Minecraft Server Development Resources

Shellcode

Minecraft has several different server programs that you can choose from for running your own server instance. The several server programs around all have different uses and different project goals.

The vanilla server program from Mojang is probably the most basic offering and it does not natively support plugins which means that it is not good to use on a server which you want to heavily modify or develop for on your own.
Spigot is another, and probably the most popular of all server programs for Minecraft. Spigot has a system for implementing your own custom plugins fairly easily and it runs better than most server instances.
Sponge is a newer, faster server program than Spigot, also allowing you to create your own plugins. Sponge utilizes newer Java language features than Spigot does such as Optional

The server programs listed here that allow plugins expect the plugins to be developed in a programming language called Java. Minecraft itself is also mostly developed using the Java programming language except for the console editions and the Windows 10 edition which are developed in another programming language called C++.

Java is an object oriented programming language (simplified) with a pretty easily understood syntax so it is not very hard to learn and understand. Java has been around for many years so there are a lot of resources for learning it around the internet that are freely available to anyone.

An Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is useful but not required for developing with Java. The top two IDE's for Java are IntelliJ Idea (free, or paid) and Eclipse (free) but whatever you do don't use Netbeans :hungover: IDE's have features like auto complete and bracket matching that make learning Java a lot easier and i highly recommend using one for all your programming.

Once you have learned a bit of Java and setup your IDE to your liking you can setup your preferred server to develop and test with. Each server has its own guides on how to do this (except the vanilla server of course).

Spigot: Installation, BuildTools, Developers Hub, Plugin Development (IntelliJ, Eclipse)
Sponge: Docs, Creating a server, Preparing for development, Creating a plugin (IntelliJ, Eclipse)

[SPOILER="Further Learning"]
If you plan to work with Minecraft servers long term, specifically large servers such as Meepcraft i highly suggest that you familiarize yourself with the Linux terminal (specifically bash). The most popular distribution of Linux for servers is called Ubuntu server because it is easy to learn and use. I recommend installing Ubuntu server in a virtual machine so that you can mess around with it on your own and learn some of the basics. There are some free online resources you can use for this as well including several reference websites and a free Codecademy course.
[/SPOILER]

Muunkee

did you just copy and paste this from somewhere

builderjunkie012

Wtf is this lol

buttfly29

someone had time on their hands

Shellcode

did you just copy and paste this from somewhere
~ @Muunkee

No, i wrote it out because i have too much time and wanted to help out other people.

Wtf is this lol
~ @builderjunkie012

It's resources for Minecraft server development "Minecraft Server Development Resources" its for aspiring developers hence the "Programming" section of the forums :p

someone had time on their hands
~ @buttfly29

Too much time

Natsu

Thank you for trying to explain to me something so foreign, but I still do not know anything at the end of the day

LordInateur

Hey this is a pretty chill guide, good work.

I think that it's interesting that Sponge took off so quickly--I was under the impression that a lot of the developers of Sponge came around because Bukkit low-key died. This was amusing to me because I would've thought that they would have just gone to Spigot in the first place... I haven't really messed around with Sponge all that much (something along the lines of teaching old dogs new tricks I think).

Shellcode

This was amusing to me because I would've thought that they would have just gone to Spigot in the first place
~ @LordInateur

Most people did, I like Sponge personally because its implementing a lot of cool programming styles where Spigot is playing it safe with their older codebase.

I haven't really messed around with Sponge all that much
~ @LordInateur

Try it out the API is a bit harder to get into if you are used to Spigot style but its worth it long term for developers to learn modern practices even if it is using a dying language like Java.

TheTastyNacho

English please

LordInateur

even if it is using a dying language like Java
~ @Shellcode

That would be an interesting notion, for sure... using a language other than Java to modify a Java-based game xD

I'll definitely take a look at it. I think I like the idea of a modern back-end mod system rather than Spigot's "API built on an API built on an API" methodology.

Shellcode

using a language other than Java to modify a Java-based game xD
~ @LordInateur

I agree but since the server is just passing requests back and forth you can build a Minecraft server in almost any language and that has been done but most of those projects are far behind the times or dead because its a real pain to implement new features in a speedy way when you're making no money to hire developers. If you create a server software from scratch and allow plugins for the server there are many different ways to implement plugins in many languages so its not so much modifying a Java game its more of modifying the server backend which is detatched from the client's code base.

As for Spigot vs Sponge I mean you can make plugins using modern Java 8/9 features for Spigot but most of those new things don't seem to be built into Spigot's API at least not in a public facing way.