Tech Admin blog

Modification of the Month #31 - September 2025

Welcome back to Modification of the Month where we celebrate a 9-month journey of bringing most of Nerd's plugins and backend tools up-to-date. We're returning to our old layout for a bit as we mentally prepare for 1.21.9 to release.

A huge thank you goes out to the TAdmin and Tech Contributor teams for their hard work, as well as LadyCailin for assisting with PvE's rev launch.

Curious about stats regarding the last 9 months of updates? They're available in the Tech Contributor spawn secret on PvE.

This one's gonna be long, so let's get started!

General Change Log

• September 11th - PPGOME - Fixed /skull not accepting Mojang API URLs.
• September 13th - PPGOME - Updated ModMode to patch failed state errors in most scenarios.
• September 16th - PPGOME - Purged a large amount of old, unused CommandHelper scripts (See here if interested)

Web Site Change Log

• Nothing much.

Creative Change Log

• September 24th - PPGOME - Fixed proxy hopping commands (/pve, /lobby, etc.).

PvE Change Log

• September 5th - PPGOME - Created CritterGuard.
• September 16th - PPGOME - Added a few new CommandHelper commands and aliases.
  • Added /deathpile as an alias for /whodis. This lets you see who owns a deathpile. It doesn't work after an item has been picked up.
  • Added /checkclaims and /canibuildhere to let players check if they're allowed to build in their area or not.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Updated PvE to PaperMC release 1.21.8.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Modified the core configs (bukkit.yml, spigot.yml, paper-global.yml, paper-world-defaults.yml, etc.)
  • Hoppers are now set to their vanilla speed.
  • The item merge radius was reduced from 4.0 to 2.5.
  • Vines and ladders no longer bypass entity cramming checks.
  • The server will no longer tick inactive villagers. This means you need to be closer to your iron farms for them to work (within 3-4 chunks, likely).
  • Dropped pumpkins and melons despawn after 2.5 minutes instead of the regular 5.
  • Cartographer villagers will sell maps to the nearest structure, even if it's already been looted. This is to prevent server crashes from excessive structure lookups.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Updated BMMarker to v2.1.11.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Replaced DecentHolograms with FancyHolograms 2.7.0.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Updated WanderingTrades to v1.9.1.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Replaced FreedomChat with AntiPopup v12.1.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Updated BanManager to v7.10.0.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Updated BanManager-WebEnhancer to v7.10.0.
• September 19th - Oxion_ - Updated BeastMaster to v2.19.0.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Updated BlueMap to v5.10.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Added BlueMapMCMapSync v0.2.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Updated Bolt to v1.1.69 (nice).
• September 19th - PPGOME - Updated Chunky to v1.4.28.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Replaced WorldBorder with ChunkyBorder v1.2.23.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Updated CoreProtect to v23.0.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Replaced RecipeManager with CustomCrafting & WolfyUtilities v4.19.0.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Updated Doppelganger to v1.1.3.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Updated GSit to v2.4.3.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Updated HeadDatabase to v4.21.2.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Replaced ImageMap with ImageFrame v1.8.5.0.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Replaced InventoryRollbackContinued with InventoryRollbackPlus v1.7.6.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Updated ItsATrap to v1.5.1.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Updated KitchenSink to v0.16.0.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Downgraded LuckPerms to v5.5.0. Higher versions had an odd bug.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Updated MobLimiter to v2.3.1.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Updated Multiverse-Core to v5.2.1.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Updated NBTAPI to v2.15.1.
• September 19th - Pez252 - Updated NerdMessage tov1.5.1.
• September 19th - Mats1300 - Replaced GoneBatty with NerdNuCustomDrops v1.0.3.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Updated NerdUsage to v1.2.0.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Updated OpenInv to v5.1.13.
• September 19th - LadyCailin & Nels_Nelson - Updated some broken backend scripts last-minute.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Fixed crafters not being protected by Bolt.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Fixed permission issues with CritterGuard.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Fixed /cs doing nothing.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Tweaked MobLimiter cull limits to try to reduce the hordes of mobs spawning.
• September 19th - PPGOME - Fixed a myriad of staff-related permission issues.
• September 20th - Pez252 - Removed last rev's places from showing up in /place.
• September 20th - PPGOME - Reduced head drop rates from 5% to 1%.
• September 20th - PPGOME - Fixed per-player loot not working.
• September 20th - PPGOME - Reduced entity spawn limits to their vanilla values as Paper had, for some reason, set them ridiculously high.
• September 20th - PPGOME - Fixed /portalmarker.
• September 21st - PPGOME - Disabled /cg list and other features of CritterGuard due to a bug that untamed critters in unloaded chunks.
• September 24th - PPGOME - Disabled NerdNuCustomDrops due to a duplication exploit.
• September 24th - PPGOME - Fixed multiple perfect villager commands.
• September 27th - PPGOME - Fixed hopper minecarts not locking with Bolt.
• September 27th - Pez252 - Fixed the rest of the minecart family not locking with Bolt.
• September 27th - PPGOME - Updated CritterGuard to v1.1.0.
  • Re-enabled /cg list
  • Fixed critters being unregistered by CritterGuard when their status is pinged and they're in an unloaded chunk.
  • Fixed mounts being deleted completely if anyone other than the owner is mounted on it through a restart.
  • Fixed /cg gps not being able to locate critters in unloaded chunks.
  • Attempted a fix at the flaky access issue where access is dropped on restarts.
  • ADDED: /cg info
    • Will display who the owner of a critter is.
    • If it's a horse or horse-adjacent, it'll display its speed, jump, and health stats.
  • ADDED: A little ding when you click on a critter after a click action.
• September 27th - PPGOME - Increased the restart cycle to be every 4 hours (from every 3 hours).
  • This failed and caused us to have the longest uptime a Nerd server has ever seen at 57 straight hours.
• September 30th - PPGOME - Brought restarts back to 3 hour cycles for now.
• September 30th - PPGOME - Set the item merge distance back to 4.0 (from 2.5).
• September 30th - PPGOME - Reduced the spawn limit for aquatic entities.
• September 30th - PPGOME - Added end portal markers to the livemap.

