ReviveSystem v2.0

A full-featured revival system for Minecraft Hardcore and Semi-Hardcore servers.

ReviveSystem gives dead players a second chance — but only through teamwork and strategic decisions. When a player dies, they aren't permanently eliminated. Instead, they enter Spectator Mode and must wait for another player to bring them back. This keeps the Hardcore feeling intact while preventing frustration from permanent death.

Compatible with: Paper, Spigot, Bukkit — Minecraft 1.21 through 26.2+

Table of Contents

1. How It Works — Step by Step
2. The Head Mechanic (Bonus Hearts)
3. Items & Crafting Recipes
4. All Commands
5. All Permissions
6. Full Configuration Guide
7. Language & Messages
8. Installation Guide
9. Frequently Asked Questions
10. Troubleshooting

How It Works — Step by Step

Here's exactly what happens during a typical gameplay session:

1. A Player Dies

When a player dies in your world, three things happen automatically:

1. Their head drops as a physical item at their death location (a Player Head with their skin).
2. They enter Spectator Mode — they can fly around and watch, but they cannot interact with the world, break blocks, or chat commands that affect gameplay.
3. A death info screen appears — a GUI window showing their Level and total Playtime, which automatically closes after 5 seconds (configurable).

The player is now "dead" and waiting for revival.

2. How to Revive a Dead Player

There are two ways to bring a dead player back:

Method A: The Respawn Point (Player Head on Soul Sand)

• Another player picks up the dead player's dropped head.
• They surround it with Soul Sand in a crafting table (head in center, soul sand all around).
• This creates a Respawn Point — a special head item.
• When they place this head on the ground, the dead player is teleported to that location and revived.
• The placed head disappears after 2 seconds.

Method B: Admin Command

• A server admin or operator can use the command /revive <playername> to instantly revive any dead player.

3. After Revival

• The player returns to Survival Mode with the configured amount of health (default: full 10 hearts).
• Their death count and revival status are saved. Depending on the server configuration, they can be revived up to a certain limit or infinitely.
• All their progress (XP, items they had) follows normal Minecraft death rules.

The Head Mechanic (Bonus Hearts)

This is a separate, optional feature that works alongside the revive system:

• When a player picks up a dropped player head (from someone's death) and puts it on as a helmet, they receive +20 bonus hearts (10 extra full hearts, for a total of 20 full hearts).
• A chat message tells them about the bonus hearts.
• The "Kopf hoch!" advancement is awarded (appears as a toast notification).
• A level-up sound plays.
• When the player takes the head off, their hearts go back to normal (10 full hearts).
• The bonus hearts amount, sound, and volume are all configurable.

Head Protection

Dropped player heads are valuable revival tokens. By default, they can be destroyed by lava and explosions. You can change this in the config:

• head.kill-at-lava: false → Heads survive lava
• head.kill-at-explosion: false → Heads survive explosions (TNT, Creepers, etc.)

Items & Crafting Recipes

Respawn Point

Crafting Recipe:

[Soul Sand] [Soul Sand] [Soul Sand]
[Soul Sand] [Player Head] [Soul Sand]
[Soul Sand] [Soul Sand] [Soul Sand]

Place a dead player's dropped head in the center, surrounded by 8 Soul Sand blocks.

All Commands

Command Examples

/revive Steve          → Revives the player "Steve"
/revive reload         → Reloads all configuration files
/rev Alex              → Short form: revives "Alex"

All Permissions

Full Configuration Guide

After the first server start, the file plugins/ReviveSystem/config.yml is created. Here's every option explained:

# ============================================================
# ReviveSystem Configuration v2.0
# ============================================================

# Language for all messages. Options: de, en, es
# You can also create your own language file (see Language section below)
language: de

# ============================================================
# Head Mechanic Settings
# ============================================================
head:
  # Set to false to completely disable the head mechanic
  # (bonus hearts, advancement, sound — everything)
  enabled: true

  # How many BONUS hearts the player gets when wearing a head.
  # 20 = +10 full hearts (total: 20 full hearts = 40 HP)
  # 10 = +5 full hearts (total: 15 full hearts = 30 HP)
  # 40 = +20 full hearts (total: 30 full hearts = 60 HP)
  bonus-hearts: 20

  # Should dropped player heads be destroyed when they fall in lava?
  # true = yes, the head will burn and be lost forever
  # false = no, the head is immune to lava damage
  kill-at-lava: true

  # Should dropped player heads be destroyed by explosions (TNT, Creepers)?
  # true = yes, explosions can destroy heads
  # false = no, heads are protected from explosions
  kill-at-explosion: true

  # The sound that plays when a player puts on a head.
  # Must be a valid Minecraft sound name.
  # Examples: ENTITY_PLAYER_LEVELUP, UI_TOAST_CHALLENGE_COMPLETE,
  #           ENTITY_ENDER_DRAGON_GROWL, BLOCK_BEACON_ACTIVATE
  advancement-sound: ENTITY_PLAYER_LEVELUP

