Free The Bridge minigame plugin for Minecraft 1.8+. Arenas, teams, parties, kits, cosmetics, stats & leaderboards. Bukkit, Spigot, Paper.

TheBridgeHG is a free, complete The Bridge minigame plugin for Minecraft. It brings the Hypixel-style Bridge game mode to your own server: two teams face off across a central bridge, each defending its own goal while bridging across the gap and firing arrows at the enemy. The first team to reach the goal limit wins. TheBridgeHG handles arenas, cages, teams, parties, kits, cosmetics, statistics, leaderboards, scoreboards, and rewards out of the box. It runs on Minecraft 1.8 and newer, on Bukkit, Spigot, and Paper.

This is the full documentation: installation, configuration, creating arenas and cages, the cosmetics and party systems, gameplay mechanics, every command and permission, the database, and troubleshooting.

What is The Bridge?

The Bridge is a fast, competitive PvP minigame popularized by large networks. Two teams spawn on opposite islands separated by a void, connected by a central bridge. Each player gets blocks to bridge with, a bow, and a sword. To score, you cross the bridge and reach the enemy's goal region; meanwhile both teams knock each other into the void and snipe with arrows. The first team to reach the goal limit wins the round.

TheBridgeHG implements this entire game mode so you don't have to build the scoring, teams, anti-grief, or round logic yourself. You build a map and capture a cage; the plugin runs the games, tracks stats, and rewards players.

Installation and Dependencies

1. Download the TheBridgeHG JAR using the link at the bottom of this page.
2. Place the JAR in your server's plugins folder.
3. (Optional but recommended) Install Vault and an economy plugin. Vault is required for money rewards and for cosmetics that unlock with money.
4. Restart the server once to generate the configuration files in plugins/TheBridgeHG/.
5. Build your map, capture a cage template, then create and configure an arena (covered below).
6. Run /tb admin reload after editing any configuration file.

TheBridgeHG works without Vault, but rewards and money-based cosmetics are disabled if it isn't present. Stats work out of the box with SQLite — no database server needed.

Key Features

• Multiple configurable arenas: 1v1 up to 4v4 per team (2–8 players total), run as many as you like simultaneously.
• Cage template system: Capture cages from the world as reusable templates, with automatic rotation that always orients the cage front toward the bridge for each team.
• Full cosmetics system: Cage styles, win effects, arrow effects, and message packs, unlockable free, by wins, or by money (via Vault).
• Party system: Leader hierarchy, invitations, party chat, and random leadership transfer on disconnect.
• Scoreboards: Separate, fully configurable in-game and lobby scoreboards.
• Rewards: Money for kills, goals, and wins, with a configurable message (chat, action bar, or title) and Vault deposit.
• Persistent stats (SQLite or MySQL): Wins, losses, kills, deaths, goals, streak, K/D, best game, time played, and perfect wins.
• Top players GUI: Four leaderboard categories — goals, wins, kills, and perfect wins.
• GUI editors: For arenas, cages, the player kit, and cosmetics.
• Lobby portal and items: A walk-through join portal and a configurable lobby hotbar.
• Localization: Bundled en-US and es-MX locales, easy to add more.

Configuration: config.yml

The main configuration file lives at plugins/TheBridgeHG/config.yml. Below are the key blocks.

Locale and Prefix

locale: en-US        # loads locales/<locale>.yml — bundled: en-US, es-MX
prefix: "&8[&bTheBridgeHG&8] &r"

Game Settings

These control team size, timings, the goal limit, and anti-grief boundaries.

game:
  min-players: 2
  players-per-team: 2          # 1-4. Total max = players-per-team × 2
  countdown-seconds: 15        # lobby countdown when the arena fills
  goal-limit: 5
  invincibility-seconds: 3     # spawn protection after respawn
  game-time-minutes: 10
  pregame-seconds: 5           # time inside cages before they open
  cage-reopen-seconds: 3       # time in cage after a goal
  arrow-regen-seconds: 5
  arrow-life-seconds: 3        # minimum 1; 0 makes arrows invisible/harmless
  void-kill-window-seconds: 5  # window to credit a void kill to the attacker
  max-build-height: 120
  end-game-seconds: 5          # also controls win-effect duration & firework loop

Kit

The items each player receives at game start, and the leather armor color per team. Editable with the /tb kit GUI or here.

kit:
  hotbar-layout:
    - IRON_SWORD
    - BOW
    - STAINED_CLAY      # team-colored block
    - DIAMOND_PICKAXE
    - STAINED_CLAY
    - GOLDEN_APPLE
    - ARROW
    - AIR
    - AIR
  armor-color:
    red-r: 200
    red-g: 0
    red-b: 0
    blue-r: 0
    blue-g: 0
    blue-b: 200

Scoreboards

TheBridgeHG has two scoreboards. The in-game scoreboard has separate line sets for each phase (waiting, starting, pregame, ingame), and the lobby scoreboard is shown when players are not in a game.

