How to Use and Install the Plugman Minecraft Plugin

Last modified on Nov 12, 2022 in Plugins

By Noah

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Youtube

Overview

Plugins are an excellent way to add new functions and features to your server. When experimenting with plugins, restarting the server frequently can make the process a bit tedious. It would be much easier if there was a way to manage plugins without having to restart the server after every change. Luckily there is a plugin for almost everything including managing other plugins. PlugmanX, a fork of the original Plugman plugin, was created specifically to manage plugin files from the console without having to stop or restart the server. Like the original, It allows server admins to disable and enable plugins as needed, check for updates, and check which plugin creates or uses a specific command. The new author has gone to great lengths to keep PlugmanX up to date and available for the latest version of the game. In this guide, we will show you how to install and use PlugmanX on your Apex Hosting server.

Downloading the Plugin

1. Navigate to the PlugmanX Spigot page.
2. In the top-right, press the blue “Download” button.

3. You will get a file named something like plugmanx.jar
4. Save the file to a safe location for later.

Once this is complete, you are ready to add the plugin to your Minecraft server.

Server-Installation

1. Navigate to the Apex Server Panel, then stop the server.
2. Scroll down to the Game File section to check which server version you have installed.

3. If needed, change the version to something plugin-compatible, such as PaperMC or Spigot.
4. Click on the FTP File Access tab in the left-hand menu and log in.
5. Click on the plugins folder to enter it.
   
6. Press Upload in the top-left menu, then drag + drop the .jar file.
7. Once at 100%, return to the main panel page, then restart the server.
   

Usage

PlugmanX is a useful server management tool. The commands for the plugin can be used entirely from the in-game chat or your server’s console without needing any extra configuration. These commands can perform basic actions such as listing the installed plugins and checking to see if they are up to date.
 

Loading and Unloading Plugins

When a Paper server starts it checks the plugins folder to see if any plugins are present. If the server finds any plugins it will load them along with all of the other essential server files. Plugman makes it possible to load new plugins without having to restart the server.

Install the plugin as you would normally by placing it into the plugins folder, then run the command /plugman load [plugin]. Replace the [plugin] portion with the name of the plugin you want the server to load. In our example above we have used plugman to load WorldEdit. After using plugman to load WorldEdit we are able to use normal WorldEdit commands such as //wand.

Checking Plugin Information

Checking the information for a plugin can be very useful for server admins. While most plugin authors do their best to list any dependencies and important information, some information can be left out from time to time. The /plugman info [plugin] command can provide basic information about a plugin including any dependencies.

Checking for Updates

PlugmanX can check to see if any updates are available for your plugins through the /plugman check [plugin] command. This makes it much easier to keep track of which plugins are available for the latest version of Minecraft, and which ones haven’t been updated or have been abandoned.

Tab Complete

A new feature of PlugmanX that was not in the original plugin is tab completion. Tab complete allows you to press the tab key when typing a command to receive suggestions to complete it. Normally you would have to restart the server when loading a new plugin to get access to tab completion, but PlugmanX is able to work around that limitation.

This is particularly useful for plugins like EssentialsX that have a large number of useful commands available for use.
 

Plugin Usage

The /plugman usage [plugin] command may be the most useful added by Plugman. This command will list all of the available commands for a plugin. This is great for some plugins like WorldGuard or GriefPrevention, but others like Essentials or WorldEdit have so many commands that the list can be a bit overwhelming.

Commands

Here is a complete list of the available commands for the plugin and some examples of how to use them.

Conclusion

Plugman is a very useful tool that makes it possible to install and troubleshoot plugins without restarting your server. This is great if you are running an event on your server and need to disable a plugin that has been acting up. The information it can provide can also help you and your players understand large or complicated plugins such as Citizens or EssentialsX. With the help of this handy guide you are now ready to manage your server a little more smoothly with the help of PlugmanX.

Common Issues

My plugins stopped working after running a command
While Plugman is great for basic testing and troubleshooting, plugins were not designed to be turned off and on while a server is running. Some plugins such as EssentialsX will not always reload correctly when handled by Plugman. Restarting the server should allow the plugins to load up as normal again.

None of my plugins are working properly.
The most common causes of this are the plugins being uploaded to the wrong location, or the server not running the right version. Make sure your server is running either Paper or Spigot and that the plugin files are placed in the plugins folder.

Helpful Links

How to Install Plugins
Main spigot page for PlugmanX
Bukkit page for the original Plugman
Apex’s recommended plugins