Minecraft plugin PlaceholderAPI

🔌 About PlaceholderAPI

PlaceholderAPI — is a Minecraft plugin that provides a unified placeholders API and an expansions cloud so server owners and plugin developers can display data from many plugins in chat, scoreboards, signs and GUIs.

🎯 Purpose

PlaceholderAPI solves the problem of inconsistent placeholder formats across plugins by exposing a single API that other plugins and expansions can register placeholders to. PlaceholderAPI enables centralised, dynamic values (player names, ranks, econ, custom stats) to be used uniformly across a server ecosystem.

⚙ Main features

• Unified placeholder API for other plugins and custom development.
• Expansions cloud (eCloud) with hundreds of expansions that add placeholders for many popular plugins (Essentials, LuckPerms, Vault, etc.).
• In‑game expansion management (/papi ecloud download, list, refresh) and local expansion registration.
• Parsing/debug commands for testing placeholders (/papi parse, parserel, cmdparse, bcparse).
• Lightweight core with no mandatory dependencies; integrations provided via expansions. ()

🧩 Who should use PlaceholderAPI

PlaceholderAPI is suitable for:

• Survival, RPG and PvP servers that need consistent placeholders across chat, scoreboards and plugins.
• Network/multi‑server setups where unified placeholders simplify formatting.
• Plugin developers who want to expose custom placeholders for server owners.

🏗 Usage examples

• Display a player's rank and balance in a tab header using placeholders provided by LuckPerms and Vault expansions.
• Use /papi parse to debug a placeholder string before adding it to a scoreboard or a plugin configuration.
• Download expansions in‑game with /papi ecloud download Essentials and reload with /papi reload. ()

⌨️ Commands

Notes: The above commands list is taken directly from the official PlaceholderAPI documentation and wiki. Specific permission nodes for each command are not listed in the official docs; many administration commands are intended for operator/console use. ()

🔐 Permissions

Information about dedicated permission nodes (if any) is not present in the official documentation and wiki; plugin authors historically rely on operator/console for command access. Do not assume fine‑grained permissions unless an expansion or third‑party wrapper documents them. ()

⚙ Installation

📥 Install

• Download the PlaceholderAPI .jar from an official source (GitHub releases / Spigot resource).
• Place the .jar into the plugins/ folder of your Spigot/Paper/Folia server.
• Fully restart the server (do not use /reload).
• After the first start, PlaceholderAPI creates its own folder and configuration. ()

📦 Dependencies

• No mandatory dependencies for the core PlaceholderAPI plugin; integrations are provided via expansions. Many expansions add support for plugins such as Vault or LuckPerms (those are provided as separate expansions or require the target plugin to be present). ()

🧾 Configuration

• PlaceholderAPI generates a plugins/PlaceholderAPI/ folder and a config.yml on first run.
• Basic operation does not require manual config changes; expansions and eCloud options may be configured via the config.yml.
• PlaceholderAPI does not require MySQL/SQLite by default (no official DB configuration for core plugin). Expansions may use persistent storage if they declare it. ()

🧠 Additional information

Known conflicts & limitations

• Conflicts may occur if multiple plugins expose overlapping placeholders or if a custom expansion replaces the same placeholder keys. Test expansions on a staging server before deploying to production. ()
• PlaceholderAPI core is designed for Spigot/Paper; recent releases also include Folia support in newer versions. Check the release notes for the exact supported MC versions. ()

FAQ

1. Can I use PlaceholderAPI on Paper/Folia?
   • Yes. Recent releases indicate Paper support and there are builds with Folia support; consult the GitHub releases and Spigot page for specific versions. ()
2. How do I add placeholders for a plugin like LuckPerms?
   • Install the LuckPerms expansion (from the eCloud or manually), then use placeholders provided by that expansion. Use /papi ecloud download LuckPerms and /papi reload. ()
3. Does PlaceholderAPI collect stats (bStats)?
   • PlaceholderAPI is listed in plugin statistics pages and commonly appears on bStats; the repository links to plugin statistics resources. Check the plugin config and console on first run to confirm opt‑out details. ()
4. Is there Discord support for help?
   • The project provides Discord/Help channels (support link referenced in the GitHub README). Use the official Discord for community help and expansion verification. ()

Support & resources

• Official GitHub repository, Spigot resource page and the official wiki list expansions, commands and developer guides. Use the eCloud (/papi ecloud) to browse and download verified expansions. ()

When installing PlaceholderAPI, test expansions on a staging server and rely on the official wiki and GitHub for the most recent compatibility notes and expansion lists. PlaceholderAPI is an integration utility (minecraft plugin, paper plugin, spigot plugin) designed to centralize placeholders and make plugin permissions and formatting consistent across your server ecosystem. ()