Set up AuraSkills on your Minecraft server

AuraSkills is a skills and levelling plugin. Players earn XP from farming, mining, fishing and fighting, and each level brings stat levels and abilities. It was called Aurelium Skills until version 2.0, so older guides and server lists still use that name.

Checked against AuraSkills 2.4.0 on Paper 26.2, October 2026.

What it needs

• A server that loads plugins. You need a Plugins tab, which means Paper or Purpur. The AuraSkills wiki lists Paper, Purpur, Folia and Spigot and says Spigot is not recommended. CraftBukkit is not supported.
• Minecraft 1.20 or newer and Java 21 or newer. The panel picks Java from your Minecraft version. 1.20.5 to 1.21.x get Java 21 and 26.x gets Java 25, but 1.20 to 1.20.4 get Java 17, which is too old for this plugin. Choose 1.21 or newer in JAR Manager, as Change Minecraft server version or loader shows.
• Nothing on the players' side. AuraSkills runs on the server only, so players join with a normal copy of Minecraft.
• No other plugin. It has no required dependencies. PlaceholderAPI, Vault and LuckPerms are optional extras.

Install it

1. Open the Backups tab and create a backup.
2. Open the Plugins tab and stay on the Store view. Leave the Modrinth source chip selected, then search for AuraSkills.
3. Click Install on the AuraSkills row. The version filter starts on your server's Minecraft version, so you get a build that matches.
4. Open the Console tab and click Restart, or Start if the server is stopped. The plugin's page asks for a restart, not a reload.
5. When the server has started, run sk version in the console. It shows the AuraSkills version.

If the store shows No results, the version filter, which starts on your server's Minecraft version, has no AuraSkills build for it. The plugin's Modrinth page lists the versions it covers, 1.20 up to 26.3 for 2.4.0.

First run

AuraSkills creates a plugins/AuraSkills folder. Open it in File Manager:

• config.yml holds general options such as the default language, action bar and boss bar.
• skills.yml switches skills on or off and sets each skill's max_level.
• rewards/ has one file per skill, plus global.yml for rewards every skill shares.
• loot/ and menus/ hold loot tables and the menu layouts.

After you edit a file, run sk reload in the Console. The wiki notes that some options still need a restart.

There are 11 default skills: Farming, Foraging, Mining, Fishing, Excavation, Archery, Defense, Fighting, Agility, Enchanting and Alchemy. Players open the overview with /skills.

Test it as an admin

Admin commands work for operators by default. Make yourself an operator in the Players tab under Operators (see Whitelist players and set operators), then try these in game:

• /sk skill setlevel <player> <skill> <level> sets a skill level.
• /sk xp add <player> <skill> <amount> gives XP.
• /sk skill reset <player> [skill] puts a player back to the starting level.

Regular players already have /skills, /stats and /sk top.

Permissions worth knowing

Use a permissions plugin such as LuckPerms (Set up LuckPerms) to grant these:

• auraskills.multiplier.100 gives 100% more XP, which is double. The number is the percentage.
• auraskills.skill.mining is true for everyone. Set it to false and that player cannot gain XP in the skill.

If you used Aurelium Skills before

Version 2.0 renamed the folder from AureliumSkills to AuraSkills and renamed the permission nodes, so permissions you set up earlier will not match. Back up the old folder first. If you keep it in place when the new jar starts, AuraSkills can copy over the old options, but messages and menus do not migrate.

Common problems

• The plugin does not load. Open the Console, press Download Log and look for the AuraSkills lines. A Java or Minecraft version message points to the requirements above.
• Commands say you lack permission. The admin commands are for operators until you grant them.
• Leave the sql section alone. It is for a MySQL database, which the panel does not include.