Headsteal SMP

A unique, PvP plugin where every player is granted a powerful, indestructible artifact — their own head. Steal other players' artifacts to collect their abilities, but be careful: you cannot hide them, stash them, or safely log out with them.

Protect your head at all costs, trust no one, and conquer the server.

Features

The Artifact System

When a player joins the server for the first time, they are permanently granted an indestructible player head (their "Artifact"). As long as this item is in your inventory, it grants a continuous passive ability.

There are 9 possible Innate Powers:

• Speed
• Haste
• Resistance
• Health Boost
• Fire Resistance
• Strength
• Knockback Resistance
• Invisibility
• Hero of the Village

Active Bursts (Right-Click)

Artifacts aren't just passive! Right-click your artifact to trigger a 20-second active "Burst" ability (2-minute cooldown per unique head).

• Standard Powers: Grants a Level II version of your passive effect for 20 seconds.
• Fire Resistance: For 20 seconds, standing in fire or lava completely cancels damage and heals you instead.
• Knockback Resistance: Become 100% immune to all knockback for 20 seconds.
• Invisibility (Wraith Form): Enters "Ghost Mode" for 20 seconds (uses SuperVanish if installed, otherwise vanilla Invisibility II).
• Hero of the Village: Grants Hero of the Village Level 99 for massive trading discounts.

Tip: Cooldowns are tracked per artifact. If you steal 3 different heads, you can cycle through all 3 active bursts back-to-back!

Offhand Abilities (F Key)

Press F (swap-to-offhand) while holding an artifact to trigger a power-specific ability. Each power has its own independent cooldown — and like the right-click bursts, cooldowns are tracked per artifact, so multiple stolen heads each give you a separate F ability.

| Power | F-Key Effect | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Forward dash | 1 min |
| Strength | Next melee hit deals 1.5× damage (crit) | 1 min |
| Fire Resistance | Next melee hit ignites the target for 6s | 1 min |
| Health Boost | +4 hearts of absorption (60s) | 1 min |
| Haste | Haste III + Speed II for 5s | 2 min |
| Knockback Resistance | Thorns: next attacker is launched back | 1 min |
| Invisibility | 5s invisibility + Speed II "phase shift" | 1 min |
| Hero of the Village | Drops 8 emeralds at your feet | 1 min |
| Resistance | Next incoming hit fully absorbed (no damage, no KB, no tilt) | 1 min |

The "next hit" abilities are one-shot — they consume on the very next attack you make or take, so you can't stockpile them.

Strict "Unstashable" Rules

Artifacts are massive targets, and players are forced to keep them on their person.

• Cannot be placed on the ground or in item frames.
• Cannot be hidden in the offhand (no matter the route — F-key, drag, hotkey swap, dispenser, etc).
• Cannot be moved into chests, enderchests, or hoppers.
• Logout Drop: If you have someone else's stolen artifact in your inventory and log out, their artifact is instantly dropped on the ground at your logout location.

Tracker Magic

Lost your head? Type /findmyhead (1-hour cooldown).

• If another player is holding it, chat will reveal their name.
• If it is dropped on the ground, you are given a 5-second magical compass that points directly to it.
• If it was somehow destroyed by a glitch, the server will forge you a brand new one.

PvP Balancing & Failsafes

Because the artifacts are so powerful, certain vanilla items can be globally disabled to keep PvP fair (all toggleable in config.yml):

• No Potions: Brewed, splash, and lingering potions blocked.
• No Enchanted Maces: Maces cannot be enchanted, anvil-combined with books, and any existing enchantments are stripped on contact.

Commands

Player Commands:

• /findmyhead — Locate your missing artifact or reforge it if destroyed.
• /headstealhelp (aliases: /hshelp, /headhelp) — Show the in-game help menu.

Admin Commands (OP Required):

• /headlist — Displays a live database of every artifact on the server and exactly who is holding it (or where it is dropped).
• /headreset <player> — Purges a specific player's artifact from the world, clears their cooldowns, and forces them to roll a brand new power.
• /serverheadreset — The nuclear option. Purges ALL artifacts, resets ALL cooldowns, and starts a brand new cycle for everyone online.
• /headstealreload — Reload config.yml without a server restart.

