Plugin, Mod, Skript or Datapack?

Which of the four Minecraft things to build — and whether your players have to install anything.

The question that decides it

Minecraft Studio builds four different kinds of thing, and the first question is a simple one: do your players need to see something new — a new item, a new block, new textures? If they do not, you want something that runs on the server, and nobody except the server owner installs anything.

The four side by side

Kind	What you get	Where it goes	Do players install anything?
Plugin	A compiled `.jar` for your server platform — Paper, Spigot, Bukkit, Folia, or a proxy such as Velocity or BungeeCord	The server's `/plugins` folder, then a restart	No
Mod	A `.jar` for Fabric or Forge	Each player's game, on the same loader and version	Yes — every player, same loader, same version
Skript	A `.sk` file — nothing to compile	`plugins/Skript/scripts/`, then `/sk reload`	No — Skript runs on the server
Datapack	A vanilla datapack: recipes, loot tables, advancements, functions and placeable builds	The world's `datapacks` folder, then `/reload`	No — it runs on the server

Plugin or mod — the usual choice

When to pick which

Plugin — commands, permissions, menus, economy, rules. If players do not need to see anything new, build a plugin: it is easier and nobody installs anything. Any host that lets you upload to /plugins will run one.
Mod — new items, blocks, entities and world generation. Mods are harder than plugins: there is no stable API, the client and the server are split, and you supply your own textures — the generator writes code, not pictures, so without a 16×16 PNG you get the missing-texture look. The Image Creator can draw one and save it into the mod for you: see Adding a Picture to Your Mod as a Texture. Fabric suits new versions and small mods; Forge fits an existing Forge pack.
Skript — a small server rule or command, live in seconds with no build step and no restart. If your script uses Skript addons, say which ones you have installed before generating.
Datapack — vanilla additions such as a crafting recipe, a loot table, an advancement or a structure you can place, with no plugin and no mod loader.

When Skript is the wrong tool

Skript is interpreted. A script that loops over many entities every tick slows your server down, and a 4.000-line script is hard to maintain. If you would publish it, build a plugin instead.

There is no automatic conversion from one to the other: describe what the script does and generate a plugin from that same description.

Not sure? Start with a plugin — it is the mature path. The public generator pages, /minecraft-plugin-generator, /minecraft-mod-generator and /minecraft-skript-generator, give the same advice in their FAQ.

Try it now: Describe your plugin and see the plan, free and with no account. Open the plugin generator

Where to next

Next in Minecraft Studio: Bedrock Players
Decided on a plugin: Plugin Generator — Building the plugin, once you have picked it.
If players can install: Mod Generator — The loaders you can pick, and why Quilt is greyed out.
Skipping Java entirely: Script Editor — Where a Skript project is written.
Vanilla server, no add-ons: Datapack Studio — Datapacks, and the version trap in their folder names.

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