WorldGuard Complete Tutorial - Protect Your Minecraft Server Builds
Installing WorldGuard & WorldEdit
WorldGuard requires WorldEdit for region selection (the wooden axe wand). Install both from your CyberNex control panel's one-click plugin installer, or download both jars from SpigotMC and place in /plugins. Restart your server. WorldGuard generates config files in /plugins/WorldGuard/ - config.yml (global settings) and worlds/worldname/regions.yml (per-world region data). Verify installation: run /plugins in console and check both WorldGuard and WorldEdit appear. Grant admin permissions: worldguard.region.* for region management, worldedit.* for WorldEdit commands. For moderators, grant limited permissions: worldguard.region.info, worldguard.region.list. Never give WorldGuard admin permissions to untrusted staff - they can unprotect any area.
Creating Your First Protected Region
Step-by-step: 1) Get the selection wand: //wand (gives wooden axe). 2) Select first corner: left-click a block with the axe (this sets pos1). 3) Select second corner: right-click a diagonal opposite block (this sets pos2). 4) The selected area is the rectangular box between pos1 and pos2 - it includes all Y levels by default. 5) Create the region: /rg define RegionName. 6) Verify: /rg info RegionName shows boundaries, flags, owners, and members. Use /rg redefine RegionName to resize an existing region. To include full vertical height: select pos1 at bedrock level and pos2 at build height. To limit Y range: use //expand vert to extend the selection vertically before defining.
Region Flags - Complete Reference
Protection flags: pvp deny (disable PvP in region), build deny (prevent block breaking/placing), break deny (prevent breaking only), interact deny (prevent opening chests/doors), use deny (prevent using buttons/levers), chest-access deny (prevent opening containers). Entity flags: mob-spawning deny (prevent mobs), creeper-explosion deny (prevent creeper damage), tnt deny (prevent TNT explosions), lighter deny (prevent flint and steel), vehicle-place deny (prevent boat/minecart placement), vehicle-destroy deny. Player flags: entry deny (prevent players entering), greeting Set a greeting message (shown on enter), farewell set a farewell message (shown on exit), feed-delay (delay hunger regen ticks), heal-delay (delay health regen), invincible allow (god mode in region), game-mode (force a specific gamemode). Set flags: /rg flag RegionName flagName value. Example: /rg flag spawn pvp deny, /rg flag spawn greeting Welcome to Spawn!, /rg flag arena pvp allow, /rg flag arena mob-spawning deny.
Owners, Members & Priorities
Regions have three access levels: Owner (full control - add/remove members, change flags, delete region), Member (can build and interact, but can't modify region settings), and everyone else (subject to region flags). Add owner: /rg addowner RegionName PlayerName. Add member: /rg addmember RegionName PlayerName. Remove: /rg removeowner RegionName PlayerName, /rg removemember RegionName PlayerName. Priority system: when regions overlap, the higher priority region's flags take effect. Default priority is 0. /rg setpriority RegionName 10 makes it override regions with lower priorities. Example: a spawn protection region (priority 10) should override a player's GriefPrevention claim (priority 0). Use priorities to create server-managed areas (spawn, warps, event zones) that override player claims. View overlapping flags: /rg info RegionName shows active flags from overlapping regions.
Templates for Efficiency
Templates save flag presets for reuse. Create a spawn template: 1) Define a spawn region with all desired flags (pvp deny, mob-spawning deny, creeper-explosion deny, greeting Welcome to Spawn!, game-mode adventure). 2) Save as template: /rg template spawn-template spawnregionname. 3) Create new regions using the template: /rg define -t spawn-template newregion. Templates copy all flags but not owners/members. For player warp templates: /rg flag playerwarp pvp deny, then /rg template warplist-template playerwarp. When a player creates a new warp, apply the template: /rg define -t warplist-template PlayerName-warp1. Templates save hours on servers with many similar regions. Export templates by copying them from /plugins/WorldGuard/templates/ to share across servers.
Integration with GriefPrevention & Other Plugins
WorldGuard works best paired with a player land-claiming plugin. Strategy: WorldGuard handles server-managed areas (spawn, warps, event zones, PvP arenas, resource worlds). GriefPrevention handles player-claimed land (base protection). Set WorldGuard regions at higher priority than GriefPrevention claims so spawn/warp protections override player claims. LuckPerms integration: region-based permissions - /rg flag spawn luckperms.group.default pvp deny (deny PvP for default group in spawn). Essentials integration: warps set with /setwarp automatically create WorldGuard regions if configured. ChestShop integration: create a market region with chest-access allow and build allow so players can open their own shops but not modify the market structure. Multiverse integration: WorldGuard regions are per-world by default - use /rg list to see regions in your current world.
Advanced Features
Region groups: bundle related regions - /rg group add groupname regionname. Manage flags for entire group at once: /rg group flag groupname pvp deny. Parent/child regions: child regions inherit flags from parent unless overridden. Create a parent 'city' region with build deny, then child 'shops' region with build allow. Blacklist: /rg blacklist - prevents specific blocks/items from being used entirely (server-wide). Use for banning TNT, lava buckets, or wither spawning globally. Custom flags: WorldGuard Extra Flags plugin adds more than 30 additional flags including command-blocking, potion-effect blocking, and per-player entity limits. MySQL storage: for server networks, store WorldGuard data in MySQL for cross-server region syncing with BungeeCord. All these features are free and maintained.
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