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WorldGuard and WorldEdit: The Basics That Protect a Server

ZCraft Studios

Region protection stops the single most common cause of a server's first real disaster — someone griefing spawn before protection existed.

WorldGuard and WorldEdit: The Basics That Protect a Server

Most servers install this pair on day one and still get it wrong — usually by protecting spawn and forgetting everything else.

WorldEdit handles building and terrain editing. WorldGuard handles protection — who can build, break, or interact where. They're built to work together, and most servers need both.

Install Both Plugins

Drop WorldEdit.jar and WorldGuard.jar into plugins/ and restart — WorldGuard depends on WorldEdit, so both need to be present or WorldGuard won't load.

Creating Your First Region (Spawn Protection)

Select an area with WorldEdit's wand (given by /wand, or just hold the default selection tool): left-click one corner, right-click the opposite corner. Then:

/region define spawn

This creates a region named spawn covering the selected area, owned by whoever ran the command.

Setting Region Flags

Flags control what's allowed inside a region:

/region flag spawn build deny
/region flag spawn pvp deny
/region flag spawn mob-spawning deny

build deny blocks all building and breaking inside the region for anyone without a bypass permission — this is what actually stops griefing, not just a sign that says "don't build here."

Giving Players Build Access

For a region where specific players (not everyone) should be able to build — a player's claimed plot, for example:

/region addmember <regionname> <playername>

Members can build; non-members can't, regardless of the global build flag.

Useful WorldEdit Commands Beyond Selection

//set stone          fill the current selection with a block
//copy                copy the selection
//paste               paste the last copy
//undo                undo the last WorldEdit operation

The double-slash is intentional — it's how WorldEdit commands are distinguished from normal single-slash commands.

Checking What Region You're Standing In

/region info

run with no arguments reports the region at your current location — useful for debugging overlapping regions or confirming a flag actually applied where expected.

Common Setup Mistakes

  • No global region fallback. Anything outside a defined region falls back to the world's default rules — if build should be restricted everywhere by default, a region covering the entire world (or the __global__ region) needs the deny flag too, not just specific protected areas.
  • Overlapping regions with conflicting flags. WorldGuard resolves conflicts by region priority — set priorities explicitly (/region setpriority <region> <number>) instead of leaving it to defaults when regions overlap.
  • Forgetting PvP-specific regions. A combat arena needs pvp allow even if PvP is globally denied — region flags override the global setting for that one area.
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