Alpha-systemStart hereInstallation

Installation

Get Alpha-system running, and update it without losing data.

On this page

Requirements
Choose the right jar
Install
Update
Choosing a database

Requirements

What	Needed	Notes
Server software	Paper	The plugin does not declare Folia support, so run it on Paper.
Minecraft	1.21.1 or newer	Jars are built per Minecraft version, see Choose the right jar.
Java	21 or 25	1.21.x servers use Java 21. 26.x servers use Java 25.
Network	Outgoing HTTPS	Needed for server approval.
Vault, PlaceholderAPI, LuckPerms, PacketEvents	Optional	See Requirements.

Choose the right jar

Jars are built per Minecraft version, and the file name tells you which one:

Alpha-system-<version>-mc-<minecraft>-java<java>.jar

Alpha-system-2.0.0-mc-1.21.1-java21.jar
Alpha-system-2.0.0-mc-26.2-java25.jar

Use the jar whose mc- part matches your server. A jar built for 26.x is compiled for Java 25 and will not load on Java 21.

Install

Stop the server and put the jar in plugins/.
Start it. The plugin creates plugins/Alpha-system/ with config.yml, economy.yml, punishments.yml, announcements.yml, lang/ and menus/.
Get approved. A new server is pending and the plugin stays off. The console prints your server id. Send it to AlphaStudio, wait for approval and restart. See Server approval.
Configure. Follow the Quick start.

Alpha-system loads before CMI, Essentials and EssentialsX and claims its own commands, so it wins a name clash. If you would rather keep another plugin's version of a command, turn that part off under features: in config.yml.

Update

Back up plugins/Alpha-system/. It holds the database file (with sqlite or h2), chat-preferences.yml and your menu files.
Replace the jar and restart. /as reload never loads a new jar.
Let it migrate. If config.yml changed shape, the plugin migrates it, keeps a backup and logs Migrated config.yml from vN to vM. Old menu files are converted and a .legacy-v1.yml copy is kept next to each. New keys in lang/messages.yml use their defaults without overwriting your edits.

Upgrading from 1.x: license keys no longer exist. 2.0.0 needs the server to be approved in the AlphaStudio panel, and an unapproved server will not run the plugin. Read Server approval before updating a live server.

Choosing a database

Type	Use it when
`sqlite`	One server. The default, nothing to set up.
`h2`	One server on a host that blocks native libraries.
`mysql`	A network that should share punishments, alerts and maintenance. See Network sync.

Choose it before you start collecting data. Records stored in one database type are not copied to another when you change database.type. The database schema is versioned and updated automatically, and a jar older than the schema in your database refuses to start, see Troubleshooting.