

If you've downloaded a map (respect whatever its author allows), it has to be a 1.8 world: one from a newer version doesn't open properly on 1.8.8. Upload it compressed as a .zip to the plugins/Skywars/maps folder in “Files” and use “Decompress”: you should end up with a folder with the world inside (the one with the level.dat), with a name of letters without accents, numbers and hyphens. If not, rename it.

Restart and go in to edit it with “/swm edit islands” (with its folder's name). To avoid marking the chests one by one, “/swm legacyload islands” goes through the map and registers all the ones it finds (and, if the author put beacons where the cages go, it takes them as spawns). Then, the same as before: “/swm spawn player” on each island if needed, “/swm spawn spec”, “/swm save islands” and “/swm register islands”.

Playing

Each player joins with “/sw join” and leaves with “/sw quit”. When there are enough people the countdown starts; if you're all there and don't want to wait, an admin can start it right away with “/sw start” from the match. When it ends, the map rebuilds itself for the next one.

To change the map later: “/swm edit islands”, the changes, and again “/swm save islands” and “/swm register islands”. The minimum number of players needed to start is changed with “/swm minimum islands 2”. The rest (what comes in the chests, timers, kits, messages) is in plugins/Skywars, in “Files”: chest.yml and centerchest.yml for the loot, config.yml for the rest. After changing anything, restart.

When something doesn't work

“/swm create” does nothing or says there's no spawn: the return point is missing. Type “/sw setspawn” first.

“/sw join” says there's no match: the map isn't registered. “/swm register islands” and read what it answers.

Players see “Outdated server”: they're joining with a new version of the game. In the launcher, an installation with 1.8.9.

The plugin doesn't show in the console on startup: the .jar isn't in the plugins folder, or the server isn't Paper. Look at the error just before it in the “Console”.

And if you want it always ready

To try it with friends, the NapNodes free Minecraft server works: no card needed, with “Start” whenever you want to play (it shuts down by itself after 20 minutes with nobody on and, if everything is taken, you join the queue). 1.8.8 uses little, so the free one is enough for some good matches. If SkyWars becomes your nightly game, with a plan it's always on, with no queues, with backups and the same map.

Frequently asked questions