Nicked

Packet-level nickname plugin with skin changing, a full developer API, and PlaceholderAPI support.

Nicked lets operators and players adopt a completely different identity — a different name and a different skin — without the real player ever being exposed to others. Everything is handled at the packet level, so the illusion is seamless and requires no client-side mods.

Features

• Packet-level nicking — Names are rewritten inside PLAYER_INFO_UPDATE packets before they reach any client. No client mods needed. Compatible with Paper, Spigot, Purpur, Folia, and Bukkit 1.20+.
• Skin changing — When a nick is applied, Nicked fetches the corresponding Mojang skin asynchronously and injects it into the same packet. The nicked player even sees their own new skin in first-person (configurable).
• Random nicking — Run /nick with no arguments to be assigned a name at random from your configured name pool.
• Persistence — Nicks survive player disconnects and full server restarts. Persistent data is stored in plugins/Nicked/nicks.yml and restored automatically on join.
• Developer API — A clean, well-documented Java API lets other plugins check nick state, apply or remove nicks programmatically, and listen to five purpose-built events (NickApplyEvent, NickRemoveEvent, NickChangeEvent, NickRandomSelectEvent, NickResolveEvent).
• PlaceholderAPI support — Three placeholders integrate with any chat, scoreboard, or tab-list plugin:
  • %nicked_displayname% — The player's current display name (nick or real name)
  • %nicked_is_nicked% — true / false
  • %nicked_real_name% — The player's actual username
• Fully customisable messages — Every message is defined in messages.yml using MiniMessage. Gradients, hex colours, hover events — anything MiniMessage supports is fair game.

Compatibility

| Platform | Supported |
|---|---|
| Paper 1.20+ | ✅ |
| Spigot 1.20+ | ✅ |
| Purpur 1.20+ | ✅ |
| Folia 1.20+ | ✅ |
| Bukkit 1.20+ | ✅ |
| Java | 21+ required |

Optional soft dependency: PlaceholderAPI — enables %nicked_*% placeholders.

Commands

| Command | Description | Permission |
|---|---|---|
| /nick [name] | Nick yourself (random if no name given); toggle off if already nicked | nicked.command.nick |
| /unnick | Remove your own nick | nicked.command.unnick |
| /nickother <player> <name> | Nick another player to a specific name | nicked.command.nickother |
| /nickall | Randomly nick all online players | nicked.command.nickall |
| /realname <name> | Reveal the real username behind a nick | nicked.command.realname |

The nicked.admin permission grants access to all commands and is assigned to OPs by default.

Quick Start

1. Drop Nicked.jar into your server's plugins/ folder.
2. Restart the server — plugins/Nicked/config.yml and messages.yml will be generated.
3. Grant nicked.admin to trusted staff (OPs already have it).
4. Run /nick Dream — your name and skin change instantly.
5. Run /nick again with no arguments, or /unnick, to revert.

Developer API

Add Nicked as a compile-only dependency via JitPack:

Gradle (Groovy)

repositories {
    maven { url 'https://jitpack.io' }
}
dependencies {
    compileOnly 'net.pharogames:Nicked:VERSION:api'
}

Maven

<repository>
    <id>jitpack.io</id>
    <url>https://jitpack.io</url>
</repository>
<dependency>
    <groupId>net.pharogames</groupId>
    <artifactId>Nicked</artifactId>
    <version>VERSION</version>
    <classifier>api</classifier>
    <scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>

Replace VERSION with the latest release tag (e.g. v1.0.0). See the API documentation for the full reference.

Links

| Resource | URL |
|---|---|
| 📖 Documentation | nicked-docs.vercel.app |
| 💬 Discord | discord.gg/7eQt8sQ8at |
| 🐛 Issues | GitHub Issues |
| 💡 Feature Requests | GitHub Issues |
| 🔧 Source Code | github.com/PharoGames/Nicked |
| 📦 Developer API | API Docs |

License

Nicked is licensed under the MIT License.