what the plugin does
Maintenance lets you lock down your Minecraft server while you make updates or fix bugs. When you turn it on, players without permission can't join. The plugin is strictly server-side, so your players don't need to install anything on their game clients.
You can set a custom server icon and MOTD to tell players why the server is closed. If someone tries to connect while maintenance mode is active, the plugin sends a notification to administrators. You can also customize almost every message through language files translated into multiple languages.
timers and whitelist controls
You don't have to flip maintenance mode on and off by hand every time. The plugin supports start timers, end timers, and scheduled blocks of downtime. When you set a timer, you can pass values like 90s, 5m, or 1h5m30s.
During a countdown, you can put the %TIMER% placeholder into your ping message. Players checking their server list see exactly how much time remains before the server opens. If you need staff members or testers to log in during downtime, you can add them to a maintenance whitelist using their player name or UUID.
proxy setups and database sync
If you run a network on Velocity or Bungee, you only install Maintenance on the proxy rather than individual backend servers. You can lock the entire network or toggle maintenance on a single server with the /maintenance <on/off> <servername> command.
Network setups can route players to waiting servers during full maintenance, or direct them to fallback servers when one backend is closed. To sync maintenance status and whitelisted players across multiple proxy nodes, you can connect your proxies using a MySQL database or a Redis instance. Real talk, if you want PlaceholderAPI support, you can install the separate MaintenanceAddon.
formatting rules and requirements
Maintenance uses MiniMessage for text formatting instead of legacy section codes. Color tags, RGB values, click events, and hover events must follow the MiniMessage format.
The plugin runs on Paper, Velocity, Waterfall, Sponge, and BungeeCord. You can also run it on Spigot, but Spigot servers need ProtocolLib to access the full feature set. If you compile the project from source, you need JDK 21 or higher, though the code targets Java 17.
