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This guide will walk you through installing the Maintenance plugin on your Minecraft server.

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System requirements

Before installing, ensure your server meets these requirements:
Maintenance requires Java 21 or higher to run. The plugin targets Java 17 but compilation requires JDK 21+.
  • Paper: Version 1.20.1 or higher (Spigot also works with limited functionality)
  • BungeeCord: Modern versions
  • Velocity: Modern versions
  • Sponge: Modern versions
  • Java: JDK 21 or higher

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Download the plugin

1

Visit Hangar

Go to the Maintenance plugin page on Hangar.
2

Download the latest version

Click the download button to get the latest stable release. The same JAR file works for all platforms (Paper, BungeeCord, Velocity, Sponge).
3

Verify the download

Make sure the downloaded file has a .jar extension and is named something like Maintenance-x.x.x.jar.

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Installation steps

The installation process varies slightly depending on your server platform.
1

Stop your server

If your Paper server is running, stop it gracefully using the stop command.
2

Place the JAR file

Copy the downloaded Maintenance-x.x.x.jar file into your server’s plugins folder.
3

Start your server

Start your Paper server. The plugin will generate its configuration files on first launch.
4

Verify installation

Check your console for a message indicating Maintenance has loaded successfully. You can also run /plugins in-game to see if Maintenance appears in the list.
Paper servers support additional features like custom server icons. Optional soft dependencies include ProtocolLib, ServerListPlus, ProtocolSupport, and LuckPerms.

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First-time setup

After installing the plugin, you’ll find new configuration files in your plugin folder:
1

Locate configuration files

Navigate to the plugin’s data folder:
  • Paper/Spigot/Sponge: plugins/Maintenance/
  • BungeeCord/Velocity: plugins/Maintenance/
You should see the following files:
  • config.yml - Main configuration file
  • language-en.yml - English language file (other languages available)
  • WhitelistedPlayers.yml - Maintenance whitelist
2

Review the config.yml file

Open config.yml in a text editor. This file controls all plugin behavior including:
  • Maintenance enabled status
  • MOTD messages (using MiniMessage format)
  • Server icon settings
  • Timer broadcast intervals
  • Kick behavior
The plugin uses MiniMessage format, not legacy text. Use the Adventure MiniMessage Web UI to preview and create formatted messages.
3

Choose your language

By default, the plugin uses English. To change the language, edit the language setting in config.yml:
Available languages include: en, de, fr, pt, es, ru, zh, it, pl, tr, sv, uk, ja, da, ko, hu, vi
4

Reload the plugin

After making configuration changes, reload the plugin:
This reloads the config, language file, whitelist, and server icon without restarting your server.

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Optional: Custom server icon

To display a custom server icon during maintenance:
  1. Set custom-maintenance-icon: true in config.yml
  2. Place a maintenance-icon.png file (64x64 pixels) in the plugin’s folder
  3. Reload the plugin with /maintenance reload

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Next steps

Now that you’ve installed Maintenance, head over to the quickstart guide to learn how to use the basic commands and configure your first maintenance session.