Configuration

Headsteal Core is highly customizable. You can toggle anti-cheese failsafes, adjust cooldowns and durations, and configure plugin integrations directly. Below is the default config.yml:

# ==========================================================
#  HEADSTEAL CORE - CONFIGURATION
# ==========================================================
#  Plugin: HeadStealCore
#  Target: Paper 1.21.x
# ==========================================================

# Powers that can be assigned to a player's head.
# When a player joins for the first time, one is randomly assigned.
powers:
  - "Speed"
  - "Haste"
  - "Resistance"
  - "Health Boost"
  - "Fire Resistance"
  - "Strength"
  - "Knockback Resistance"
  - "Invisibility"
  - "Hero of the Village"

# How often (in seconds) to refresh innate effects on players.
# Lower = snappier, Higher = lighter on TPS.
effect-tick-interval: 4

# Cooldown timers
cooldowns:
  # /findmyhead command cooldown (in minutes)
  findmyhead: 60
  # Right-click active ability burst cooldown (in minutes)
  ability: 2

# Right-click burst duration (in seconds)
ability-duration: 20

# Compass tracker duration (in seconds) - how long the
# Artifact Tracker compass stays in the player's inventory.
tracker-duration: 5

# Per-power F-key (offhand-swap) abilities.
# Each power has its own independent cooldown.
# 'duration' is only used by powers with a timed effect
# (Haste, Health Boost, Invisibility).
offhand-abilities:
  Speed:                  { cooldown: 60 }
  Strength:               { cooldown: 60 }
  "Fire Resistance":      { cooldown: 60 }
  "Health Boost":         { cooldown: 60, duration: 60 }
  Haste:                  { cooldown: 120, duration: 5 }
  "Knockback Resistance": { cooldown: 60 }
  Invisibility:           { cooldown: 60, duration: 5 }
  "Hero of the Village":  { cooldown: 60 }
  Resistance:             { cooldown: 60 }

# ==========================================================
#  FAILSAFES (OPTIONAL ANTI-CHEESE TOGGLES)
# ==========================================================
failsafes:
  # Disable enchanted maces:
  #   - blocks enchanting maces on enchant tables
  #   - blocks combining maces with books in anvils
  #   - strips enchantments from maces on the fly
  #   - cancels damage from enchanted maces
  disable-enchanted-maces: true

  # Disable consumable (drinkable) potions
  disable-consumable-potions: true

  # Disable splash and lingering potions (throwing & dispensing)
  disable-throwable-potions: true

# ==========================================================
#  EXTERNAL PLUGIN INTEGRATIONS
# ==========================================================
integrations:
  # AnonymousJuggernaut - used for the INNATE Invisibility power
  # (passive while holding head). When false, just a vanilla
  # invisibility effect is applied.
  use-anonymous: true

  # SuperVanish / PremiumVanish - used for the ACTIVE Invisibility
  # burst (right-click ability). When false, just a vanilla
  # invisibility effect (level 2) is applied.
  use-supervanish: true

# ==========================================================
#  MESSAGES
# ==========================================================
messages:
  prefix: "&8[&c&l!&8] "

Dependencies

The plugin runs on its own with vanilla fallbacks for everything. The following are optional and only enhance the Invisibility power:

• SuperVanish — used for the Invisibility right-click "Wraith Form" burst (true vanish instead of just the vanilla Invisibility effect). For the best experience, configure SuperVanish to disable hitting entities, flying, placing blocks, and the fake join/leave messages.
• Anonymous Juggernaut — used for the passive Invisibility power's identity-hiding mechanics.

If neither plugin is installed, both Invisibility effects fall back to the vanilla Invisibility status effect cleanly. Both integrations can also be disabled via config.yml.

Server requirements:

• Paper 1.21.x (1.21.11 tested)
• Java 21+

Issues & Support

Report issues at https://discord.gg/GXMWnvZ7Dr