Installation

Single

This section is for single servers. "Single servers" are servers that are not intended to be hooked into a network, put behind a proxy, or interact with other game servers in any other way.

To set AltFinder up for a single server, simply drop the jar into your "plugins" folder. The auto-generated configuration should default to reasonable values for you, but you may modify it if you wish using the configuration guide here.

Network

This section is for servers that are intended to be hooked into a network, set behind a proxy, or interact with other game servers.

To set AltFinder up for a network, drop the jar into the plugins folder and restart the server. Once the server has started up, modify the configuration file to use MySQL instead of SQLite. RabbitMQ and/or Redis are optional but highly recommended if you have multiple servers. You may find more information on modifying the configuration using the configuration guide here.

Syncing data between servers

In order for data to sync, you must be using a remote database option (outlined in the Storage section below) and/or a stable Redis.

When using a remote database, any updates will be pushed to other servers via a rudimentary messaging table. This table is refreshed every few seconds on all servers connected to it. While not instant, it does work and it's there in case Redis or RabbitMQ is down or disabled.

Redis is used as a cache and messaging service. When it's enabled, AltFinder will attempt to lookup via Redis before it uses SQL. Because Redis isn't stable, it's generally not recommended to use it over a remote storage option, however, if you absolutely cannot use remote storage Redis might save you. Additionally, the service as used as a cross-server messenger which allows to instantly push updates to other servers.

RabbitMQ is used as a messaging service. It is used as a cross-server messenger which allows to instantly push updates to other servers.

Redis and RabbitMQ may be enabled side-by-side with no issues or incompatibility. It is recommended to enable both and to use a remote storage option in order to ensure that if anything drops off the network, the plugin will continue to function normally.

Storage

There are multiple ways AltFinder can store data, and more are coming soon! The storage type may be changed in the configuration file as outlined here.

Currently, the options are:

• Remote
  • MySQL
• Local
  • SQLite

The current default is SQLite.

Requirements

AltFinder has just a couple of requirements. The vast majority of servers will meet these requirements already.

tl;dr

• You need Java 8 or greater
• The server will need access to the internet

Java 8

Your server must be running Java 8 or greater. Almost every host will have updated by now. If yours has not, ask them nicely :)

Internet access

AltFinder downloads some needed libraries at startup and requires an active internet connection to query the various enabled services for bad IPs.

Compatibility

Some known compatibility issues are outlined below. Generally, these won't affect your server since they're fairly edge-case, but it's good to know about them anyway.

CraftBukkit & Offline Mode

If your server is using CraftBukkit and running in Offline or Cracked mode, AltFinder (and a number of other plugins, for that matter) will not work. This is due to a CraftBukkit bug regarding the AsyncPlayerPreLoginEvent.

Your options are:

• Switch to Spigot or Paper (You should be using Paper anyway)
• Enable online mode

Older Minecraft versions

AltFinder is not developed to run on Minecraft versions less than 1.8.8. Even then, if you use it on 1.8.8 it will (harmlessly) complain every time you start the server simply because 1.8 is incredibly outdated, broken, and insecure and there are plugins nowadays that allow you to accept 1.8 players on any server version- so there's no real reason to use it.