Set up the Randomizer plugin for Minecraft

Randomizer is a small survival-challenge plugin. It pairs every block with a random item, so breaking a dead bush might drop a grass block, and the author says the dropped item can be any holdable item. This guide installs it from the Plugins tab and covers its few commands.

Checked against Randomizer 3.1.0 by motz (Hangar version 3.1.0-SNAPSHOT, April 2023), October 2026. The author lists Minecraft 1.13.2 to 1.21.X.

Pick the right Randomizer

Other plugins have similar names. This guide covers the one by motz, published on Hangar and SpigotMC as "Randomizer" and described as "Make yourself some challenge in survival!". If the commands below don't exist after you install, you added a different plugin. Remove it with Installed in the Plugins tab and try again.

What you need

• A Paper or Purpur server. The Hangar page lists Paper 1.13.2 up to 1.21.7 and nothing newer. The author doesn't say whether it runs on a newer Minecraft version, but in a test Randomizer 3.1.0 enabled on Paper 26.3 with no error.
• A server on Minecraft 1.21.7 or older is the safest way to install from the Plugins tab, because Hangar lists Randomizer only up to 1.21.7. On a newer server the Game version filter starts on your server's version, so Randomizer may be missing from the results until you set Game version to Any version. In a test, installing it through the panel's Hangar route put Randomizer 3.1.0 on a Paper 26.3 server and it enabled. The manual download below also works.
• Java 11 or newer. The panel picks Java from your Minecraft version and runs 1.17 and later on Java 17 or newer, so use 1.17 or later. Older versions run on Java 8.
• A backup from the Backups tab if the world matters to you. Randomizer changes what drops, not the world, but a challenge world is easy to ruin.

Install Randomizer

On a server newer than Minecraft 1.21.7, install by hand:

1. Download the jar from hangar.papermc.io/motz/Randomizer.
2. Open your server and select File Manager, then upload the jar into the plugins folder, as Install Minecraft plugins on Paper or Purpur shows.
3. Open the Console tab and press Restart (or Start if the server is off).

Read the Console after the restart to check the plugin enabled. In a test, the same jar installed from the Plugins tab enabled on Paper 26.3.

On Minecraft 1.21.7 or older, you can install from the panel instead:

1. Open your server and select Plugins.
2. Choose the Hangar button. Modrinth also has a project called Randomizer, but it is a different plugin.
3. Type Randomizer and press Install on the one by motz.
4. Open the Console tab and press Restart (or Start if the server is off).

Start your first challenge

The author says to run the shuffle command at least once after installing, because that is what creates the random pairs. Run these in game from an account that holds the permissions listed under Commands and permissions below:

/randomizer shuffle

Break a few blocks. Each block now drops its partner item. The plugin's own config.yml says it is active by default, so you only need /randomizer start after a /randomizer stop. Run /randomizer shuffle again whenever you want new pairs, for a fresh challenge run.

Commands and permissions

The plugin's plugin.yml declares neither permission, so Bukkit gives them to operators only. To let a trusted friend use the commands, give randomizer.shuffle and randomizer.toggle in a permissions plugin (Set up LuckPerms on your Minecraft server).

What it doesn't do

The plugin covers block drops only. The author's own to-do list still has mob drops, multiple drops per block, and a way to exclude items such as the debug stick and barrier. The author documents no config file for any of these.

Once a pair is rolled, the same block always drops the same item until the next shuffle. The pairs are saved in the plugin's config.yml, so they stay in place after a restart.

If it isn't working

• Blocks drop normally. Run /randomizer check. If it isn't active, run /randomizer start. If you never shuffled, run /randomizer shuffle first.
• "Unknown command". The plugin didn't load. Open the Console tab, scroll to the first error after the restart, and check that Installed lists the jar.
• Hangar's search shows other randomiser plugins. Check the author name against the plugin described under Pick the right Randomizer.