Start a Villager Defense Minecraft server

Villager Defense is a plugin that turns part of your server into a cooperative minigame. Players enter an arena, fight rounds of monsters and buy better gear with gems to keep the villagers alive. It runs on Paper, and its setup is done in game from an admin menu.

Checked against Villager Defense 1.2.14 (the Modrinth page lists Minecraft 1.16.4 to 1.21.7 for it) on Paper 1.21.7, October 2026.

What you need

• A Paper server on a Minecraft version from 1.16.4 to 1.21.7, which is the range the plugin lists. 1.21.7 is simply the newest. A server on a newer game version will not show the plugin in the store by default, because the store's Game version filter starts on your server's version.
• The vd.use permission for whoever builds the arenas. The plugin does not list the permission in a permissions section, so Bukkit gives it to operators by default, and making your own account an operator is the quickest way to have it. The setup menu is a player command, so it cannot be run from the Console.
• A world for the arena. The author recommends a world-management plugin (for example Multiverse-Core) and a plugin to manage region settings (for example WorldGuard). Neither is required to start.

Check the server version

Skip this if your server is already on Paper between 1.16.4 and 1.21.7. Otherwise move it to a version in that range. The plugin lists every version from 1.16.4 to 1.21.7, and 1.21.7 is the newest.

1. Open the JAR Manager tab.
2. Under Server software, pick Paper. Under Minecraft version, pick a version in the range, such as 1.21.7.
3. Press Apply change and confirm. The server reinstalls with that jar.

Install the plugin

1. Open the Plugins tab and stay on the Store view.
2. Select the Modrinth source button and search for Villager Defense.
3. Press Install, then restart from the Console tab so Paper loads it.

If you prefer to add the jar by hand, the same file is on the plugin's Modrinth page. Upload it to the plugins folder with the File Manager.

Build the first arena

1. In the Players tab, open Operators and use Make operator on your account, then join the server.
2. In game, run /vd admin. This opens the admin panel (it needs the vd.use permission).
3. Set up the lobby first. Players are sent there when they leave a game.
4. Go back to the main menu, open Arenas and choose New Arena. The menu closes and the plugin asks for a unique name in chat, or CANCEL to quit. Type the name and the arena's own menu opens, with options such as Arena Portal, Player Settings, Mob Settings, Shop Settings and Game Settings.

An arena will not open until it has all of these, and the plugin tells you which one is missing:

• a lobby
• arena bounds
• a portal
• a player spawn
• a monster spawn
• a villager spawn
• a shop

By default autoOpen is true in the plugin's config.yml, so an arena that meets those requirements opens by itself when the plugin loads (a server start).

How players join

Each arena has a villager that acts as its portal. Right-click it to join and left-click it to read the arena's info. Players can use:

• /vd kits to see and buy kits with crystals
• /vd stats to see their statistics
• /vd leave to leave a game

Staff can use /vd start to force a game to begin and /vd end to end one.

If something does not work

• The plugin is missing from the store: the Game version filter defaults to your server's version, and the plugin lists nothing newer than 1.21.7. Check the version in JAR Manager.
• /vd admin is refused: you are missing the vd.use permission, or you ran it from the console, which the plugin refuses.
• The arena will not open: work through the list above, since the plugin refuses to open it until each item is set.
• Wiki steps do not match: the plugin's own wiki says it is out of date, so trust the menus you see in game.