Forcing Players to Accept Your Rules with the AcceptTheRules Plugin

Why a Rules Plugin Beats a Sign at Spawn

Running a Factions, SkyBlock, or any community-focused Minecraft server means you eventually need rules. Painting them on signs at spawn or floating them in holograms works for the players who actually read things, which tends to be a smaller crowd than most owners hope for. Anyone willing to ignore them will, and that is how rule disputes start.

The AcceptTheRules Spigot plugin closes the gap. It shows your rules to every player on join and refuses to let them stay until they agree. Disagree and the plugin kicks them automatically. It is a clean way to make sure nobody can later claim they did not know. The configuration is short and the syntax is friendly, but the first setup can trip up anyone new to plugins. The walkthrough below covers downloading the file, installing through FTP, editing the rules, and dealing with the quirks.

Grabbing the Plugin File

The plugin lives on Spigot's resource page. Open the listing and use the Download Now button on the right side to save the JAR to your machine.

Keep the file somewhere easy to reach, like your desktop. The next step is uploading it.

Installing on the Server

Plugins only load on Spigot or Paper, so confirm the server type in the version selector of your control panel before continuing. Once the server is running a plugin-compatible jar, the rest is a short FTP trip.

1. Open the FTP file manager from your control panel.

1. Enter your panel password and log in.

1. Open the plugins folder and click Upload.

1. Drop the AcceptTheRules JAR into the upload window and wait until it reaches 100%.

1. Return to the main panel and restart the server so the plugin loads.

First Run and Default Behaviour

After the restart, log in to your server. A chat prompt will greet you, asking that you review the rules. The plugin ships with a tiny sample list you can pull up with `/rules`, which is fine for testing. To use your own rules, you need to edit a few YAML files. Most servers tweak `rules.yml` for the rules themselves, `messages.yml` for what the plugin says in chat, and `settings.yml` for behaviour like the kick on denial.

Editing rules.yml

1. From the server panel, open the FTP file manager again.

1. Inside the plugins folder, open the AcceptTheRules directory.

1. Next to `rules.yml`, click Edit to view its contents.

1. Replace the placeholder lines with your own rules and hit Save.

1. Restart the server, or run `atr reload` from the console if you prefer not to bounce the world.

Formatting Notes

Inside `rules.yml`, every line uses a `- =>` prefix. The dash tells the plugin a new rule begins, and the arrow handles spacing when the rules are listed in chat. You can drop the arrow if you want a different look, but leaving it on tends to read the cleanest. Standard `&` color codes work, and HEX shades are supported if you need something beyond the basic Minecraft palette. The plugin's Spigot page has the full list of supported formats and is worth a glance.

Sending Players Through the Prompt

Once the rules are saved, players running `/rules` see the entries one by one, then receive an Accept or Deny prompt at the end. Accept and the session continues. Deny and the kick is automatic.

Anything you dislike about the wording on those buttons can be changed in `messages.yml`. A couple of formatting tricks behave oddly there, underlining in particular. The workaround is using `&n` directly inside the message rather than relying on a standard underline tag.

Bedrock Support

The plugin plays nicely with GeyserMC, so Bedrock players can run through the same accept and deny flow as Java users. There is one persistent bug that occasionally kicks Bedrock players even after they accept. If your community runs into it, you can disable the kick command inside `settings.yml` or add a note in your rules prompt explaining the workaround. Neither option is elegant, but both keep your Bedrock crowd online.

Commands and Permissions

Players have access to the commands they need on first join, since `/rules` and the accept flow have to work for everyone. Anything administrative, like reloading the plugin, is handled through LuckPerms permission nodes or simply by granting operator status to the staff who need it. Pick whichever method fits your existing permission setup.

Troubleshooting

If the plugin refuses to load, the server type is the first place to check. AcceptTheRules expects Spigot or Paper between 1.8 and 1.19 or newer. Switching the jar in your panel's version dropdown and restarting usually clears that. The next suspect is the upload path, since a JAR dropped outside the `plugins` folder will quietly fail.

The Bedrock kick bug noted above is the most common in-game complaint. Removing the offending command from `settings.yml` is the quickest fix. After that, players can stay on the server without further prompts.

The third recurring issue is YAML mistakes. Keep the `- =>` pattern intact and double-check any color code you add. Broken YAML produces a confusing log and an empty rules list. Save a backup of `rules.yml` before any large change so you can roll back fast.

Useful Links

• AcceptTheRules on Spigot
• Becoming a Minecraft server operator
• GeyserMC for Minecraft servers
• Minecraft color code guide