Set up Skript on your Minecraft server

Skript is a plugin that lets you build server features from short scripts written in plain English sentences: custom commands, reactions to events and simple rules, with no Java. It runs on Paper and installs from the Plugins tab.

Checked against Skript 2.17.0, which lists Paper 1.21.5 to 26.3 on its Modrinth page, October 2026.

What you need

• A Paper server. Skript's own README says it requires Paper and that Spigot does not work. Vanilla servers have no Plugins tab, so switch software in JAR Manager first (see Change your Minecraft version or mod loader).
• A Minecraft version Skript still supports. The README says it supports the last 18 months of Minecraft versions, counted from its newest release.
• A plain text editor on your own computer. You write each script there, then upload it.

Install it

1. Open the Plugins tab and leave the Modrinth button selected.
2. Search for Skript and click Install on the result named Skript. Skript add-ons show up in the same search, so pick the one with exactly that name.
3. Restart from the Console tab with Restart. The install toast asks for a restart to load the plugin.
4. Type plugins in the Console. Skript should be listed. Then type sk list to see Skript's scripts.

Type the commands in this guide into the Console without a leading slash, the way Paper's own docs show plugins there. In the game chat, add the slash, as in /plugins.

Where scripts live

On its first start Skript creates a plugins/Skript folder with config.sk and a scripts folder. It saves its example scripts into scripts with a hyphen in front of the name, such as -examples, so they stay switched off. Skript does not load any file whose name starts with a hyphen. Rename the file to remove the hyphen and it loads; add one and it stops. Script files end in .sk and are not YAML files, though Skript's config says they are very similar.

Add your first script

On your computer, create a plain text file called broadcast.sk containing the official example from Skript's repository:

command /broadcast <text>:
	permission: skript.example.broadcast
	description: Broadcasts a message to everybody.
	trigger:
		broadcast arg-text

1. In the File Manager, open plugins/Skript/scripts and click Upload. Choose broadcast.sk.
2. In the Console, run sk reload scripts. Skript reports that it reloaded, or prints each error with its line number.
3. In the game, run /broadcast Hello. The script asks for the skript.example.broadcast permission, so grant it with a permissions plugin (see Set up LuckPerms). Operators can run it without the node, because Skript does not declare that node and Bukkit gives an undeclared node to operators.

Use tab characters or spaces for indentation, not a mix. The official examples use tabs, and Skript's own config says to stick to one or the other within a section or trigger.

Commands worth knowing

/skript has the alias /sk and needs the skript.admin permission, which operators hold by default.

• sk list shows every enabled and disabled script.
• sk reload scripts reloads all scripts. sk reload all also reloads the config and aliases, and sk reload last repeats the last reload.
• sk reload <script> reloads one script or a folder of scripts.
• sk enable <script> and sk disable <script> switch one script on or off. Both also accept all.
• sk update check looks for a newer Skript.

Effect commands

config.sk has an enable effect commands option that is false by default. When it is on, anyone with the skript.effectcommands permission can run a line of script as a command, such as !set health to 10. The config warns that this can be abused, so give that permission only to people you trust.

Common problems

• The script does nothing. Check that the file name has no leading hyphen and that it ends in .sk, because Skript's config says files ending in .sk are its scripts.
• Errors after a reload. The Console lists the line number for each one. Check that line, and the indentation above it.
• Skript will not load on your server. It needs Paper. Check the software in JAR Manager.