In-game placeholders include: {arena}, {players}, {max}, {t1color}, {t2color}, {t1score}, {t2score}, {t1count}, {t2count}, {t1initial}, {t2initial}, {time}, {goal_limit}, {kills}, {deaths}, {world}, and {map}.

Lobby placeholders include: {player}, {money}, {wins}, {losses}, {kills}, {deaths}, {goals}, {games}, {streak}, {best_streak}, {kdr}, {winrate}, and {perfect}.

Database

database:
  type: sqlite     # sqlite (data.db in the plugin folder) | mysql
  host: localhost
  port: 3306
  name: thebridgehg
  username: root
  password: ''

Rewards

Each of win, goal, and kill grants money (via Vault), shows a message with the %money% placeholder, and supports a display style: chat, actionbar, title, or none. A legacy commands list can also run console commands with %player%.

rewards:
  win:
    money: 50
    message: "&a+%money%$ &7for winning!"
    display: chat
    commands: []
  goal:
    money: 25
    message: "&a+%money%$ &7for scoring!"
    display: chat
  kill:
    money: 5
    message: "&a+%money%$ &7for the kill"
    display: chat

Sounds, Signs, Portal, and Lobby Items

Other config blocks let you customize: sounds (countdown tick, time warning, the three-step goal firework sequence, game start, lose, and the looping win sound), join signs (header, footer, and per-state text), the lobby portal region (set via /tb admin portal), allowed-in-game-commands (a prefix-matched whitelist; admins bypass it), command aliases (toggles for /join, /leave, etc.), and lobby items (the hotbar shown outside of games, with configurable slot, material, name, lore, and command).

Creating and Configuring an Arena

Arenas are stored in arenas.yml and configured through a GUI. The workflow:

1. Run /tb admin create <name> to create the arena and open the config GUI.
2. Run /tb admin setup <name> any time to reopen the editor.
3. Set each field from the GUI — standing on a block for spawns, or using the wand for regions (left-click = corner 1, right-click = corner 2).

Configurable arena fields:

• enabled — whether the arena is active.
• display-name — visible name (supports & color codes).
• players-per-team — 1 to 4.
• team1-color / team2-color — RED, BLUE, GREEN, YELLOW, AQUA, LIGHT_PURPLE, WHITE, or ORANGE.
• lobby-spawn — where players wait.
• waiting-spawns — spawn points used while waiting.
• team1-spawn / team2-spawn — each team's spawn at round start (also the cage center).
• team1-death-spawn / team2-death-spawn — respawn after death (optional; falls back to the team spawn).
• team1-goal / team2-goal — the regions where a goal is scored.
• team1-cage-style / team2-cage-style — the cage template each team uses.
• team1-base / team2-base — base regions where building is blocked.
• arena-region — the bounding box; blocks can only be placed inside it.
• bridge — the bridge region, whose blocks can be broken.
• max-build-height — the placement height cap.
• min-death-height — the Y below which a player dies instantly (void).
• join-signs — physical signs in the world linked to this arena.

Creating and Editing Cages

Cages are the enclosures that hold players at their spawn during the pre-game countdown and after each goal. TheBridgeHG captures cages from the world as reusable templates stored in plugins/TheBridgeHG/cages/<name>.yml.

Capturing a cage

1. Build the cage in your world and stand at its spawn point, facing the direction the front should point.
2. Run /tb admin cage create <name>.
3. Use the wand to mark the two opposite corners of the cage (left-click = corner 1, right-click = corner 2).
4. Your yaw at capture time is saved as the cage's "front" direction.

Automatic rotation

This is what makes the cage system robust. Each cage stores a capture-yaw (the captured front direction). When a game starts, the plugin:

1. Computes the bridge direction from each team's spawn toward the enemy spawn.
2. Calculates the rotation needed (bridge direction minus the captured front).
3. Rotates every block in the template by that amount (in 90° steps).

The result: the captured "front" of the cage always faces the bridge, automatically, for both teams — regardless of how each arena is oriented. You capture a cage once and it works in any arena.

