If you are running a Paper, Spigot or Purpur server and you want different players to have different abilities - staff who can fly, moderators who can mute, VIPs who get an extra kit - you need a permissions plugin. LuckPerms is the one almost everyone ends up on. It is actively maintained, has a web editor so you are not fighting YAML by hand, and it just works with the rest of the plugin ecosystem.
This is the setup I run through on every new server before touching anything else permission-related.
Step 1: Download LuckPerms
- Go to the official site: luckperms.net.
- Download the build for your platform - it covers Paper, Spigot and Purpur with the same file.
- Drop the
.jarinto your server'spluginsfolder.
Step 2: Restart Your Server
A full restart, not a plugin reload - LuckPerms needs to hook into the server on boot. Once it comes back up, it generates its own config and storage files automatically. You do not need to touch them for a basic setup.
Step 3: Set Up Permissions
Everything in LuckPerms happens through the /lp command (or the web editor, which /lp editor gives you a link to - genuinely worth using once you have more than a couple of groups). The commands below cover the four things you will do constantly:
# Put a player into a group
/lp user <player> parent set <group>
# Example: make Steve an admin
/lp user Steve parent set admin# Create a brand new group
/lp creategroup <name>
# Example
/lp creategroup moderator# Grant a permission node to a group
/lp group <group> permission set <node> true
# Example: let moderators fly
/lp group moderator permission set essentials.fly true# Check what a player currently has
/lp user <player> infoStep 4: Install Vault (Optional)
If anything else on your server needs to read permissions or group data - economy plugins are the most common case - it will expect Vault as the bridge between it and LuckPerms.
- Download Vault from SpigotMC.
- Drop it into
pluginsalongside LuckPerms. - Restart the server again.
Step 5: Test Everything
Log in with a couple of different accounts in different groups and actually try the permissions you set - do not just assume the config is right. It is much easier to catch a typo'd permission node now than after a player has reported "the plugin is broken" three times.
If you would rather watch than read, the video above walks through the same steps end to end.
That's it
LuckPerms is installed, Vault is hooked up if you need it, and you can manage players, groups and permissions properly instead of hardcoding op levels. If you are also locking down the server itself, my guide on securing a Linux server with Fail2Ban is a reasonable next stop - permissions handle who can do what in-game, Fail2Ban handles who can get near the server in the first place.
Pro tip: if something is not behaving, the LuckPerms documentation and their Discord are both faster than guessing. Happy crafting.