JoinChecklist | Player Onboarding [1.18.2-26.2]

Give new players a clear starting point without forcing a tutorial. JoinChecklist displays a small chat checklist with readable instructions, ordered acknowledgement and an optional login reminder. Explain rules, protecting builds, finding help and your server's actual features.

This is an informational checklist. Players confirm that they have read each step. It does not detect game actions, verify reading, award rewards or run completion commands.

Features

• Configure 1-64 ordered steps, each with a stable ID, title and detailed instructions.
• Read any step and acknowledge the next incomplete step.
• Click rows to open instructions. The acknowledgement hint prepares a command; pressing Enter confirms it.
• Save completion and reminder preference in normal player data through Bukkit PDC.
• Preserve progress when editing text or reordering existing IDs.
• Optional delayed login reminder; returning-player reminders are off by default.
• Players can hide reminders and still use the checklist.
• Administrators can inspect or reset online-player progress.
• Invalid configuration reloads keep previous live settings.
• Configurable English messages with standard & color codes, and permission-aware command completion.
• No database, external service, telemetry or runtime plugin dependency.

Installation and first use

1. Stop the server, put JoinChecklist-1.0.0.jar in plugins/, and start normally.
2. Edit plugins/JoinChecklist/config.yml with your server's instructions.
3. Run /checklist reload as an operator. Fix any validation errors reported in the console.
4. Run /checklist, read /checklist info welcome, then acknowledge with /checklist done welcome.

The default four steps introduce the checklist, respectful play, protecting progress and asking for help. They do not assume a claims, homes or Discord plugin exists. Customize the content before opening your server.

Player commands
Alias: /jc. Permission: joinchecklist.use, granted to everyone by default. Hide controls login reminders; the checklist remains available. Show enables reminders only when allowed by the server configuration.

Administrator commands
Permission: joinchecklist.admin, default operators. Console can use these commands. Use the full online player name. Reset clears all completed IDs, including removed-step history, and clears the hidden-reminder preference. The final confirm argument is required.

Configuration example
This is an excerpt; keep the full messages section generated on first startup. Message keys must remain present; an empty message string suppresses that message. Standard & color codes are supported.

IDs must be unique lowercase strings matching [a-z0-9_-]{1,48}. Titles allow 1-160 characters. Each step allows 1-12 nonblank detail lines of up to 500 characters. Reminder delay is 1-1200 ticks; 100 ticks is about five seconds at normal TPS.

Keep an ID when editing existing instructions. Completion follows IDs, not position. Use a new ID for a new topic players should acknowledge. Removed IDs stay in player history; restoring the same ID restores its old completion. Incomplete steps are acknowledged in current list order.

Reload cancels pending reminders and does not remind already-online players again. Invalid YAML, duplicate IDs, invalid types or missing message keys reject the reload and preserve previous settings.

Data and limits
Progress is stored by UUID in the server's normal player data. Back up world/player data. An abrupt crash before a server save can lose recent progress. Removing the JAR leaves namespaced data intact; reinstalling can restore it. Changing authentication mode can produce different player records.

This version has no GUI, rewards, automatic task detection, offline-player administration, network synchronization, PlaceholderAPI expansion or Folia support.

Multi-version compatibility and verification
Target range: Spigot/Paper 1.18.2-26.2. Built against Spigot 1.18.2 with Java 17 bytecode. Use the Java version required by your chosen server. Chat interactions use the stable Spigot chat API; no packet library is needed.

9 module unit tests pass. Source compilation also passes against Spigot 1.19.4, 1.20.4, 1.20.6, 1.21.11, 26.1.2 and 26.2. The release JAR passes MockBukkit lifecycle, command, ordered-progress, PDC, reload and permission checks in 1.18.2, 1.21.11 and 26.2 API environments. These simulated-server tests are not live Minecraft gameplay or performance tests and do not verify every intermediate build. The Tested Major MC Versions field is therefore left empty.

Guides, source and feedback
The Documentation tab gives a configuration and data guide. Open the JAR as a ZIP for English/Chinese manuals and VERIFICATION.md in META-INF/docs/. A standalone Maven project with source and tests is in META-INF/source/; build with mvn clean verify using JDK 17+.

Use Discussion for questions, reproducible bugs and onboarding ideas. Include exact server/Java versions, plugin version, reproduction steps and relevant errors. Remove passwords and private information. Every feature is available without a rating or review.

1.0.0: Initial release. Developed with AI assistance; source is included for inspection. Author: AtBar. License: MIT.