The cage editor GUI

Run /tb admin cage setup <name> to open the editor, which includes:

• Rename and Player Display Name — internal name and the name shown in the cosmetics menu.
• Display Material — hold a block and click to set the GUI icon.
• Spawn Point — wand-click the floor block where players appear. Only accepted if it's on the cage's lowest row and inside the footprint (validated with a clear error and sound).
• Front Side — wand-click any block on the side that should face the bridge.
• Flip Front 180° — if the cage ends up backwards after testing, one click inverts the front direction; no need to re-mark anything.
• Player Selectable — toggle whether players can pick this cage as a cosmetic. Locked until all requirements are met (blocks captured, spawn on the floor and inside the footprint, front defined); the button shows as a barrier labeled "LOCKED" and lists what's missing.
• Unlock Type — cycles Free → Wins → Money, with the matching requirement.
• Recapture and Delete (shift-click to confirm).

A cage template file stores: display-material, display-name, player-selectable, unlock-type, wins-required/price, spawn-offset (dx/dy/dz), capture-origin, capture-yaw, and the blocks list in dx,dy,dz:MATERIAL:data format.

Cosmetics System

Run /tb cosmetics to open the cosmetics menu, which has four categories: Cage Styles, Win Effects, Arrow Effects, and Message Packs. Each cosmetic can be unlocked one of three ways — free, by reaching a number of wins, or by purchasing with money (via Vault).

In every category, items are shown by state: green means currently selected, yellow means unlocked (click to select) or purchasable (with a price), red means locked behind a win requirement, and hidden items are simply disabled.

Win-based unlocks happen automatically when you reach the required win count. Money unlocks debit instantly through Vault. Selections and unlocks are saved per player in the database.

Win Effects

Triggered for the winner when a game ends. Defined in cosmetics.yml under win-effects, with three types:

• MOB — spawns creatures around the winner. Options: mob, count, duration-ticks, dye-color (or RAINBOW for random per-entity color), upside-down (the Dinnerbone trick), baby, flying, jumping, height-offset, custom-name, spawn-interval-ticks, and batch-size.
• PARTICLE — a ring of particles orbiting the winner. Options: particle, particle-count, particle-radius, duration-ticks.
• FIREWORKS — randomized fireworks. Options: firework-count, firework-interval-ticks.

Arrow Effects

Cosmetic trails and impact effects for arrows. Options: trail-particle, trail-interval-ticks, trail-count (greater than 1 forms an orbiting ring), trail-radius, impact (NONE, LIGHTNING, FIREWORK, or PARTICLES), impact-particle, and an optional shoot-sound.

Message Packs

Themed sets of kill, void-kill, death, and goal messages. Each pack defines lists with placeholders: %killer% and %victim% for kills, %player% for deaths, and %player%, %team%, %red%, %blue% for goals. You can create your own packs.

Cage Styles in parties

Cage styles are also a cosmetic category. One useful detail: if a party has two or more members with a non-default cage selected, the plugin picks one at random to use as the team's cage for that game.

Party System

The /party command (or /tb party) lets players group up before joining a game. Running it with no arguments opens the party GUI.

• /party create — create a party.
• /party invite <player> — invite a player. The invite expires in 30 seconds; the target sees a clickable [Accept] [Decline] message.
• /party accept <leader> / /party decline <leader> — respond to an invite.
• /party remove <player> — kick a member (leader only).
• /party leader <player> — transfer leadership (leader only).
• /party leave — leave; if you were the leader and members remain, a random member becomes leader; if you were alone, the party disbands.
• /party disband — disband the party (leader only).
• /party list — show members and their online status.
• /party chat — toggle party-only chat (logged in console as [PartyChat]).

Maximum party size is permission-based: 2 by default, or 3/4/5 with the matching thebridgehg.party.size.* permission. When a party leader joins an arena, the whole party is pulled in together; the leader can't join if the party doesn't fit, or if a member is already in an active game.

Gameplay Mechanics

• Build restriction: blocks can only be placed inside the arena region, outside the bases, and below the max build height. You can't build inside closed cages.
• Break restriction: at all times, players can only break blocks they placed in the current game, plus bridge blocks. The original map is always protected.
• Void kills: if you damage a player and they fall into the void within the configured window (default 5 seconds), the kill is credited to you.
• Stats by mode: each game is recorded under its mode (1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4) based on the arena's players-per-team.
• Perfect win: winning without the enemy scoring a single goal.
• Streak: consecutive wins, reset on a loss.
• Spectators: see the same in-game scoreboard in spectator mode.

Statistics, Top, and Database

TheBridgeHG tracks a detailed stat set per player and per mode, viewable with /stats and ranked with /top [goals|wins|kills|perfect]. Tracked values include wins, losses, kills, deaths, goals, perfect wins, current and best win streak, best kills in a game, and time played, plus derived K/D, win rate, and goals per game.

