Start a TNT Run Minecraft server

TNT Run is a survival minigame where players run across a floor that disappears under their feet, and the last one standing wins. TNT Run by Despical is a free plugin for Paper that handles the whole game from a setup menu, with join signs, double jumps, a spectator mode and rewards. This guide gets one arena running.

Checked against TNT Run 2.8.9 on Paper 26.3, October 2026. The plugin's Modrinth page lists Minecraft 1.21.11 to 26.3 for this build.

What you need

• Paper or a Paper fork such as Purpur. The docs say Spigot and CraftBukkit are not the target. Vanilla has no Plugins tab, so switch in JAR Manager first.
• Java 25 or newer. The plugin is compiled with JDK 25 and will not load on an older Java. Our panel picks Java from the Minecraft version, and it uses Java 21 for 1.21.x and Java 25 for 26.x. So choose a 26.x version, not 1.21.11.
• Operator status or the tntrun.arena.* permission for whoever builds the arena. Operator status is set from the Players tab with Make operator.

Pick a Minecraft version

1. Open the JAR Manager tab.
2. Under Server software, pick Paper. Under Minecraft version, pick the newest 26.x release, which was 26.3 when this guide was checked.
3. Press Apply change, then press and hold Hold to Confirm & reinstall for 3 seconds. The tab shows "Runs on Java 25" for that version.

Your world is kept, but configuration files may be reset, and Minecraft does not support loading a world in an older version than it last ran on, so take a backup first (see Change your Minecraft version or mod loader).

Install the plugin

1. Open the Plugins tab and stay on the Store view. Choose the Modrinth button.
2. Search for TNT Run. Several plugins share the name, so install the one by Despical.
3. Restart from the Console tab. In game, run /tntrun or /tr. It prints the plugin version.

The plugin writes its files to plugins/TNTRun/, including config.yml, messages.yml, block-removal.yml and arenas.yml.

Build an arena

Build the floor in layers of blocks that the plugin can remove, then run these in game.

1. /tntrun create <arena_id> makes the arena. Use a short ID such as winter_1.
2. /tntrun edit <arena_id> opens the setup menu.
3. Click Arena Locations and set the Lobby (where players wait), the Start Location (where the match begins) and the End Location (where players go afterwards).
4. Optional: click Player Amounts. Left-click raises and right-click lowers the minimum and maximum player counts.
5. Optional: set map details, scoreboard, boss bar and potion effects from the same menu.
6. Optional: look at a sign and click Create Arena Sign. The sign shows Waiting, Starting, In-Game or Ending and the player count.
7. Click the firework rocket, Register the Arena. The plugin checks your settings and activates the arena.

Players join with /tntrun join <arena_id> or by right-clicking the sign, and leave with /tntrun leave. /tntrun stats [player] opens their statistics.

Run and tune it

• /tntrun start [arena] skips the countdown and /tntrun stop [arena] ends a match. A stopped match is cancelled and saves no statistics.
• Lobby timers sit in config.yml: waiting-time is 300 seconds and pre-game-waiting-time is 120 by default.
• After you edit a config file in the File Manager, run /tr reload.
• Rewards are in rewards.yml, and every command list in it starts empty.

If something does not work

• The plugin does not load: check JAR Manager shows Java 25.
• Blocks do not disappear: in block-removal.yml, the floor material must be in removable-blocks, and start-after-seconds must have passed.
• The arena stays damaged after a restart: check that persist-snapshots and restore-snapshots-on-startup under safety are true, and read the Console log for restore warnings. The safety section is in block-removal.yml.
• Do not edit arenas.yml by hand. Use /tr edit <arena_id> instead.