  # Volume of the sound (0.0 = silent, 1.0 = normal, 2.0 = loud)
  advancement-sound-volume: 1.0

  # Pitch of the sound (0.5 = deep/slow, 1.0 = normal, 2.0 = high/fast)
  advancement-sound-pitch: 1.0

# ============================================================
# Revive System Settings
# ============================================================
revive:
  # After how many deaths should the player become a spectator?
  # 1 = after the first death (default, most hardcore)
  # 2 = after the second death (more forgiving)
  # 3 = three strikes and you're out
  deaths-required: 1

  # How long (in ticks) the death info GUI stays open.
  # 20 ticks = 1 second. Default: 100 ticks = 5 seconds.
  spectator-gui-duration: 100

  # Should a player head drop when a player dies?
  # true = yes, a head with the player's skin drops at the death location
  # false = no head drops (disables the Respawn Point mechanic)
  drop-head-on-death: true

  # How many times can a player be revived? 
  # Set to -1 for infinite revives, or any positive number (e.g. 1, 2, 3) for a limit.
  max-revives: 1

  # Health the player gets after being revived.
  # 20.0 = full health (10 full hearts)
  # 10.0 = half health (5 full hearts)
  # 2.0  = barely alive (1 full heart)
  revive-health: 20.0

# ============================================================
# Data & Performance Settings
# ============================================================
data:
  # Auto-save player data every X seconds.
  # 300 = every 5 minutes (recommended)
  # 60  = every minute (more frequent, slightly more disk I/O)
  # 0   = disabled (data is only saved when it changes)
  auto-save-interval: 300

Language & Messages

ReviveSystem supports multiple languages out of the box: German (de), English (en), and Spanish (es).

Changing the Language

1. Open plugins/ReviveSystem/config.yml
2. Change language: de to your desired language code (e.g., en or es)
3. Run /revive reload or restart the server

Customizing Messages

All messages are stored in YAML files in the plugin folder:

• plugins/ReviveSystem/messages_de.yml — German
• plugins/ReviveSystem/messages_en.yml — English
• plugins/ReviveSystem/messages_es.yml — Spanish

You can edit any message directly in these files. Use § color codes for formatting:

• §a = green, §b = aqua, §c = red, §e = yellow, §7 = gray
• §l = bold, §o = italic, §n = underline

Available placeholders:

• %player% — Player name
• %level% — Player level
• %playtime% — Total playtime in hours
• %deaths% — Number of deaths
• %hearts% — Bonus heart count

Creating a New Language

1. Copy messages_en.yml to messages_xx.yml (replace xx with your language code)
2. Translate all messages
3. Set language: xx in config.yml
4. Run /revive reload

Installation Guide

Requirements

• A Minecraft server running Paper, Spigot, or Bukkit
• Minecraft version 1.21 or newer (tested up to 26.2)
• Java 21 or newer

Step-by-Step Installation

1. Download the latest ReviveSystem.jar file
2. Stop your Minecraft server (if it's running)
3. Copy the JAR file into your server's plugins/ folder
4. Start the server
5. Verify the plugin loaded by checking the console for: ReviveSystem v2.0 aktiviert!
6. Configure the plugin by editing plugins/ReviveSystem/config.yml
7. Reload with /revive reload — no server restart needed!

Updating from v1.0

If you're updating from ReviveSystem v1.0:

• Your existing playerdata.yml is fully compatible — no data loss!
• Old player heads (without PDC tags) will still be recognized
• The new config options will be added automatically with default values
• Your old config values (kill_at_lava, kill_at_explosion) will need to be manually transferred to the new format (head.kill-at-lava, head.kill-at-explosion)

Frequently Asked Questions

General

Q: What happens when a player dies?

They drop their head as an item, enter Spectator Mode, and see a brief info screen showing their level and playtime. They can fly around and watch but cannot interact with the world.

Q: Can a dead player still chat?

Yes! Chat is not restricted. Dead players can communicate with living players to coordinate their revival.

Q: What happens if nobody revives a dead player?

They stay in Spectator Mode indefinitely until someone revives them or an admin uses /revive <player>.

Q: Can I have multiple lives before becoming a spectator?

Yes! Change revive.deaths-required in config.yml. Set it to 2 for two lives, 3 for three, etc.

Q: Can players be revived multiple times?

Yes! You can configure the maximum number of revivals via the revive.max-revives config option. Setting it to -1 allows infinite revivals.

Q: Does the plugin affect vanilla advancements?

No. The "Kopf hoch!" advancement is in its own namespace (revivesystem:) and does not interfere with any vanilla Minecraft advancements.

Troubleshooting

Support

For support, feedback, or suggestions, feel free to contact me on Discord: desertlox

(Feature with the Advancement pack coming in the future)

License

This plugin is not open source. All rights reserved.