WelcomeMessages v1.3.5

The Ultimate Welcome Plugin for Minecraft Servers

Clean, lightweight, and packed with features that actually work!

🎉 What's New in v1.3.5

🔧 Critical Bug Fixes & Formatting Improvements

WelcomeMessages v1.3.5 focuses on fixing critical issues and improving message formatting:

🔧 Title Display Fixes - Welcome titles now show consistently on player join with proper timing and online checks
🎨 Message Formatting - Resolved HTML entity corruption that was causing mp:8 instead of &8 color codes
🛡️ Division by Zero Protection - Added safety checks to prevent crashes when animation duration is set to 0
💾 Memory Leak Fixes - Proper cleanup of firework tasks and animation resources when plugin disables
🔍 HTML Entity Handling - Added automatic cleanup of HTML entities in messages
⚡ Resource Management - Better cleanup system for all plugin resources
🔧 Code Quality - Fixed deprecated method usage and improved error handling

🎆 Previous v1.3.4: Firework Safety & Theme System Improvements

WelcomeMessages v1.3.4 focused on making your server experience safer and more reliable:

🎆 Firework Safety - Fixed critical issue where welcome fireworks were causing damage to players
🎨 Theme System Enhancement - Completely overhauled theme conflict detection and resolution
⏰ Time Range Fixes - Resolved overlapping time-based theme conflicts for smoother transitions
📅 Date Logic Improvements - Better handling of seasonal themes that cross year boundaries
🔍 Automatic Validation - Plugin now detects and reports theme configuration conflicts on startup
🛡️ Enhanced Error Handling - Comprehensive validation for all date and time parsing
⚡ Memory Management - Improved cleanup system for firework effects to prevent memory leaks
🔧 Code Quality - Zero linter errors, improved documentation and code structure

🚀 Previous v1.3.1 Improvements

Security Fixes - Fixed various security issues and improved code safety
Rate Limiting - Built-in command cooldowns to prevent spam and abuse
Input Sanitization - Protection against malicious input and injection attacks
Thread Safety - All operations are now fully thread-safe
Performance Optimization - ThreadLocalRandom usage and memory management improvements

🎉 Previous Features (v1.2.5)

✨ 12 Amazing Text Animations

WelcomeMessages now includes a complete animation system with 12 different effects:

Typing - Character-by-character reveal with perfect color handling
Typewriter - Classic typewriter effect with blinking cursor
Fade - Smooth fade-in effect with opacity changes
Slide - Text slides in from the side
Wave - Text waves up and down like ocean waves
Rainbow - Colors cycle through rainbow spectrum
Glitch - Random characters appear and disappear
Bounce - Text bounces up and down with varying heights
Shake - Text shakes left and right randomly
Pulse - Text pulses in brightness (bright → yellow → gray)
Matrix - Matrix-style falling characters with green color
Scramble - Text scrambles with random characters, then reveals correctly

🎯 Action Bar Display

Animations are private to the target player (no chat spam!)
Configurable duration for each animation
Different animations for join, quit, and first-join messages
Perfect color code preservation
Smooth performance optimization

🛠️ Bug Fixes & Improvements

FIXED: Tab completion for /welcome testanim command
FIXED: Typing animations now work perfectly with color codes
FIXED: Typewriter animation with proper blinking cursor
FIXED: All linter errors and warnings (zero errors!)
IMPROVED: Performance and compatibility across all server types

🚀 Key Features

🎨 Visual Excellence

RGB & Gradient Support - Modern color codes and rainbow text
12 Text Animations - Make your messages truly special
Custom Rank System - Unlimited custom ranks with any names
Smart Effects - Particles, sounds, titles, fireworks (all optional)

🔧 Admin-Friendly

Config Validation - Won't crash your server with bad settings
PlaceholderAPI Support - 13+ placeholders for other plugins
Full Spigot/Paper Compatibility - Works on both server types
Async Performance - Your TPS will thank you
Smart Caching - Optimized for server performance

👥 Player Experience

Personal Toggle - Players can turn messages on/off
Join Counter - Tracks player visits and saves data
First Join Detection - Special messages for new players
Rank-Based Messages - VIPs get VIP treatment
Private Animations - No chat spam, just beautiful effects

