Plugin recommendations

These are battle-tested plugins for a typical small-to-medium Paper server. Not sponsored, not affiliate.

Essential

• EssentialsX — homes, warps, kits, basic moderation. The starter kit for almost any survival server.
• LuckPerms — permissions. Even if you only have one rank, install this so your future self has options.
• CoreProtect — block logging and rollback. The single best defense against a griefer with op.
• Spark — performance profiling. /spark profiler will show you exactly which plugin is eating your TPS.

Quality of life

• Dynmap or Bluemap — live web map. Players love these.
• Simple Voice Chat — proximity voice chat. Requires the matching client mod.
• PlaceholderAPI — required by many other plugins.

Anti-grief / moderation

• WorldGuard — region protection.
• GriefDefender or Lands — claim-based protection (more user-friendly than WorldGuard for most communities).

What to skip

• Anything that hasn't been updated in the last year.
• Anything that asks you to download it from a Discord link.
• "All-in-one" plugins that try to do twenty things — they're usually unmaintained.