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Plugins · 8 min read

Minecraft Citizens NPC Tutorial

Create custom NPCs with Citizens, spawn NPCs, give them skins, click commands, paths and shops with the Citizens plugin.

Citizens is the plugin behind almost every NPC you see at a Minecraft server spawn , the shopkeeper, the warps NPC, the quest-giver. This tutorial covers spawning, skinning, click-commands and the most common addons.

1. Install

Download Citizens from citizensnpcs.co. Drop into plugins/ and restart. (For HD skins, also install ProtocolLib.)

2. Create your first NPC

/npc create Bob
/npc skin Steve
/npc lookclose true
/npc named "&6Shopkeeper Bob"

/npc list shows IDs. Selected NPC commands act on the one closest to you (or use /npc select <id>).

3. Click actions

Right-click NPC -> run a command:

/npc command add --player warp shop
/npc command permissions essentials.warp.shop

For a console-side command (e.g. opening a GUI):

/npc command add --c shopguiplus open shop %p%

4. Movement

/npc path                       # waypoints between blocks you stand on
/npc wander                     # walk around in a 25-block radius
/npc speed 0.5

5. Persistent across restarts

Citizens saves NPCs to plugins/Citizens/saves.yml automatically. Use /npc save after big edits.

6. Useful addons

  • Sentinel , combat NPCs (guards, mob targets).
  • Denizen , a full scripting layer; alternative to Skript for NPC dialogues.
  • ShopKeepers , not Citizens but works alongside; villager-based admin shops.

7. NPCs as warp menus

Pair a Citizens NPC with a GUI menu plugin (DeluxeMenus, ChestCommands). Right-click NPC -> open menu -> click button -> warp. This is what every modern hub uses.

8. Common pitfalls

  • Skin not loading , online-mode on the server must be true, or you need to set texture manually with /npc skin.
  • NPC won't stay put , toggle /npc protected on, also disable wander.
  • Clicks not registering , check region permissions; some plugins block right-click on entities.

Want to see all this in action? Astroworld MC runs a custom-built economy survival server with custom bosses, eternal enchants, crates and an auction house. Join at astroworldmc.com , IP play.astroworldmc.com, Java + Bedrock crossplay.

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