📋 Commands

Command	Description	Permission
`/welcome`	Show help menu	`welcome.use`
`/welcome reload`	Reload configuration	`welcome.reload`
`/welcome test`	Preview your join message	`welcome.test`
`/welcome testall`	Test all features including animations	`welcome.testall`
`/welcome testanim <type> [player]`	Test specific animation types	`welcome.testanim`
`/welcome toggle`	Turn your messages on/off	`welcome.toggle`
`/welcome stats [player]`	Check join count statistics	`welcome.stats`
`/welcome reset [player]`	Reset player data	`welcome.reset`
`/welcome version`	Show plugin version	`welcome.use`

🎮 Animation Testing

Test all the amazing animations with these commands:

# Test all features including animations
/welcome testall

# Test specific animation types
/welcome testanim typing      # Character-by-character reveal
/welcome testanim typewriter  # Typewriter with blinking cursor
/welcome testanim bounce      # Bouncy text effect
/welcome testanim matrix      # Matrix-style falling characters
/welcome testanim scramble    # Scramble and reveal effect
# ... and 7 more animation types!

⚙️ Configuration

Animation Settings

animations:
  enabled: true
  default-duration: 60
  default-type: "typing"
  use-action-bar: true
  show-final-in-chat: true

  join:
    enabled: false  # Disabled by default to prevent chat spam
    type: "typing"
    duration: 60
  quit:
    enabled: false  # Disabled by default to prevent chat spam
    type: "fade"
    duration: 40
  first-join:
    enabled: true   # First join animations are special
    type: "rainbow"
    duration: 80

Custom Rank System

custom-ranks:
  enabled: true
  ranks:
    - "owner"      # Server owner
    - "admin"      # Administrator  
    - "moderator"  # Moderator
    - "mvp"        # MVP rank
    - "vip"        # VIP rank
    - "premium"    # Premium rank
    - "donator"    # Donator rank
    - "member"     # Member rank

🔗 PlaceholderAPI Support

If you have PlaceholderAPI installed, you can use these placeholders:

Placeholder	Description
`%welcome_join_count%`	Player's join count
`%welcome_first_join%`	Whether it's player's first join
`%welcome_messages_disabled%`	Whether player has messages disabled
`%welcome_last_seen%`	Time since player was last seen
`%welcome_first_join_time%`	When player first joined
`%welcome_time_since_last_seen%`	Time since last seen
`%welcome_time_since_first_join%`	Time since first join
`%welcome_total_unique_joins%`	Total unique players who joined
`%welcome_join_ordinal%`	Player's join order (1st, 2nd, etc.)
`%welcome_player_ordinal%`	Player's current position
`%welcome_status%`	Player status (New/Returning)
`%welcome_rank%`	Player's highest rank
`%welcome_time_greeting%`	Time-based greeting
`%welcome_server_uptime%`	Server uptime

📊 Performance

Async Everything - Your TPS will thank you
Smart Caching - Not the dumb kind
Optional Metrics - Off by default for privacy
Works on Potato Servers - Optimized for all server sizes
Zero Linter Errors - Perfect code quality

🛡️ Compatibility

Minecraft: 1.21.x
Java: 21 (required by Minecraft)
Server Software: Spigot, Paper, Purpur, Pufferfish
Permission Plugins: LuckPerms, PEX, GroupManager, etc.
Other Plugins: PlaceholderAPI, bStats

📥 Installation

Download the WelcomeMessages-1.2.5.jar file
Place it in your server's /plugins folder
Restart your server
Edit the configuration files to your liking
Enjoy your new welcome system!

🎯 Why Choose WelcomeMessages?

No Bloat - Does one thing and does it well
No Premium Features - Everything is included
Actually Works - No crashes, no broken updates
Modern Features - RGB colors, animations, PlaceholderAPI
Admin Friendly - Config validation, easy setup
Player Friendly - Personal toggles, beautiful effects
Performance Focused - Async, caching, optimization
Community Driven - Open source, active development

🐛 Support & Feedback

GitHub Issues: Report bugs and request features
GitHub Repository: View source code and documentation
Releases: Download latest version
Updates: Regular updates with new features and fixes

Made with ❤️ by FiveDollaGobby

The welcome plugin that actually works!

🔗 Links

GitHub Repository: https://github.com/FiveDollaGobby/WelcomeMessages
Latest Release: v1.2.5 Download
Report Issues: GitHub Issues
View Source Code: GitHub Code

Welcome Messages | By FiveDollaGobby