EssentialsX is the most-installed plugin in Minecraft for a reason: it adds the everyday commands vanilla is missing - teleport requests, homes, warps, a spawn, kits and a basic economy - in one package. If you run a Paper server and want it to feel like a "real" server, this is where you start.
Install it
- 1EssentialsX needs a Paper server (the Plugins tab only appears on Paper). If you are on Vanilla, create a Paper server first.
- 2Open your server → Plugins tab → search "EssentialsX" → Install. We pick the build that matches your Minecraft version.
- 3Optional add-ons, installed the same way: EssentialsX Spawn (per-world spawns), EssentialsX Chat (chat formatting/prefixes), EssentialsX AntiBuild.
- 4Restart the server - plugins only load at startup.
The commands players will actually use
- 1/sethome and /home - players save a spot and teleport back to it. Multiple homes are a permission (essentials.sethome.multiple).
- 2/tpa <player>, /tpaccept, /tpdeny - request a teleport to a friend instead of walking.
- 3/spawn and (for ops) /setspawn - a shared starting point.
- 4/warp <name> and (for ops) /setwarp <name> - named public destinations like /warp shop.
- 5/back - return to where you died or last teleported.
- 6/msg <player> and /r - private messages.
Kits
Kits hand players a set of items, optionally on a cooldown. Define them in EssentialsX’s config.yml (edit it in the Files tab under plugins/Essentials/), then players claim them with /kit <name>. A starter kit on a survival server - a few tools and some food - makes the first five minutes far friendlier.
A simple economy
EssentialsX includes a built-in economy: /balance, /pay <player> <amount>, and /baltop. Players earn and spend currency; pair it with a shop plugin later if you want chest shops. For most friend servers the built-in economy plus /pay is all you need.
Important: permissions
Out of the box, operators can run everything and regular players get a sensible default set. The moment you want to give non-ops specific powers - extra homes, access to certain warps, a particular kit - you need a permissions plugin to grant the individual permission nodes. LuckPerms is the standard choice and pairs perfectly with EssentialsX; install it the same way and grant nodes like essentials.home or essentials.warp to your default group. Until then, keep powerful commands to ops only.