WelcomeTale

A Hytale server plugin that disables the default join message broadcast and displays custom welcome messages when players join your server.

Description

WelcomeTale is a plugin for Hytale that enhances the player experience with a dual message system:

• Server-wide announcements when someone joins (customizable join message broadcasted to all players)
• Private welcome messages sent directly to the joining player

You can personalize both message formats with colors, multiple lines, and control whether default join messages are displayed.

GitHub Repository

Where to Download

You can download WelcomeTale from multiple platforms:

• GitHub Releases - Official releases
• CurseForge - Hytale mod repository
• ModTale - Community mod platform
• Unified Hytale - Hytale mod repository

📢 Want us to publish on another platform? Let us know which one you'd like to see!

Features

• 💬 Dual message system - Send two types of messages when a player joins:
  • Server broadcast (JoinMessage) - Announce to all players that someone joined
  • Private welcome (WelcomePlayerMessage) - Personal welcome message sent only to the joining player
• 🎨 Color & formatting support - Use Minecraft color codes (&) for colorful, styled messages
  • 16 color options (black, blue, green, aqua, red, purple, gold, gray, etc.)
  • Text formatting: bold (&l), italic (&o), reset (&r)
• 🔗 Clickable links - Automatically detects and converts HTTP/HTTPS URLs into clickable links
  • Links are displayed in cyan color and open in browser when clicked
  • Supports complex URLs with paths, queries, and parameters
• 📝 Multi-line message support - Create beautiful message banners with multiple lines
• 👤 Player name placeholder - Use {player} to dynamically insert the joining player's name
• 🔕 Optional join message control - Disable Hytale's default join messages for full control
• 🔄 Hot-reload configuration - Update settings without restarting the server using /welcometale
• ⚙️ Easy JSON configuration - Simple, human-readable configuration file
• 🛡️ Permission system - Control who can reload the configuration

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For Server Administrators

Installation

1. Download the latest release from the Releases page
2. Place the WelcomeTale-x.x.x.jar file in your Hytale server's mods folder
3. Start your server
4. The plugin will automatically create a folder at mods/com.rmaafs_WelcomeTale

Configuration

First Time Setup

When you first run the plugin, it will generate a config.example.json file in the mods/com.rmaafs_WelcomeTale directory.

Important: You must rename config.example.json to config.json to use your own configuration.

⚠️ Upgrading from an older version? Check the config.example.json file inside your server's mods/com.rmaafs_WelcomeTale folder to use the new configuration format.

Configuration Options

The config.json file contains the following options:

{
  "JoinMessage": ["", "&3&l > &3{player} &b joined", ""],
  "WelcomePlayerMessage": [
    "",
    "&6&l=====================================",
    "&e&lWelcome to Our Server!",
    "&6&l=====================================",
    "",
    "&7We're &ethrilled &7to have you here, &b{player}&7!",
    "&7Get ready for an &e&lamazing adventure &r&7ahead.",
    "",
    "&6&l> &6Join our community:",
    "&7  - Website: &ehttps://rmaafs.com",
    "&7  - GitHub: &ehttps://github.com/rmaafs/WelcomeTale",
    "",
    "&6Enjoy your stay and have fun! :)",
    ""
  ],
  "DisableDefaultJoinMessage": true,
  "MessageReloaded": "&aConfiguration reloaded successfully!",
  "NoPermission": "&cYou don't have permission to use this command!"
}

Configuration Fields:

• JoinMessage: Server-wide broadcast message sent to all players when someone joins
  • Use {player} as a placeholder for the joining player's name
  • Supports color codes with & (see Color Codes section below)
  • Set to empty array [] to disable server broadcasts
  • Example: ["&3&l > &3{player} &b joined"]
• WelcomePlayerMessage: Private welcome message sent only to the joining player
  • Use {player} as a placeholder for the joining player's name
  • Perfect for server rules, links, or personalized greetings
  • Set to empty array [] to disable private welcome messages
  • Example: ["&7Welcome &a{player} &7to the server!"]
• DisableDefaultJoinMessage: Set to true to disable the default Hytale join message. This gives you full control over join notifications
• MessageReloaded: Message displayed when configuration is successfully reloaded
• NoPermission: Message displayed when a player lacks permission to execute the command

