Set up WorldGuard on your Minecraft server

WorldGuard lets you fence off areas of your world, called regions, and decide who can build in them and which game rules apply there. Typical uses are protecting spawn, keeping a shop safe or switching PvP off in one area. It works on Paper servers, and on Purpur, which runs the same plugins, and it needs the WorldEdit plugin beside it, because WorldEdit is how you select the area.

Checked against WorldGuard 7.0.20 and WorldEdit 7.4.6 on Paper 26.3, October 2026.

Install WorldEdit and WorldGuard

1. Open Plugins under Content in the left rail. If your server shows Mods or no such tab, it is not on Paper or Purpur. See Change your Minecraft version or mod loader.
2. Leave the Modrinth source chip selected, search for WorldEdit and click Install.
3. Search for WorldGuard and click Install. Install both. WorldGuard's newest Modrinth listing does not declare WorldEdit as a dependency, so the store may not offer it.
4. Open the Console tab and click Restart. Plugins load only at startup.
5. When the Done line appears, type plugins in the console. Both names should be green.

WorldGuard creates a plugins/WorldGuard folder with a config.yml, and a worlds folder with one config.yml per world. The per-world files start nearly empty. To change a setting for one world, copy it from the main file into that world's file. You can leave all of this alone to start with.

Let yourself use it

By default no one can use WorldGuard. The quickest way for a small server is to make the builders operators. Open Players under Essentials, choose Operators and use Make operator. For finer control, grant WorldGuard's permission nodes through a permissions plugin instead.

Create a region

Region commands run in game, because they use your WorldEdit selection.

1. Type //wand to get the selection tool. It is a wooden axe by default.
2. Left-click a block for the first corner and right-click another for the second.
3. Run //expand vert to stretch the selection from the sky to bedrock, so players cannot build above or below it.
4. Run /rg define spawn. /rg is short for /region, and the name must be unique.

A new region stops building inside it straight away. To let someone build, add them as a member, or a permission group by putting g: before its name:

/rg addmember spawn Steve
/rg addmember spawn g:builders
/rg addowner spawn Alex

Useful checks: /rg info spawn describes a region, /rg list lists them, /rg redefine spawn replaces its area with your current selection, and /rg remove spawn deletes it. Changes save by themselves after a short delay, and /rg save forces it.

Set flags

A flag changes a rule inside one region. To switch PvP off in spawn:

/rg flag spawn pvp deny

Leave off the value to clear a flag. Other flags in WorldGuard's list include tnt, greeting and use. The full list is in WorldGuard's region flags guide. A plugin such as Add WorldGuard ExtraFlags Plus to Minecraft adds more.

When regions overlap

Regions can overlap. A player must be allowed to build in every region at their spot. To make one region win, give it a higher priority with /rg setpriority. To stop a region from protecting its area while still setting flags, set its passthrough flag to allow. For example, an arena inside spawn can allow PvP without letting fighters break blocks.

If it does not work

• WorldGuard did not load. Check the first error in the Console. WorldGuard requires WorldEdit, so check that it is installed.
• Protection does nothing for you. You are an operator, as above.
• You cannot select an area. Check that WorldEdit is green in plugins, and that you have the wand in hand.
• Before large changes, take a backup from the Backups tab.