Start a Minecraft Prison server

A Prison server is built around mines that reset and ranks that players buy. The free Prison plugin provides the mines, ranks and prestiges in one place. It is published on GitHub, so this guide installs it with the GitHub button on the Plugins tab.

Checked against Prison 3.3.1 on Paper 26.1.2, October 2026.

What you need

• A Paper server. The 3.3.1 release has a separate jar for Spigot 1.21 and newer, Spigot 26 and Paper 26. The release notes call the Spigot 26 support preliminary but functional.
• An economy plugin. Prison's own guide says the ranks module will not load without an active economy, because Prison refuses to run ranks when none is found.
• A permissions plugin. Prison's guide says it does not strictly need one, but nearly everything on a server depends on permissions, and it suggests LuckPerms.
• Vault, which is optional but strongly suggested, because it connects Prison to the economy and permissions.

For the supporting plugins, follow Set up Vault, Set up EssentialsX for an economy, and Set up LuckPerms.

Switch to Paper

In JAR Manager, choose Paper, pick 26.1.2 and press Apply change. Keep Take a backup first ticked and press Confirm & reinstall. Change your Minecraft version or mod loader has each step.

Install Prison from GitHub

The 3.3.1 jars are published as release files on the project's GitHub page, so use the GitHub wizard.

1. Open the Plugins tab and press GitHub.
2. On Repository, enter PrisonTeam/Prison and press Look up.
3. On Release, pick Prison v3.3.1.
4. On File, choose Prison26-3.3.1.jar. The wizard may preselect Prison-3.3.1.jar, which the release notes say supports Spigot 1.8 up to 1.20. The Prison26 jar is the one for Spigot 1.21 and newer, Spigot 26 and Paper 26.
5. On Review, press Install, then restart from the Console tab.

The wizard warns that nobody checks files on GitHub. This is the Prison project's own repository.

Run auto configure

Prison's setup guide strongly suggests running this once after the first start:

/ranks autoConfigure

The guide says this sets up a great deal of the configuration for you. You can start over by deleting the plugins/Prison folder in File Manager and restarting.

Learn the commands

The Prison docs call these root commands important to know: /prison, /mines, /ranks, /rankup, /gui and /sellall. Running one on its own lists its sub-commands. /prison version shows the roots for the modules you have. Most commands also work from the Console tab, which is easier for long listings such as /mines list.

A sensible first test is to create a couple of small mines about 10 by 10 by 5 blocks, a couple of ranks, and try /rankup. Delete the test ones afterwards.

Protect your world

Prison's guide recommends WorldGuard to protect your worlds, with WorldEdit alongside it. Set up WorldGuard shows regions, and Set up WorldEdit helps with selections.

If something goes wrong

• The ranks module does not load. There is no active economy. Install an economy plugin and restart. Prison's guide suggests EssentialsX Economy.
• The wrong jar loaded. Check the file name in the plugins folder in File Manager. Remove the old jar before adding another, as Prison's guide advises.
• Players cannot join. Check the whitelist switch on the Players tab.