How to switch off or uninstall a plugin or mod on your Minecraft server

On the Installed list of the Modding tab, each plugin and mod has a switch. Turn it off and the file stays on the server but no longer loads from the next start, which is the quickest way to find out whether it causes a problem. To remove it for good, open its menu and choose Uninstall. Either way, restart the server for the change to apply.

Switch a plugin or mod off or on

1. Open your server in the panel, click the Modding tab, then Plugins or Mods, then Installed.
2. Click the switch on the row.
3. The panel says <name> is off. It stays on the server and stops loading at the next start. (or is on. It loads the next time the server starts.). The row shows an Off badge.
4. A bar says Restart the server to apply what you switched on or off. Click Restart now, or restart later.

You need permission to change files to use the switch. The panel renames the file to end in .jar.disabled, which no server loads. Switching it on gives it back its normal name.

When something is switched off, an Off button with the count appears above the list, for example Off (2). Click it to see only the switched-off ones, so you can find them again after chasing a crash.

When something else needs it

If another plugin or mod that is still on needs the one you switch off, a window opens: <name> is needed by something else. For plugins it says the other one will not load. For mods it says the server will not start unless the other one is off too. Click Switch both off (or Switch all and the count) to switch them off together, or Cancel.

Uninstall a plugin or mod

1. On the Installed list, open the menu at the end of the row (the three dots, Options for the name) and choose Uninstall.
2. The window Uninstall with the name shows the installed version.
3. Leave Also delete its configuration and data off if you might use it again (see below).
4. Click Uninstall. The panel says <name> was removed.
5. Restart the server. The window says the server restarts, but the panel only deletes the file. Restart it yourself so the change applies.

You need permission to delete files. Anything that depended on it stops working. Removing a mod that added blocks or items can leave gaps or missing items in a world that used it, so take a backup first. See How to create, download and restore backups.

Its settings and saved data

A plugin keeps its settings and what it saved (homes, claims, ranks) in its own folder inside plugins, often named after the plugin rather than the file, for example plugins/Essentials. Mods keep their settings in the config folder.

Also delete its configuration and data deletes only a folder with exactly the same name as the file without .jar. Most plugin folders are named differently, so after uninstalling, open Files, look in plugins (or config for a mod) and delete the folder yourself if you want it gone. Leave it if you might reinstall: the plugin finds its old settings again.

Good to know

• Switching off is safer than uninstalling while you look for a problem: nothing is lost, and the switch brings it back.
• The switch and Uninstall also work for files you uploaded yourself, including ones the panel does not recognise.
• An update keeps a switched-off plugin or mod switched off. See How to update plugins and mods on your Minecraft server.
• If the server stopped because of a plugin or mod: How to see why your Minecraft server stopped.