Start a Boost server in Minecraft

Boost is a competitive platform minigame for two or more players. You aim at the blocks another player is standing on and boost them off, and the last player still on a platform wins. It is a free plugin by pmme that manages queuing, lobbies and several arenas at once. This guide installs it on a Paper server, builds a first game and opens it to players.

Checked against Boost 1.19.3 on Paper 1.21.1, October 2026. The Spigot page names Minecraft 1.12 to 1.21.1, and the newest build dates from August 2022, so stay on 1.21.1 rather than a newer version. PaperMC lists 1.21.1 as unsupported, which is the trade-off for a plugin that has not been updated since.

What you need

• A Paper server on 1.21.1. Vanilla has no plugin support, so switch in JAR Manager: pick Paper and Minecraft 1.21.1, then press Apply change (Change your Minecraft version or mod loader). That version runs on Java 21, which the panel sets for you.
• The Boost jar. It is on the plugin's Spigot page, which the Plugins tab does not search, and it is not on Modrinth or Hangar. You download it to your computer and upload it.
• Operator status for whoever builds the arena. Open Players, choose Operators and press Make operator.

No other plugin is required. Boost has no inventory protection, so on a server that also runs a survival world, the author suggests Multiverse Inventories to keep Boost items apart.

Install it

1. Download the jar from the Boost Spigot page.
2. Open File Manager, go into plugins and press Upload files.
3. Open the Console tab and press Restart. Boost creates its own folder under plugins. The wiki calls it boost, and the plugin's own name is Boost, so look for either spelling.
4. Type plugins in the console to check it loaded.

Build a first game

Everything below is typed in game as an operator. The author's configuration tutorial has the full sequence.

1. Run /boost off. This stops Boost blocking you from building and from being teleported.
2. Stand where players should arrive and run /boost setmainlobby. Then run /boost on.
3. Run /boost build to enter build mode, which puts you in creative mode. Build three or more platforms floating above the ground, about 10 to 16 blocks apart vertically. Do not line them up exactly from above.
4. Run /boost creategame Boost1, then /boost setgametype Boost1 elimination. The other types are elimination_race, race and parkour.
5. Stand in the game's waiting area and run /boost setlobby Boost1.
6. Stand in the middle of your top platform and run /boost setstart Boost1 Start1, then /boost setspread Boost1 Start1 4. The number is how many blocks from the start to near the platform's edge.
7. For elimination, stand where losers should wait and run /boost setloss Boost1. Then drop to the ground under the platforms and run /boost setground Boost1. A player who falls below that height is out.
8. Run /boost showgameconfig Boost1 to read the result back in chat.

Open it to players

1. Run /boost nobuild to leave build mode.
2. To test alone, run /boost setminplayers Boost1 1, then /boost queue Boost1 and /boost join Boost1.
3. When it is ready, run /boost autoqueue Boost1 on. The game then queues when the server starts and again after each finish.

Players join with /boost join <game>, leave with /boost leave, and read the leaderboard with /boost top. Join signs are made by facing a sign and running /boost setsign join Boost1. boost.join, boost.cmd and boost.status are granted to everyone by default, and boost.admin only to operators.

If something does not work

• Players cannot join. Games do not queue until you run /boost queue or /boost autoqueue.
• Signs and joining do nothing for you. You are still in build mode. Run /boost nobuild.
• You cannot break blocks. Boost blocks building while it is on. Run /boost build.
• The plugin does not load. Check you are on Paper 1.21.1 and that the jar sits directly in plugins.