BloodMoon Minecraft Plugin

Last modified on Apr 18, 2023 in Plugins

By Nathan Young

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Overview

Experiencing nighttime in Minecraft can already be unnerving since there are lots of hostile creatures, especially with creepers roaming around ready to explode. However, some players may feel this isn’t challenging enough and desire more difficulty. Fortunately, Spigot or Paper servers allow you to install plugins that do this and enhance overall gameplay features. One of these is known as BloodMoon, which adds a unique night event that makes all hostile mobs more dangerous. There are rewards for surviving the undead hordes, but also downsides if players succumb to them. Additionally, lots of aspects from this plugin are customizable and allows you to fully control its capabilities. Setting this up is easily done on our panel, as it only takes a few minutes. Although, newcomers to the hosting scene can be slightly confused at first. Due to this, we’ve created this Apex Hosting guide to show you how to install and use the BloodMoon plugin on your Minecraft server.
 

How to Download

1. Navigate to the BloodMoon plugin on Spigot’s website.
2. Click Download Now near the top right of the page.
   
3. Save this file somewhere easily accessible on your computer.

Server Installation

After downloading the plugin, follow these steps to upload it to your server.

1. Head towards your Apex server panel, then click FTP File Access near the top left.
   

   Important: Ensure to use the correct Server Profile for this installation.

2. Proceed to enter your Password in the text box and click Login.
   
3. Locate and select the plugins folder option, then press Upload at the top left corner.
4. Continue to drag and drop the downloaded file into the respective area.
   
5. Wait for this to reach 100%, then Restart the server from the main panel.
6. After it loads, join and run the /plugins command to confirm the installation.
   

   Note: If successful, BloodMoon will appear green in the plugin list.

Getting Started

Upon entering the world, nothing will noticeably change since BloodMoon only adds nighttime events. If you’re a server operator, then using the /bloodmoon start command will initiate this activity for all players to experience. However, waiting 5 days in-game will automatically trigger a blood moon to appear. The sky will change, weather becomes enabled, and scary sounds will be heard during them. Make sure to be fully prepared before taking on this challenge, as each mob has increased health, damage, and new powers to use against any player. We’ll be discussing these features and more in the subsections below to get you started.
 

Blood Moons

As mentioned above, every five days a blood moon event happens for your world. This will spark chat messages to warn everyone, with accompanying information to help players. If you die during this event, your inventory will be wiped and all experience points reset to zero. These features can be disabled though, allowing for more flexibility. Slaying creatures during a blood moon will drop valuable loot and better xp for you to use. Sometimes, players may not be ready or able to fend for themselves during a blood moon, so using the /bloodmoon stop command is suggested. This will revert the day and mobs back to normal, plus removing any of their abilities.
 

Powerful Mobs

When a blood moon is activated, players may notice unique mob spawns. These are called hordes, which appear next to any unlucky soul. A group of randomized creatures with special abilities, stronger health, and damage will begin attacking anyone on sight. Whether they shoot lighting, fire, or potion effects, they’ll hurt you with immense power. If you’re wanting an extra challenge, then using the /bloodmoon spawnhorde [player] command will spawn additional mobs nearby the targeted user.

Bosses

By default, the BloodMoon plugin doesn’t spawn bosses automatically during nighttime events. Using the /bloodmoon spawnzombieboss command or enabling the EnableZombieBoss setting in the configuration is required to begin making them appear in-game. Later on in this guide, we’ll show you how to properly tweak the plugin’s options to get this working. Once a boss is spawned, it’ll have a name above its head with a chat message to warn other players. Expect a big fight against these kinds of creatures, as they have lots of powers and strength to continue causing harm.

Special Loot

Upon slaying any creatures during a blood moon, unique loot will drop for players to pick up. These include Iron Ingots, Iron Blocks, Gold Ingots, Gold Blocks, and Diamonds. Whether it’s normal mobs or bosses, expect these items after killing them. Sometimes, you’ll get a lot of them or nothing at all due to the configuration. This feature can be considered overpowered, as anyone can almost instantly get iron equipment from just farming mobs. However, remember that if you perish during a blood moon, your entire inventory gets reset.

Bloody Deaths

In cases where you or someone else dies during a blood moon event, you’ll see custom death messages. This mimics Vanilla Minecraft’s format, which varies depending on the mob that killed you. Unfortunately, these messages aren’t configurable through any plugin setting or file. This means you’ll have to settle for the current format it provides.
 

Commands

There are many useful commands from BloodMoon to try out, especially testing out new changes. Each one has a unique permission node that determines who can execute them. These can be assigned to players from plugins like LuckPerms, or automatically accessed by being a server operator. Once everything is prepared, review the list of commands below to see what’s available.
 

Configuration

As for controlling certain aspects and features of the plugin, tweaking the main configuration file is needed. This can allow you to alter the amount of time for every blood moon to appear, enable bosses, disable hordes, and so much more. Additionally, if you have multiple worlds on the server, there will be a unique config file for each one. This means you can make blood moons only work on some, while others have it completely disabled. Regardless of what you want to tweak, review the important steps below to access and edit them.

1. Navigate to the FTP File Access area from the main panel, then Login.
2. Enter the plugins directory and click the BloodMoon folder option.
3. Afterward, locate and select your world in this page.
   
4. Once there, press Edit to the right of config.yml to reveal the settings.
   
5. Proceed to make your desired changes, then click Save at the top left.
   
6. Return to the main panel and Restart the server to apply the edits.

Common Issues

If you’re having trouble loading the plugin, then double-check your server’s Minecraft version. This should be Spigot or Paper for 1.16 to 1.19, which is required for BloodMoon to function properly. Anything else isn’t viable to run this plugin on your server, but other problems can cause the situation. For instance, installing this on the wrong Server Profile or an incorrect directory results in a failed installation. Make sure you’re setting this up correctly so everything can load.
 

Remember, the plugin removes all items upon a player’s death, as everything gets deleted and not dropped on the ground. Fixing this requires you to edit the ItemDespawnUponDeath setting inside the config.yml file. Simply make this “false” from “true” and Save the changes, then Restart the server. Afterward, all player inventories will not despawn entirely after dying during a blood moon.
 

Useful Links

BloodMoon on Spigot
How to Add Plugins to a Minecraft Server
Becoming a Minecraft Server Operator
How to Install and Use LuckPerms