GuidesOnly show guides for your app
GuidesGuidesThe three-plugin combo that keeps a server safe from griefing — WorldGuard to lock down fixed areas, a claims plugin so players protect their own builds, and CoreProtect to undo whatever slips through.
"How do I stop people wrecking my server?" doesn't have one answer — it has three plugins that each solve a different piece, and they work best together. This guide is the map: what each layer does, why you want all three, and how they fit without stepping on each other. The individual how-to guides live behind the links; this one is about composition.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| You need | A plugin-capable server (Purpur, PaperSpigot, Spigot family) |
| Foundation | LuckPerms for who can use these tools |
| Plan | Any |
The single most useful way to think about protection: some plugins prevent damage, and one plugin lets you recover from it. You want both, because prevention is never perfect.
A server with only prevention is one exploit away from a ruined spawn with no way back. A server with only recovery lets grief happen freely and makes you clean it up constantly. Together they cover each other.
| Layer | Plugin | Job | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed-area protection | WorldGuard | Admin-defined regions — spawn, safe zones, event arenas — with flags controlling PvP, building, mob spawning, and more | Prevention |
| Player self-service claims | A claims plugin (e.g. GriefPrevention) | Players protect their own builds without asking staff — claim a chunk, trust friends, done | Prevention |
| Logging and rollback | CoreProtect | Records every block placed and broken so you can inspect who did what and roll it back | Recovery |
WorldGuard is for the places you decide are special: spawn, a market district, a PvP arena. You mark a region (using WorldEdit selections — see WorldEdit basics) and set flags on it: pvp deny in the safe zone, build deny at spawn, and so on. It's the admin's tool for fixed, important areas. Start by protecting spawn — it's the space most likely to get hit.
WorldGuard doesn't scale to "every player's house," and you don't want to hand-define a region for everyone. A claims plugin lets players protect their own land themselves. GriefPrevention is the classic, free, no-frills pick: players claim an area (traditionally with a golden shovel), trust their friends into it, and nobody else can build there. There are richer alternatives, but for most servers one solid claims plugin is plenty.
🎯 Good to know: Run one claims plugin, not two. WorldGuard (fixed admin regions) and a claims plugin (player self-service) do different jobs and coexist fine. But two competing claim systems fighting over the same land is a recipe for confusion and conflicts — pick one for player claims and stick with it.
CoreProtect quietly logs everything: who placed a block, who broke one, when. When grief happens anyway, you inspect the area (/co inspect, then punch blocks to see their history) and roll back the damage (/co rollback with a player and time window) as if it never happened. The one rule: install it early. It can only roll back what it recorded, so it has to be running before the grief, not installed in a panic afterward.
Picture a griefer at spawn:
Each layer catches what the one before missed. That's the whole point of a stack.
💡 Tip: All three lean on LuckPerms. Their admin commands — defining regions, running rollbacks — should be gated behind a staff rank so regular players can't protect the wrong things or undo legitimate builds. Set your rank ladder first (LuckPerms ranks).
build deny region overlapping a player claim. Keep admin regions and player-claim zones in different areas where you can.Test each layer as a non-op: try to break a block at spawn (WorldGuard should stop you), try to build in a claimed area (the claims plugin should stop you), then break one of your own blocks and run /co inspect on it to confirm CoreProtect logged it. If all three behave, your stack is live.
/plugins, green) and that the region/claim actually exists. WorldGuard regions need defining; claims need claiming.