Data is stored in SQLite by default (a data.db file in the plugin folder) or MySQL/MariaDB for networks. The schema uses tables for player totals, per-mode stats, unlocked cosmetics, and selected cosmetics.

Commands

The root command is /tb (alias /thebridgehg), with player and admin branches. Many commands have standalone shortcuts.

Player and Party Commands

Command	Description
/join [1-4|arena]	Join the fullest available arena, filter by size, or join a named arena
/leave	Leave your current game
/stats [player]	Open your stats GUI, or view another player's
/top [goals|wins|kills|perfect]	Open the top-10 leaderboard (default: goals)
/tb kit	Open the kit editor
/tb cosmetics	Open the cosmetics menu
/spect <player>	Spectate the game a player is in
/party ...	Party management (create, invite, accept, etc.)

Admin Commands

Command	Description
/tb admin create <name>	Create an arena and open its config GUI
/tb admin delete <name>	Delete an arena
/tb admin setup <name>	Open the arena config GUI
/tb admin rename <arena> <display name>	Change the display name (allows spaces and & codes)
/tb admin list	List all arenas with status and size
/tb admin reload	Reload config, locales, signs, and cosmetics
/tb admin start [arena]	Force-start a game
/tb admin portal	Give the wand to mark the portal corners
/tb admin portal remove	Remove the portal and clear its blocks
/tb admin cage create <name>	Capture a cage template with the wand
/tb admin cage setup [name]	Open the cage editor, or the cage list
/tb admin cage list	List all cage templates
/tb admin cage delete <name>	Delete a cage template
/tb admin cage rename <old> <new>	Rename a template and update arena references
/tb admin cage front <name>	Save your snapped yaw as the template's front direction

All admin commands are also available without the admin namespace (for example /tb create) for backward compatibility.

Permissions

Permission	Default	Description
thebridgehg.*	op	Wildcard — everything below
thebridgehg.admin	op	All admin commands
thebridgehg.admin.create	op	Create arenas
thebridgehg.admin.delete	op	Delete arenas
thebridgehg.admin.setup	op	Config GUI and rename
thebridgehg.admin.list	op	List arenas
thebridgehg.admin.reload	op	Reload config
thebridgehg.admin.start	op	Force-start
thebridgehg.admin.portal	op	Manage the portal
thebridgehg.admin.cage	op	Manage cage templates
thebridgehg.play	everyone	Player commands (join, leave, stats, top, kit, party)
thebridgehg.spectate	op	The /spect command
thebridgehg.cosmetics	everyone	Cosmetics menu
thebridgehg.party.size.3	false	Party up to 3 members
thebridgehg.party.size.4	false	Party up to 4 members
thebridgehg.party.size.5	false	Party up to 5 members

Troubleshooting

• The cage faces the wrong way. Open the cage editor and use "Flip Front 180°", or run /tb admin cage front <name> to re-save the front direction. No need to recapture.
• An arena won't enable. The plugin lists exactly which required settings are missing. Open /tb admin setup <arena> and complete them.
• Money rewards don't work. Make sure Vault and an economy plugin are installed; without Vault, money rewards and money cosmetics are disabled.
• A cosmetic can't be selected as player-selectable. The cage editor lists the missing requirements (blocks captured, spawn on the floor and inside the footprint, front defined).
• Arrows don't appear or deal no damage. Check that arrow-life-seconds is at least 1; setting it to 0 removes arrows the instant they spawn.

Download

TheBridgeHG is free to download. Download link coming soon.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Minecraft versions does TheBridgeHG support?

TheBridgeHG works on Minecraft 1.8 and newer, on Bukkit, Spigot, and Paper servers. It's designed around the 1.8 PvP standard, which is the most popular for competitive Bridge gameplay.

How many players can play at once?

Each arena supports two teams of 1 to 4 players each, so up to 8 players per arena, and you can run unlimited arenas at the same time.

Do I need Vault or a database?

Neither is required. SQLite works with no setup. Vault (plus an economy plugin) is only needed for money rewards and money-unlocked cosmetics.

How does the cage rotation work?

You capture a cage once with a defined front direction. The plugin then rotates the cage automatically so its front always faces the bridge for each team, in any arena orientation.

Can players group up before joining?

Yes. The party system supports invites, party chat, and leader transfer. Larger party sizes are unlocked by permission.

Does it support other languages?

Yes. English and Spanish are bundled, and you can add your own by copying a locale file and setting it in config.yml.