Works on 1.8 and 1.9

Description:

When Mojang introduced horses, it was thought that it would be revolutionary and change the game in so many ways. We all imagined knights and massive horse battles with cavalry.

Unfortunately, horses in Minecraft are pretty useless right now. They are difficult to use, cumbersome and offer no real advantage apart from the speed of travel over level land terrain. This plugin aims to change that and bring back the imagined terror of a foot soldier when being charged down by heavy cavalry.

This plugin makes horses what they were intended to be! A powerful tool of combat, requiring skill to change the scene of battle. Though conceptually simple, this plugin adds a massive element of skill to using horses in battle. Horses are now a huge asset to those who can use them well.

Features:
1. Melee and ranged attacks while riding horses are boosted by a configurable amount.

2. The attack damage is further increased depending on the speed of the horse.
Charging cavalry attacks are now incredibly dangerous depending on the speed of the charge.

3. All damage increased and multipliers are configurable in the config file.

4. Additional permission to further increase the speed damage done on horseback beyond the normal increase. This is also configurable.

This is useful as a perk for some groups or as a feature in RPG servers where cavalry classes can have a further increase in horseback damage. It can also be used in horse related mini-games.

5. Debug option where the damage done is broken down and displayed in great detail so you can fine tune the experience for your server and adjust the damage as per your desires.

6. Message displays when players ride horses and informs them about the increased horseback damage, so you don't need to explain the new features.

This only displays for horses that are already tamed to ensure that the message does not spam while horses are being tamed. This message is also configurable and can be changed or removed.

7. Everything is controlled with permissions so you can restrict or use these features as per your requirements in different worlds or at different times.

8. Reload command to change settings and reload the plugin on the fly with the new settings.

This plugin is quite simple and has been entirely coded in one class, using minimum nested if commands and very few variables to be as lightweight as possible.

My goal was to make it as simple and light as possible while maintaining a high degree of configurability for the users.

This uses no NMS imports and is therefore unlikely to break with updates. It has been tested on spigot 1.8.7 and should work in most 1.8 versions and maybe even 1.7. You will have to try and let me know.

Installation:
The plugin installation is as simple as drag and drop but can also be configured in great detail if required.
1) Download the jar file and paste it in your plugins folder
2) Start the server and the default config will be generated and the plugin will work as normal and is fine for most users.
3) If required, change the values in config.yml as per your needs and use the command "/horsecombat reload" from the console to reload your new settings.

Commands: Only one-
/horsecombat reload - This reloads the config with the new settings you have changed.

Permissions:
1) horsecombat.allow.* - allows the plugin to increase both melee and ranged horseback damage for the player.
2) horsecombat.allow.melee - allows the plugin to increase melee horseback damage for the player.
3) horsecombat.allow.ranged - allows the plugin to increase ranged horseback damage for the player.
4) horsecombat.bonus.melee - If this is present in addition to the base permission, it allows a further increase in melee damage done.
5) horsecombat.bonus.ranged - If this is present in addition to the base permission, it allows a further increase in ranged damage done.
6) horsecombat.reload - allows you to reload the plugin config.

Config File:

#Do not change this!
version : 1.2

#############################################
## MELEE DAMAGE SECTION ##
#############################################

#This turns on the melee horsecombat functionality
meleehorsecombat: true

#This is bonus damage just for melee attacking
#while riding a horse.
StationaryMeleeDamageBoost : 1.0

#This value is multiplied with your speed
#and added to your melee damage. 2-4 are reasonable values
SpeedMeleeDamageMultiplier : 3.0

#This is the number that is multiplied with the
#existing melee speed damage for those with the permission
#"horsecombat.bonus.melee". This is useful as a
#donor perk or feature for higher ranks.
BonusMeleeDamageMultiplier: 1.5

#############################################
## RANGED DAMAGE SECTION ##
#############################################

#This turns on the ranged horsecombat functionality
rangedhorsecombat: false

#set this to true if you don't want to boost damage
#of other ranged attacks like eggs and snowballs.
onlyArrows: true

#This is bonus damage just for ranged attacks
#while riding a horse.
StationaryRangedDamageBoost : 1.0

#This value is multiplied with your speed
#and added to your ranged damage. 2-4 are reasonable values
SpeedRangedDamageMultiplier : 1.0

#This is the number that is multiplied with the
#existing ranged speed damage for those with the permission
#"horsecombat.bonus.ranged". This is useful as a
#donor perk or feature for higher ranks.
BonusRangedDamageMultiplier: 1.5

#############################################
## MISCELLANEOUS SECTION ##
#############################################

#Set this to true to receive messages about
#damage levels. This is useful to adjust
#the above values to your preference.
debug : false

#Set this to true for players to receive a message
#when they get on a horse, informing them of the
#increased damage on horseback.
notify : true

#This is the message they will receive when they get on the horse.
#You can use colour codes like &e or &a as you prefer.
mountmessage : "&eAttack damage is boosted on horseback. Damage increases with the horses speed."

Horsecombat