Lobby/Proxy Change Log

• September 20th - PPGOME - Added some new rev MOTDs and icons for PvE to the server list for fun :).

1.21.8 Changes Overview

The below are in no particular order, but consist of pretty much the entire changelog for the 1.21.8 update on the plugin side of things.

• PPGOME Version Bumps: EntityControl, NerdFlags, StandMaster9000, NerdSpawn.
• Oxion_ Version Bumps: VehicleControl, WingCommander, BeastMaster, AdminHunt.
• ModReq (PPGOME)
  • Moved database handling to ORMLite
  • All transactions are now asynchronous
  • Improved the ability to search modreqs using /check -s [searchTerm]
  • Note: some commands/actions may have some delay depending on how big they are.
• NerdClanChat (PPGOME)
  • Moved database handling to ORMLite
  • All transactions are now asynchronous
  • Added hexadecimal colour support for clanchat names, text, and alerts (example: /clanchat color testchat #445566
  • Note: some commands/actions may have some delay depending on how big they are.
• ModMode (PPGOME)
  • Removed the old system where it was just ‘modmode’ and it interpreted permissions based on other permissions
  • Groups and commands can now be made on the fly through the config file (making a group named modmode will also create the modmode command)
  • The following can be customized per-group:
    • Entry command permission and meta (i.e. /modmode, /adminmode)
    • The LuckPerms track to slide members of the group along
    • The group’s prefix (can also just be a colour if no prefix is wanted)
    • If players in this group can fly
    • If players in this group can collide with entities
    • If players in this group will rejoin in secret if they left in their respective mode
    • If players in this group will be able to pick up/drop items. If yes, a command to toggle this is created so players can turn it on (always defaults to off)
  • Added new arguments to the mode commands
    • On: Toggles modmode on
    • Off: Toggles modmode off
    • ItemInteract: Toggles item pickup/dropping to be the opposite of the current state
      • On: Toggles item pickup/dropping to be on
      • Off: Toggles item pickup/dropping to be off
  • Made the join message appear in every scenario (after secret join or if, if that’s disabled, normal join). Logging in and being outside of modmode without a join message is now impossible.
  • Fixed the “You are in the middle of changing states” bug happening sometimes. The plugin will now correct itself.
  • Changed the NerdBoard dependency out for TAB which gives us more fun options, not just for modmode.
  • Changed the LogBlock dependency out for CoreProtect as this is what Nerd will use going forward.
  • Moved the data for persisting players in a mode to a new file named members.yml. This prevents the main config file from being refreshed constantly, overriding changes.
    • Added a new command: /reloadmodmode. This allows for runtime modifications.
  • Removed /vanishlist as vanish will no longer persist over sessions and will instead be re-applied on join if in a mode. Players in vanish will be visible in the tab list.
  • Added bossbars depending on status:
    • If just vanished and not in a mode.
    • If in a mode.
    • If in a mode and unvanished.
    • If in a mode and itemInteraction is enabled.
  • Added /modmode help (same for other groups like /adminmode help) to display possible commands to run.
  • Added an attempt to properly swap gamemodes when entering and leaving modmode.
    • If leaving modmode, apply gamemode player was in before entering.
    • If entering modmode, apply survival if gamemode hasn’t been creative in the last 2 gamemode swaps while in modmode. If it has been, apply creative.
• PvPToggle (Mats1300)
  • Rewrote to replace the NerdBoard dependency with TAB.
  • Introduced some better edge case handling.
• NerdMoods (Mats1300)
  • Resolved the 1.21 bug of time being inverted with the /ptime command
  • Added reset as an argument to /ptime to have it reset the ptime status
    • /ptime no longer resets the time. You need to use /ptime reset.
• Doppelganger (PPGOME)
  • Only change was that player heads are now fetched asynchronously from Mojang instead of on-thread. This may result in a few seconds of delay when spawning a doppel, but nothing else.
• NerdAFK (Mats1300)
  • Updated from Spigot to PaperMc API now supports version 1.20.x - 1.21.x
  • Java 21 now to support 1.21
  • Updated dependency to now run off TAB Version 5.2.5
  • Fixed Auto AFK
  • Fixed ReadMe
• SafeCrystals (Mats1300)
  • Fixed the dupe bug when spawning the ender dragon. The last-placed crystal will no longer pop itself and drop an extra crystal.
  • Migrated to PaperMC.
• VehicleControl (PPGOME)
  • Updated to use PaperMC's new object-based system for vehicles, as opposed to enums.
• VillagerUtils (Mats1300)
  • Fixed /vtrade new.
• NerdFlags (PPGOME, for a second time!)
  • Added better support for wood types in regard to fence gates, trapdoors, etc.

As always, thank you for reading. -The TAdmins <3

Posted by PPGOME on Sept. 30, 2025 in Tech Admin