Set up TerraformGenerator on Minecraft

TerraformGenerator is a world generator plugin that aims for an enhanced vanilla feel, with improved biomes and structures. The world stays playable with every vanilla item obtainable. It is free and open source. This guide installs it on a Paper or Purpur server and points a new world at it.

Checked against TerraformGenerator 28.1.0 on Paper 26.1.2, October 2026. Its Modrinth page lists Minecraft 1.21.10, 1.21.11 and 26.1 to 26.3 for that release.

Before you start

• You need a Paper or Purpur server, which show a Plugins tab. Switch software in the JAR Manager if yours shows Mods or no tab (Change your Minecraft version or mod loader).
• TerraformGenerator is for a new world. The plugin's FAQ says it cannot be added to an existing world: chunks generated later risk sitting out of place, and the plugin cannot undo chunks it has already generated.
• It generates more slowly than vanilla and was not designed for live generation, so plan to pregenerate the world before players join.

Install the plugin

1. Open the Console tab and press Stop.
2. Select Plugins. Modrinth is the default source, so type TerraformGenerator in the search box and press Install on the row. The panel picks the newest build made for your server's Minecraft version.
3. If the store says there is no build for your Minecraft version, the plugin has not been published for it yet. Change your Minecraft version in the JAR Manager to one from the list above, or wait for an update.

Point a world at it

1. Open File Manager, then bukkit.yml in the root folder, the same place as server.properties. If you cannot see it, start the server once and stop it again so Paper creates its settings files.

2. Add this section at the bottom. The plugin's wiki notes it does not exist in the file by default:

   worlds:
     world:
       generator: TerraformGenerator

3. Press Save. The name under worlds: must be the world's folder name. That is world unless you changed World folder in the Config Editor.

4. In File Manager, delete the old world folder. For the default world folder the panel asks you to confirm with "Delete your world folder?". The plugin's wiki says to delete the folder of the world you want TerraformGenerator to create.

5. Open the Console tab and press Start. The new world is generated with TerraformGenerator.

You can keep the old world on disk instead. Set World folder in the Config Editor to a new name, use that same name under worlds: in bukkit.yml, then start the server. The Config Editor notes that changing the folder starts a new world and leaves the old one on disk.

Pregenerate the world

Pregenerating builds the chunks in advance up to a border you choose, so players never trigger the slower generation. The plugin's FAQ recommends doing it every time and not while players are online. Pregenerate a Minecraft world with Chunky walks through one way to do it.

Commands

TerraformGenerator's page says it has commands, but they are developer commands that only operators can run. Leave them alone unless you know what they do.

Common problems

• The world is still vanilla. The plugin's FAQ says its startup lines in the Console tab give the reason it is disabled or not working, so read those first. Then check that the name under worlds: matches the world folder and that the old world folder was deleted before the start.
• Red Paper Watchdog lines during pregeneration. The FAQ says you can silence them while pregenerating by raising early-warning-every to 5000000 and early-warning-delay to 10000000 under watchdog in config/paper-global.yml. Put the original values back when generation is finished. The FAQ stresses that this does not fix lag: pregeneration is the only fix for lag the plugin causes.
• Something broke after a reload. Do not use /reload. The plugin's FAQ says TerraformGenerator, like many complex plugins, breaks when you do. Restart from the Console tab instead.