Grief protection
Role-gated building keeps newcomers from wrecking spawn. With CoreProtect, any block change rolls back in one click.
NovaSync · Paper server plugin
Releasedv2.17.161Paper 1.21.11 · Java 216 months free
One JAR. Your whole server.
A web dashboard, roles and protections, chat moderation, bans with appeals, GFS backups and Bedrock voice, in one plugin. No Velocity, no Vault, no Essentials. Drop it into plugins/, start Paper and open the dashboard.
What the server prints on its first boot:
- [NovaSyncPlugin] Loaded 4 roles
- [NovaSyncPlugin] Protection, creative, and display listeners registered
- [NovaSyncPlugin] HTTP-API Started on port 8585
- Dashboard ready at http://YOUR_IP:8585/dashboard
Drop the JAR into plugins/, start Paper on Java 21, and the console prints this. Java 21 comes from the system packages on Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04 and on Debian 13; Debian 12 has no Java 21 package. The one-line install or the six steps below take a bare server to this point.
Installed by hand, the dashboard starts with a default login (admin / changeme) and plain http. The one-line installer replaces that login with a random password. Either way, keep port 8585 closed to the internet and reach the dashboard through an SSH tunnel, see step 4 below.
What it does
Everything a Paper server needs, built to work together.
Instead of gluing twelve plugins together over a weekend and keeping them from fighting for a month, every feature here is made to work with every other one.
Chat moderation
More than 120 patterns in six groups: grooming, sexual content, racism, toxicity, scams and spam. It sees through leet speak, spaced letters and Cyrillic look-alikes, in English and Afrikaans, and mutes severe offenders.
Bans and appeals
Ban with a reason and a length. Players appeal through a public form, and you approve or reject from the dashboard.
Bedrock and Java voice
Simple Voice Chat that really reaches Bedrock players through Geyser. No more “I can hear everyone except the Bedrock kids”.
Web dashboard
A live player map, TPS chart, analytics, file browser, config editor and live console, in any browser.
Roles and protections
Noob, Builder, Player and Admin out of the box, each with its own PVP, build, creative, flight and name-tag rules. Make your own; they sync to LuckPerms if you use it.
GFS backups
Hourly, daily, weekly and monthly tiers: a week of two-hourly snapshots for grief and a month of dailies for dupes. The world is saved first, and nothing runs while the server is empty.
Kits, TPA, homes and warps
The everyday tools people usually need five plugins for, as one consistent feature.
Bedrock crossplay
Built around Floodgate: skins, IDs and the leading dot in Bedrock names all handled properly.
Linked servers
Servers talk to each other directly and relay through a hub when one is behind NAT. Chat, inventories and ender chests follow players between them. No proxy needed.
Install
From nothing to a protected server in a minute.
One command on a fresh server, or six steps by hand.
One command on a fresh server
On Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04 or Debian 13, as a user who can use sudo:
curl -fsSL https://seidrlabs.online/novasync/install.sh | sudo bashIt installs Java 21, downloads Paper 1.21.11 (checked against the SHA-256 PaperMC publishes) and the NovaSync plugin, accepts the Minecraft EULA on your behalf, and runs the server as its own nova user under systemd. It adds ufw rules for the game ports only. Before anything is started it shuts the dashboard port to outside traffic with a firewall rule (and stops if it cannot). Right after the first start it replaces the default dashboard login with a random password, checks that password by logging in, and prints it once at the end; it is also saved in /root/nova-dashboard-login.txt, readable by root only. If it cannot prove the new login works, it stops the server and keeps it from starting at boot instead of leaving it running with the default one. It also installs unattended-upgrades and checks that automatic security upgrades are switched on.
The dashboard port is not opened. On a server where ufw is switched off, which is the default, nothing is filtered at all, and the installer says so at the end. Reach the dashboard through the SSH tunnel it prints, or give it a domain name for HTTPS. Running it again upgrades Paper and the plugin and leaves your dashboard password alone.
