How to Protect Builds with WorldGuard

WorldGuard is the answer to "how do I stop people griefing spawn?" It defines named regions where you can deny breaking, building, PvP and dozens of other actions. Pair with WorldEdit to define regions from a selection. Here's the quick setup.

1. Install

Download WorldGuard and WorldEdit from EngineHub. WorldGuard depends on WorldEdit. Drop both into plugins/ and restart.

2. Define your first region

Stand at one corner, //pos1 (or use the wand). Other corner: //pos2. Then:

/region define spawn

You now have a region called spawn.

3. The flags you'll set most

/region flag spawn pvp deny
/region flag spawn build deny
/region flag spawn use allow            # so players can open doors
/region flag spawn entry allow
/region flag spawn mob-spawning deny
/region flag spawn fall-damage deny
/region flag spawn greeting "&aWelcome to spawn!"
/region flag spawn farewell "&7Leaving spawn..."

4. Members and owners

Owners can add/remove members, members can build:

/region addowner steveville Steve
/region addmember steveville Alice

5. Region priority

Higher priority overrides lower. A "shop" region inside spawn can re-allow building for shop owners only:

/region setpriority shop 5
/region flag shop build allow
/region addmember shop ShopOwner

6. Global per-world flags

Apply a flag to an entire world by editing __global__:

/region flag __global__ keep-inventory allow -w pvp
/region flag __global__ pvp deny -w spawn

(See also the dedicated KeepInventory guide.)

7. Player claims at scale

WorldGuard isn't designed for thousands of player-created claims , for that, use GriefPrevention or RedProtect. WorldGuard is best for staff-managed regions.

8. Common pitfalls

• Forgetting to set the use flag , players can't open doors in spawn.
• Using region build deny without interact deny , players can still trigger redstone.
• Defining a 2D selection (no Y) , mobs spawn under your "spawn" floor.
• Not raising priority of inner regions , the outer region's deny overrides the inner allow.

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