Compatibility
Minecraft: Java Edition
Platforms
Tags
Creators
Details
Start a match
Run:
/begindeathswap
At least two players must be online. The command is available to server operators by default. Starting a match includes all players online at that time. Players who join later do not enter the match.
The configured grace period begins as soon as the match starts. Players can move and play normally during the grace period; the first location swap happens when the timer reaches zero.
How a match works
- The plugin randomly shuffles the participants into pairs.
- Each pair exchanges locations at the same time. If an odd number of players is alive, one randomly chosen player sits out that swap.
- Before every swap, participants see a large
3,2,1countdown on screen. - A boss bar displays the time remaining until the next swap and changes color as the timer runs down:
- Green: 40 seconds or more remain.
- Yellow: 21-39 seconds remain (the closest built-in Paper boss-bar color to orange).
- Red: 20 seconds or less remain.
- The first swap uses the grace-period timer. Every later swap uses the swap-interval timer.
- If a player dies, they are eliminated from the match and no longer take part in swaps.
- After each swap, a player earns one point if the player they were paired with dies before the next swap. This applies to any death during that interval, not only deaths directly caused by arriving at the new location. If the player survives until the following swap, the previous pairing no longer awards a point.
- A player who disconnects during a match is eliminated. Rejoining does not return them to the match.
- The last living player wins. If all participants are eliminated, there is no winner. The winner announcement includes their points.
- Starting another match resets all participants, eliminations, pairings, and points.
Commands
| Command | Description | Default access |
|---|---|---|
/begindeathswap |
Start a match with the players currently online. | Operators (deathswap.begin) |
/reloaddeathswap |
Reload the settings file without stopping the current match. | Operators (deathswap.reload) |
If a match is active, /begindeathswap does not start another one. /reloaddeathswap preserves the elapsed time in the current countdown; the newly configured duration takes effect for the remainder of that timer and for future rounds.
Settings
Edit plugins/DeathSwap/config.yml:
# Seconds before the first swap and between all later swaps.
grace-seconds: 50
swap-interval-seconds: 60
minimum-players: 2
messages:
prefix: "&8[&cDeathSwap&8] &r"
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
grace-seconds |
50 |
Seconds between starting a match and its first swap. |
swap-interval-seconds |
60 |
Seconds between subsequent swaps. |
minimum-players |
2 |
Minimum number of online players required to start. Values below two are treated as two. |
messages.prefix |
&8[&cDeathSwap&8] &r |
Prefix used for plugin messages. Minecraft color codes using & are supported. |
After editing the file, run /reloaddeathswap to apply the changes in game. Timer values must be positive; values below one are treated as one second.

