- **zEssentials now loads as a Paper plugin** (`paper-plugin.yml`):
- Dependencies are declared through Paper's `dependencies.server` system (zMenu and PlaceholderAPI required, every hook optional) with explicit classpath access
- The MariaDB JDBC driver is now downloaded by a Paper plugin loader (`ZEssentialsPluginLoader`) instead of the `libraries` section; the `PAPER_DEFAULT_CENTRAL_REPOSITORY` mirror is honored
- **Spigot fallback**: on Spigot the plugin stays inactive (no commands, modules or API) and logs a warning; players with `zessentials.paper.warning` (default op) are told on join that Paper is required
- zEssentials now fails fast with an explicit error when a zMenu service (`InventoryManager`, `ButtonManager`, `PatternManager`) is unavailable, and handles a partial shutdown cleanly (buttons and services are unregistered)
- Updated FastBoard to `2.2.2` — fixes the scoreboard on recent versions (final scoreboard packet field mutation) while preserving the scoreboard API
- Removed duplicate teleport translation keys in `messages.yml`
- Optimized command lowercasing in the command manager and the cooldown lookup
- Updated the Gradle wrapper to `9.8.1` and the foojay resolver to `1.0.0` (builds with Java 25)
- Updated the plugin website and contributors
Developer information
Projects on Modrinth are automatically available through a Maven repository for use with JVM build tools such as Gradle.
maven { name = "Modrinth"; url = "https://api.modrinth.com/maven" }
