Traveler's Journal

By
GBTI

Part of the Traveler's Series; provide a player with a book upon joining, with its content dynamically managed and continuously updated by the admin from a markdown file.

The journal contents are synchronized 1:1 with an admin controlled markdown file.

Description

Traveler's Journal

Traveler's Journal can give each new player a book when they first join, and the server admin decides what it says: welcome instructions, server rules, or the start of an adventure.

Features

Every copy shows the latest text the next time it is used
Several named journals, each given to new players on first join or only by command
An in-game journal manager on Minecraft 1.21.6 and later, with a preview of each journal's pages
On 1.20 to 1.21.5, journals written as files, with a step-by-step guide
Server-side only: players need no client mod

One jar runs on Minecraft 1.20 to 1.20.4, 1.21 to 1.21.11 and 26.1 to 26.3. Fabric loads the build that matches your server, so a server that moves to another supported version keeps the same jar. It needs Fabric Loader 0.16.10 or newer and Fabric API. Minecraft 1.20.5 and 1.20.6 are not supported.

Upgrading from any earlier release keeps your settings, your text, your join list and the journals players already carry.

Configuration

Operators manage journals with the /journals commands and the files in config/travelers-journal/. The commands also work from the server console, and /journals is a shorter name for /travelers_journal. Operators need level 2 unless operator_level in config.txt says otherwise.

/journals: on 1.21.6 and later, opens the journal manager in game. Elsewhere, lists these commands.
/journals list: shows every journal, and whether it goes to new players.
/journals give <players> [journal]: gives each player a journal, default unless one is named. A player with a full inventory finds it at their feet.
/journals create <id>: adds a journal in journals/<id>/. The id is a short name such as rules: the commands use it to name the journal, and it is the folder's name. Ids use lower-case letters, digits and -, up to 32 characters. The book's title is set separately.
/journals delete <journal>: moves a journal's folder to backups/journals/<id>/. Copies players already carry stay as signed books. default cannot be deleted.
/journals edit [journal]: on 1.21.6 and later, opens the journal in the editor. Elsewhere, names its text and settings files.
/journals reload: reads every journal's files again. Each copy shows the new text the next time it is used.

Typed without what it needs, create, give or delete shows its usage with an example.

On 1.21.6 and later, /journals opens the manager, built from Minecraft's own dialog screens, so players need no client mod. Its hub lists every journal by title, plus Create journal and Reload from files. A journal's editor holds the book title (up to 32 characters), the author, a "Give on first join" switch and the text in one box, in the same markup as the files. Save writes the files and keeps the previous text as a .bak file beside them. Give to me puts a copy in your inventory, and Delete journal asks first, then moves the journal's folder to a backup. The server checks every button press again, so only operators at the configured level can change anything.

The journal manager on Minecraft 1.21.6, listing every journal with Create journal and Reload from files

Editing a journal in game: book title, author, Give on first join and the text

Basic Settings (`config.txt`)

title=Traveler's Journal
author=Server
give_on_join=true
operator_level=2
debug_logging=false
legacy_titles=Traveller's Journal,Travelers Journal

title, author and give_on_join belong to the default journal. operator_level (0 to 4) sets who may use the commands and the manager, and /journals reload applies a change.

Journal Content

Every server starts with the default journal. Its text is config/travelers-journal/travelers_journal.md, and its title, author and give_on_join are in config.txt.

The default journal's travelers_journal.md open in a text editor

On 1.20 to 1.21.5, where there is no in-game manager, add a journal by file:

Run /journals create rules. It makes config/travelers-journal/journals/rules/.
Write the text in journal.md, and the title, author and give_on_join in journal.txt.
Run /journals reload, then /journals give @s rules to read your copy.

The full guide is in the README. On 1.21.6 and later, /journals opens the manager, which creates and edits journals in game.

The text supports:

Bold **text**, italic *text* and underline _text_
Headings: a line starting with # shows as typed, so make a heading bold, such as **Rules**
Colors: <color>text<>, where the color is black, dark_blue, dark_green, dark_aqua, dark_red, dark_purple, gold, gray, dark_gray, blue, green, aqua, red, light_purple, yellow or white
Page breaks: [page] starts a new page, and a page also ends when it fills the book's 14 lines

Preview Your Journal

On Minecraft 1.21.6 and later, type /journals, pick a journal from the list and press Preview in its editor. It shows the pages as players will read them, without saving.

Before 1.21.6 there is no preview. Run /journals give @s <journal> and read your own copy to see where the pages break.

Preview of a journal's two pages, with bold, italic, underlined and colored text

The same journal open on a lectern

Support

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AI disclosure

Traveler's Journal is developed by the GBTI Network, a team with over 20 years of combined experience in product and application development.

We use modern AI coding tools (Claude Code, Codex, and OpenClaw) as assistants in our workflow.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0