Color Codes

You can customize your messages with colors using the & symbol followed by a color code:

Color Codes:

• &0 - Black
• &1 - Dark Blue
• &2 - Dark Green
• &3 - Dark Aqua
• &4 - Dark Red
• &5 - Dark Purple
• &6 - Gold
• &7 - Gray
• &8 - Dark Gray
• &9 - Blue
• &a - Green
• &b - Aqua
• &c - Red
• &d - Light Purple
• &e - Yellow
• &f - White

Formatting Codes:

• &l - Bold
• &o - Italic
• &r - Reset (removes all formatting)

Example:

"WelcomePlayerMessage": ["&7Welcome &a&l{player}&r &7to our &b&oawesome&r &7server!"]

This will display: "Welcome {player} to our awesome server!" with appropriate colors.

Multi-Line Messages

You can create multi-line messages by using an array format for both JoinMessage and WelcomePlayerMessage:

"WelcomePlayerMessage": [
  "&7============================",
  "&a&lWelcome {player}!",
  "&7Thank you for joining",
  "&eHave fun playing!",
  "&7============================"
]

Each line will be displayed separately, creating a beautiful message banner.

Message Behavior

When a player joins the server:

1. JoinMessage is broadcasted to all players on the server (if not empty)
2. WelcomePlayerMessage is sent privately to the joining player (if not empty)
3. If either field is an empty array [] or contains only whitespace, that message will not be sent

Reloading Configuration

After modifying the config.json file, you can reload the configuration without restarting the server:

In-game: Run the command /welcometale

Console: Execute welcometale

This will reload all configuration changes immediately.

Commands

Command	Description	Permission
/welcometale	Reloads the plugin configuration	welcometale.reload

Note: Only users with the welcometale.reload permission can execute this command. By default, server operators have this permission.

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For Developers

Prerequisites

• Java 25 or higher
• Maven
• Hytale Server JAR

Building from Source

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd WelcomeTale

2. Create a .env file in the project root with your Hytale installation paths:

   HYTALE_MODS_DIR=/path/to/hytale/mods
   HYTALE_SERVER_JAR=/path/to/hytale/Server.jar

   Replace /path/to/hytale/mods with the actual path to your Hytale server's mods directory, and /path/to/hytale/Server.jar with the path to your Hytale Server JAR file.

3. Build the plugin:

   mvn clean package

4. The compiled plugin will be in the target directory as WelcomeTale-x.x.x.jar

5. Copy the JAR to your Hytale server's mods folder or use the Maven configuration to auto-deploy

Project Structure

WelcomeTale/
├── src/main/java/com/rmaafs/welcometale/
│   ├── Main.java                    # Plugin entry point
│   ├── WelcomeTaleConfig.java       # Configuration class
│   ├── commands/
│   │   └── WelcomeTaleCommand.java  # Command handler
│   ├── listeners/
│   │   └── PlayerEvents.java        # Event listeners
│   └── utils/
│       ├── MessageFormatter.java    # Message formatting utility
│       └── FileConfiguration.java   # Config file manager
└── src/main/resources/
    ├── config.example.json          # Example configuration
    └── manifest.json                # Plugin manifest

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Support & Contributing

This is just the beginning of a great journey in the era of creating plugins for Hytale! I'm open to working on whatever is needed to improve this plugin and help the community.

If you encounter any bugs or have new ideas for features, please open an issue on this repository. Your feedback and contributions are highly appreciated as we build together the Hytale modding ecosystem.

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🌟 Show Your Support

If you find this plugin useful, please consider:

• ⭐ Star this repository to show your support and help others discover it!
• 👀 Follow @rmaafs on GitHub to stay updated on future Hytale plugins and projects
• ☕ Buy me a coffee on PayPal to support continued development

🎨 Need a Custom Plugin?

I'm available for custom plugin development! If you need a specific plugin tailored to your server's needs or want a private, custom solution, feel free to reach out. Let's bring your ideas to life!

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License

This project is provided as-is for use with Hytale servers.