Operator status is all-or-nothing: an op can do everything, including stop the server and op other people. The moment you want a middle ground - trusted players who can set extra homes, a VIP rank with a coloured name, moderators who can kick but not delete the world - you need a permissions plugin. LuckPerms is the de-facto standard: fast, reliable and far friendlier than the alternatives.
Install it
- 1LuckPerms needs a Paper server (Plugins tab). Search "LuckPerms" → Install → restart.
- 2Nothing visibly changes yet - LuckPerms just starts managing permissions in the background, with one group called "default" that every player is in.
The mental model
Three ideas cover almost everything. A permission node is a single capability, usually shaped like plugin.thing - for example essentials.home or essentials.kit.starter. A group is a named bundle of nodes (default, vip, mod, admin). Inheritance lets one group include another, so "mod" can inherit everything "vip" has plus its own extras. You grant nodes to groups, put players in groups, and you’re done.
A worked example: a VIP rank
- 1/lp creategroup vip - make the group.
- 2/lp group vip permission set essentials.home.multiple.vip true - let VIPs set multiple homes (an EssentialsX node).
- 3/lp group vip meta setprefix "&a[VIP] " - give them a green tag in chat (needs a chat plugin like EssentialsX Chat).
- 4/lp user Steve parent set vip - put a player in the group.
- 5Grant the same way to your default group for things ALL players should have: /lp group default permission set essentials.spawn true.
Use the web editor (the easy way)
Typing nodes by hand gets old fast. Run /lp editor in the console or in-game and LuckPerms gives you a one-time link to its web editor - a clean GUI where you tick permissions, drag groups around and set prefixes, then hit save to apply it all to your server at once. It is the fastest way to set up ranks, and it’s the official LuckPerms tool, not a third party with access to your server.
Stop using op for yourself
Once LuckPerms is set up, the clean approach is to make an "admin" group with the nodes you need (or the * wildcard if you really want everything) and put yourself in it, rather than staying opped. Wildcards like essentials.* are powerful but blunt - they grant every current AND future node in that plugin, so use them deliberately. Keep destructive permissions (world management, server stop) to a small, trusted admin group.