Tested on 1 October 2026 on clean installs of Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04 and Debian 13: the install, the dashboard login, a re-run, links planted where the installer writes, and the optional web server for a domain. Debian 12 is refused with a clear message because it has no Java 21 package. The web server is tested with a stand-in certificate only: we have not tested getting a real Let’s Encrypt certificate, and until one is issued nothing is proxied to the dashboard. You can read the script before you run it.
A Paper plugin, not a Fabric or Forge mod
NovaSync will not load on a plain Fabric or Forge server. If your host’s panel says “Loader: Fabric” or “Loader: Forge”, switch the server type to Paper, Spigot or Purpur. To run NovaSync next to Fabric mods, try a hybrid loader such as Banner or Sinytra Connector, and expect rough edges.
Get Paper and Java 21
Download Paper 1.21.11 and install Java 21 (Temurin). Run Paper once, then set
eula=trueineula.txt.java -Xms2G -Xmx4G -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:+ParallelRefProcEnabled -XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=200 -jar paper-1.21.11.jar noguiDrop in the JAR
Put the NovaSync JAR in the server’s
plugins/folder. It is the only plugin you need.Start the server
The first boot writes
plugins/NovaSyncPlugin/config.ymlwith a unique network key, creates the database and adds the four default roles. The console says “Loaded 4 roles” and “HTTP-API Started on port 8585”.Open the dashboard
Do not open port 8585 to the internet: the dashboard is plain http and starts with a default login. From your own computer open an SSH tunnel with
ssh -L 8585:127.0.0.1:8585 you@YOUR_IP, browse tohttp://127.0.0.1:8585/dashboardand sign in withadmin/changeme(if you used the one-line installer, use the password it printed instead). On a hand install a red banner reminds you to change the default: Change Login Now sets a strong password and your recovery email in one form.Installed with an older version of the one-line installer (before 1 October 2026)? That version opened port 8585 to everyone and left the default login. Close the port with
sudo ufw delete allow 8585/tcpand change the login. For regular remote use, put an HTTPS reverse proxy in front of the dashboard.Answer the welcome card
Four questions: public hostname, region, single server or not, and a server to link with. Test Connection checks the other server before saving, so a typo can’t strand your server.
Add Bedrock (optional)
Drop Geyser-Spigot and Floodgate into
plugins/and setenforce-secure-profile=false. Bedrock players join on port 19132 with roles and voice.
Locked out of the dashboard? Three ways back in
- Recovery code, no restart. After the first boot,
plugins/NovaSyncPlugin/RECOVERY.txtholds a one-time code. Send it with a new password to/api/credentials/reset-with-recovery. A new code is made after each reset. - Reset file, needs a restart. Put an empty file called
RESET-LOGIN.txtinplugins/NovaSyncPlugin/and restart. The login goes back toadmin/changeme; change it straight away. - Recovery email, needs SMTP. Set
dashboard.smtp.*anddashboard.recovery-email, then use Forgot password on the sign-in page.
The dashboard
Run the server from a browser.
Works on a phone, in a dark theme, refreshing fast, normal or slow. Pick a tab to see what it does.
Overview
Players online, TPS over 1, 5 and 15 minutes, memory, uptime and entity count, with a live TPS chart and the latest events.
Compared
One JAR instead of six.
What you would otherwise install separately, side by side.
| Feature | NovaSync | CoreProtect | LiteBans | EssentialsX | Plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web dashboard | Built in | No | Web page only | No | Analytics only |
| Chat moderation | 120+ patterns, 6 groups | No | No | Basic word filter | No |
| Roles and protections | Built in, LuckPerms sync | No | No | No | No |
| Block audit and rollback | Through CoreProtect | Yes | No | No | No |
| Live console | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Player analytics | Daily, weekly and monthly players, charts | No | Ban history | No | Yes |
| GFS backups | Scheduled, with retention | No | No | No | No |
| Voice to Bedrock | Yes, with SVC and Geyser | No | No | No | No |
| Install time | 2 min, 1 JAR | 2 min | 5 min | 2 min | 2 min |
| Price | 6 months free, then a key | Free | $10 | Free | Free |
| Plugins for full coverage | 1 JAR | 5+ more | 5+ more | 5+ more | 5+ more |
Works well with
CoreProtect Recommended
Block history and rollback. The dashboard reads it to look up and undo grief in one click, and it powers build protection.
