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GuidesGuidesTurn LuckPerms groups into a real ladder — default, member, mod, admin — using inheritance, prefixes, and promotion tracks, so ranks stack instead of repeating themselves.
Once you've got LuckPerms basics down, the natural next step is a proper rank ladder: default for newcomers, member for regulars, mod for helpers, admin for you. The trick that makes this manageable is inheritance — higher ranks build on lower ones instead of re-listing every permission. This guide builds that ladder end to end.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| You need | A plugin-capable server with LuckPerms installed, and the basics understood |
| Nice to have | EssentialsX Chat (to show prefixes) — see EssentialsX |
| Plan | Any |
| Time | ~25 minutes |
Don't have LuckPerms yet? Install it from the Plugins page and read LuckPerms basics first — this guide picks up where that one leaves off.
A good ladder is a stack — each rung has everything below it, plus a little more:
| Rank | Gets | On top of |
|---|---|---|
| default | Basic commands — /home, /spawn, chat |
— (everyone starts here) |
| member | More homes, /warp |
default |
| mod | Kick, mute, teleport to players | member |
| admin | Everything | mod |
Because each rung inherits the one below, you only ever grant a rank the extra powers it adds. Change default and every rank above it gets the change for free.
/lp creategroup member
/lp creategroup mod
/lp creategroup admin
default already exists, so you don't create it.
This is the load-bearing step. parent add makes one group inherit another:
/lp group member parent add default
/lp group mod parent add member
/lp group admin parent add mod
Now admin contains mod, which contains member, which contains default. You've built the stack.
Grant only what that rung adds — inheritance handles the rest:
# default: the basics for everyone
/lp group default permission set essentials.spawn true
/lp group default permission set essentials.home true
# member: a few more homes and warps
/lp group member permission set essentials.sethome.multiple.member true
/lp group member permission set essentials.warp true
# mod: moderation tools
/lp group mod permission set essentials.kick true
/lp group mod permission set essentials.mute true
/lp group mod permission set essentials.tp true
# admin: the keys to everything
/lp group admin permission set '*' true
⚠️ Heads up:
'*'onadmingrants every permission from every plugin, including dangerous ones. Only put fully trusted people inadmin. For staff you trust a little less, grant specific nodes tomodinstead of a wildcard.
A prefix is the [Member] tag shown before a name. In LuckPerms it's "meta", and it uses a weight so the highest rank's prefix wins when someone is in several groups:
/lp group default meta setprefix "&7"
/lp group member meta setprefix "&a[Member] "
/lp group mod meta setprefix "&b[Mod] "
/lp group admin meta setprefix "&c[Admin] "
/lp group member meta setweight 10
/lp group mod meta setweight 50
/lp group admin meta setweight 100
The &a, &b, &c are Minecraft colour codes. Higher weight = higher priority.
🎯 Good to know: LuckPerms stores the prefix, but something has to display it in chat. That's a chat plugin — EssentialsX Chat is the common pick. Without one, the prefix is saved but nobody sees it. See EssentialsX.
A track is an ordered ladder LuckPerms can walk with one command, so you promote instead of manually swapping groups:
/lp createtrack staff
/lp track staff append member
/lp track staff append mod
/lp track staff append admin
Now promoting someone is a single command:
/lp user Steve promote staff
Run it once and Steve goes member → mod; again and he goes mod → admin. /lp user Steve demote staff walks back down. Tracks are how big servers manage staff without fumbling group names.
New joiners are default automatically. Move someone up with:
/lp user Steve parent set member
(parent set replaces their rank; on a track, prefer promote/demote.)
Put a test account in member, join as that account (not op — op bypasses everything), and confirm it can do member things but not mod things. Run /lp user <name> info to see its rank and inherited permissions laid out.
parent add somewhere.'*' is all-or-nothing power — there's no "everything except X" without adding explicit false denies on top.parent add is missing or points at the wrong group. Check with /lp group <name> info and re-add the parent.&a — your chat plugin isn't translating them, or the format string is wrong. That's a chat-plugin setting, not LuckPerms.promote says "not on the track" — the player's current group isn't on that track; parent set them onto the first rung, then promote.