GriefPrevention lets each player claim the land they build on, so other players cannot break, build, open chests or hurt animals there. Players mark a claim with a golden shovel, and share it with commands such as /trust. It is a plugin, so you need Paper or Purpur.
Check your Minecraft version first
On 11 October 2026 the GriefPrevention page on Modrinth listed version 16.18.7, published 5 March 2026, for Minecraft 26.1.2, 26.2 and 26.3 on Paper, Purpur, Spigot and Bukkit. The panel offers builds made for your server’s exact version. On 11 October 2026 its Modrinth search on a Purpur 26.3 server listed GriefPrevention with an Install button. The Hangar page lists only older builds. Choose Modrinth in the panel. Not checked on 26.3 as of 11 October 2026: running this build on a 26.3 server.
In the ArthOS panel
- Take a backup.
- Open Add-ons, then Plugins. Under Find plugins choose Modrinth.
- Search for
GriefPreventionand choose Install. Choose Restart now. - Open Config Editor and look at Spawn protection radius. GriefPrevention’s FAQ says the game’s own spawn protection can stop
/trustfrom working for players who are not operators. If trust seems to do nothing near spawn, set it to 0. See spawn protection. - Type
pluginsin the Console. GriefPrevention should be green.
How players claim land
A new player gets a first claim without doing anything. When a player with no claims places a chest, they get a claim around it. With the default radius of 4 it is 9 by 9 blocks, with the chest in the middle.
For any other claim, the player uses a golden shovel:
- Hold the golden shovel and right-click one corner. The plugin says: “Claim corner set! Use the shovel again at the opposite corner to claim a rectangle of land. To cancel, put your shovel away.”
- Right-click the opposite corner. The claim is made and its edges are shown.
- To make a claim bigger or smaller, right-click a corner of it with the shovel, then right-click the new place for that corner.
- To see a claim, hold a stick and right-click the ground or a build.
Claim blocks
A claim costs claim blocks, one per block of ground in the claim. These are the defaults. The settings live in the plugin’s config.yml, and the keys below are written as the plugin’s configuration page writes them. The page does not name the folder that holds the file, so find it in Files (the plugin makes a default config when it first runs). Not checked on 26.3 as of 11 October 2026: the folder path.
| Setting | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
Claims.InitialBlocks | 100 | Claim blocks a new player starts with |
Claims.BlocksAccruedPerHour | 100 | Earned for each hour of play |
Claims.MaxAccruedBlocks | 80000 | Most a player can earn by playing |
Blocks are earned gradually, and only by players who are not standing still. Admins can give extra blocks with /adjustbonusclaimblocks. A player sees their blocks and claims with /claimslist.
An automatic chest claim that was never made bigger is removed when its owner has been away for a week.
Buy claim blocks with money
With Vault and an economy plugin installed (see the Vault plugin), players can turn server money into claim blocks with /buyclaimblocks and back with /sellclaimblocks. You set the price in the config file under GriefPrevention.Economy.ClaimBlocksPurchaseCost. Players can buy and sell by default. To stop some players, take away the griefprevention.buysellclaimblocks permission. Not checked on 26.3 as of 11 October 2026: buying blocks with a 26.3 economy plugin.
Share a claim with other players
Stand inside the claim and type these in game chat. Each takes one name. The plugin’s own descriptions are quoted.
| Command | Short | What it allows |
|---|---|---|
/trust Name | /t | “Gives another player permission to edit in your claim.” |
/containertrust Name | /ct | Use buttons, levers, beds, crafting gear, containers and animals |
/accesstrust Name | /at | Use buttons, levers and beds |
/permissiontrust Name | /pt | Share their own permission level with others |
/untrust Name | /ut | Take back what you gave |
/trustlist | none | List who has what in the claim you stand in |
Use public instead of a name to trust everyone, for example /accesstrust public.
To give a claim up, stand in it and type /abandonclaim. /abandonallclaims removes all of your claims.
What admins can do
Admin commands need the matching permission. Give it with a permissions plugin, and test it with your own account before you rely on it.
/adminclaimsswitches the shovel to admin claims, which belong to the server and not to a player. It needsgriefprevention.adminclaims. Use/basicclaimsto go back./deleteclaimdeletes the claim you stand in, even if it is not yours. It needsgriefprevention.deleteclaims./ignoreclaimslets you build and break inside other players’ claims. It needsgriefprevention.ignoreclaims, and you must turn it on again every time you log in. Turn it off when you are done.
By hand
Put the jar from the plugin’s own page in the plugins folder with Files, and restart.
If it does not work
- Players cannot build in their own claim. Check the claim with the stick. If they are not the owner, the owner must give
/trust Name. /trustdoes nothing near spawn. Spawn protection is stopping non-operators. Set Spawn protection radius to 0 in Config Editor.- “You can’t create a claim here because it would overlap”. The area touches another claim. Use
/abandonclaim, or resize with the shovel at a corner. - Players earn no claim blocks. Players who stand still earn none.
- GriefPrevention does not load. Read the first error in
logs/latest.log. See a plugin will not load.
To find who broke something, see CoreProtect. For admin-set areas, see WorldGuard regions. Servers for all of this are on the Minecraft page.
Sources: legacy.griefprevention.com: Commands, legacy.griefprevention.com: Configuration, legacy.griefprevention.com: Administrators guide, legacy.griefprevention.com: Permissions, legacy.griefprevention.com: Faq, modrinth.com: Griefprevention, api.modrinth.com: Version, raw.githubusercontent.com: Messages.java