Prerequisites

This guide assumes you have written a little Java before, but not necessarily that you have made a Minecraft plugin. By the end of the Entry Level guide you will have a working WaterdogPE plugin that you can drop into the proxy's plugins/ folder.

What you will need

• A Java 17 (or newer) JDK. WaterdogPE itself runs on Java 17, and your plugin must target the same version. Make sure you install a JDK (which can compile code), not just a JRE.
• An IDE that supports Maven. We recommend IntelliJ IDEA (the free Community Edition is enough) or Eclipse. IntelliJ has excellent Maven integration and is what most WaterdogPE developers use.
• An internet connection, so Maven can download the WaterdogPE API and its dependencies the first time you build.

How a plugin is structured

A WaterdogPE plugin is just a .jar file with two required pieces:

1. A main class that extends dev.waterdog.waterdogpe.plugin.Plugin and overrides at least the onEnable() method. This is the entry point the proxy calls when it loads your plugin.
2. A plugin.yml file (placed in src/main/resources/) that tells the proxy your plugin's name, version and which class is the main class.

A typical project looks like this:

my-plugin/
├── pom.xml                         ← Maven build file
└── src/
    └── main/
        ├── java/
        │   └── com/example/myplugin/
        │       └── MyPlugin.java   ← your main class
        └── resources/
            ├── plugin.yml          ← plugin descriptor
            └── config.yml          ← (optional) default config

• pom.xml is the Maven build file. It declares the WaterdogPE dependency and tells Maven how to compile your plugin into a runnable .jar.
• MyPlugin.java is your main class. It is usually named after the plugin.
• plugin.yml holds the basic information the proxy needs to load the plugin.
• config.yml is optional — a configuration file your users can edit to change how the plugin behaves.

Next steps

1. Maven Setup — set up the pom.xml so Maven can build your plugin.
2. Your First Plugin — write the main class and plugin.yml, then build and load it.

After that, the Plugin API section covers the things plugins actually do: commands, events, working with players, scheduling tasks and more.