Get CoreProtectLuckPerms
Advanced permissions. Your NovaSync roles create matching LuckPerms groups automatically.
Get LuckPermsGeyser and Floodgate
Lets phone, console and Switch players join your Java server, with roles, name-tag colours and companions.
Get GeyserSimple Voice Chat
Proximity voice, extended with Bedrock passthrough and voice hosts that never expose your IP.
Get Simple Voice Chat
Pricing
Six months free. Then pick a tier.
Every new install has every feature for six months, with no key. After that, one Patreon key unlocks the plugin on all your servers. The core networking stays free.
6 months
The whole dashboard, chat moderation, roles, backups and analytics. Starts on the first boot.
$3 or $5
31 days, or for good. You bring your own OpenAI key for Nova AI, and the plugin uses it too.
$10
A 31-day licence that includes our AI proxy and the plugin’s premium features.
$25
90 days, plus a custom skin, voice prompts and replies. Custom updates while you stay a member.
$50
366 days and full customisation. The tier that keeps the whole project funded.
Choose a tier on Patreon No per-server licences.
Ban appeal
Banned? Ask for a second look.
NovaSync keeps the ban list for a Nova-run server. An appeal is saved for the people who run the NovaSync network to read. There is no fixed reply time, and the Nova game servers are offline for now, so expect a wait.
Banned from someone else’s server? Contact that server’s admin; only they can lift it.
What does NovaSync replace?
A web admin panel, chat moderation, a role and permission system, a ban manager, scheduled backups, analytics, a live console and a file manager. Add CoreProtect for block history and rollback and a single server is fully covered.
Do I need a proxy like Velocity or BungeeCord?
No. Servers talk to each other directly, with a built-in relay when one is behind NAT. Players join whichever server they like, and their chat, inventory and ender chest follow them.
What server software do I need?
Paper or Spigot 1.21.11 (Paper is faster and recommended) and Java 21, with at least 4 GB of memory for a small server.
How does the free trial work?
Every new install has every feature for six months, with no key. After that, a key keeps the premium features on. The core networking stays free.
How do the roles work?
Four roles come built in. Noob is protected from PVP and can’t build. Builder gets creative, flight and limited commands. Player is normal survival. Admin has full access. Make your own in the dashboard: each role sets PVP, build protection, creative, flight, chat colour and name-tag prefix.
How does chat moderation work?
More than 120 patterns in six groups, in English and Afrikaans, including leet speak, spaced letters, Cyrillic look-alikes and shorthand. Spam bots are muted at once, severe offenders are muted automatically, and flagged players show in red on the Overview with their full message log.
How do backups work?
Hourly, daily, weekly and monthly tiers. By default it keeps a week of two-hourly snapshots and a month of dailies. It saves the world first, skips empty servers, never purges protected snapshots, and lets you set compression and excluded folders.
Can Bedrock players join?
Yes. Add Geyser and Floodgate and set enforce-secure-profile=false. Bedrock players get roles, name-tag colours, voice passed through to Java, and see other players’ AI companions.
How do ban appeals work on my server?
A banned player’s disconnect screen links to an appeal page made for that ban. The appeal lands in Reports & Bans › Appeals in your dashboard. Approving it lifts the ban; rejecting it logs your reason.
Does it work with Nova Quantum?
It was built for it. Other players see each other’s Nova Quantum companions as real players, with skin, walk, arm swing and gear, without installing anything, on Bedrock too.
One JAR.
Six months free.
For Paper and Spigot 1.21.11 on Java 21.