Region Flags

Regions can have flags set upon it. Some uses of flags include:

• Blocking player versus player combat with the pvp flag

• Denying entry to a region using the entry flag

• Disabling the melting of snow using the snow-melt flag

• Blocking players within the region from receiving chat using the receive-chat flag

• Halting the growth of vines by using the vine-growth flag

A region can have several different flags set at one time, although a certain flag can only have one value at a time. Flags are defined using the /region flag (alternatively /rg flag) command, as illustrated below for the “spawn” region and “hospital” regions:

/region flag spawn pvp deny
/region flag spawn greeting Welcome to spawn!
/rg flag hospital heal-amount 2
/rg flag hospital heal-delay 1

Remove a flag by not specifying a value:

/rg flag spawn pvp

List flags by using the “flags” command:

/rg flags spawn

The output of this command is interactive in-game. Click flag values to change them, and the arrows at the bottom to navigate through pages.

Region Groups

Sometimes, it may be desired for a flag to only apply to a certain group of players rather than everyone that should enter the region. This can be achieved by specifying an additional “region group” when defining the flag.

Region groups describe the (non-)membership of players to a region. They are handled by WorldGuard internally, and are entirely unrelated to permission groups.

The following region groups exist:

Region Group	Description
all	Everyone
members	Members and owners of the region
owners	Owners of the region
nonmembers	Everyone who isn’t an owner or member of the region
nonowners	Everyone who isn’t an owner of the region

The group can be specified using the -g marker as illustrated below:

/region flag spawn -g nonmembers pvp deny

It is not possible to set the same flag to different values for more than one group on the same region. If you need that functionality, consider making several regions.

Note

When there are multiple overlapping regions, a player must be a member of the region on which the flag is set or on one of the region’s child regions (when region inheritance is involved). This is explained further in Priority and Inheritance.

Tip

The entry and exit flags default to “non-member”, meaning setting them to “deny” will prevent non-members from entering/exiting the region. The spawn location flag defaults to “members”, which means that only members can take advantage of it by default. The nonplayer-protection-domains flag has no region group. All other flags provided by WorldGuard default to “everyone”.

Types of Flags

Each flag is of a certain type that determines what kind of values it may take. For example, the heal-amount flag is an integer flag, so you can only set integer values for it.

Type	Kind of values
state	Either ‘allow’ or ‘deny’ (explained later)
string	Any form of text
integer	A number that does not have decimals (5, but not 5.5)
double	Numbers that may have decimals (5, 5.5, 2.425)
location	A location in a world
boolean	True or false
set	A list of unique entries

Internally, there are more types, but it should generally not be of concern.

Tip

Most string flags will accept \n as a newline (for example, to send multiple lines via greeting/farewell, or a title and subtitle via greeting-title and farewell-title).

They may also accept color codes, either in the old style &[0-9a-f] or `[RrYyGgCcBbPp012w] for dark-red, red, dark yellow, yellow, etc., and [&`][klmnox] for obfuscated, bold, strikethrough, underline, and italic text.

They may also accept some replacements, such as %name% for the player’s name, %world% for world name, %online% for player count, %id% for the player’s UUID, and %health% for the player’s current health.

Example: Using string formatting options

Setting spawn’s greeting-title to a fancy welcome message:

/rg flag spawn greeting-title `bWelcome to spawn!\n`YEnjoy your stay in `g`n%world%`x, `C%name%`Y!

Conflicting Flags

Sometimes, a certain location may have multiple overlapping regions with different values for the same flag. The following rules are used to determine which values are selected:

• Regions will inherit the value of a flag from its parent, if the region did not have the flag set. (Note that the build flag is set implicitly with membership.)

• Higher priority regions will override lower-priority regions.

• The global region is considered like any other region, except it is at the lowest possible priority.

However, it is still possible for there to be conflicting flag values even after that process. Imagine two different regions at the same priority, for example. At that point, the value of the flag is decided differently depending on the type of flag:

• For state flags, if deny is present, the result is deny. Otherwise, if allow is present, then the final value is allow.

• For other flags, the result is not defined. For that reason, do not, for example, set two different greeting messages in the same area with the same priority.

Default Values of Flags

Flags can have default values, which are used if a flag is not set for the subject’s region group on any region that affects the action. The default behavior is whichever is most sensible. For example, if item-pickup is not defined, WorldGuard defaults to allowing it. You can view the default values ingame by using the “flags” command as already described above. State flags can either be allowed by default, or have no default value. A rule of thumb is that protection-related flags, as listed below, have no default value, except for the build flag. All other state flags are usually allowed by default. The build flag is special. Its default value depends on the region membership of the subject and it’s always set implicitely, if it’s not set explicitely on any highest priority region that affects an action. That’s the reason why members and owners can build and non-members can’t by default. All other protection-related flags are always checked in tandem with the build flag. Thus their default behavior is the resulting value of the build flag.

Tip

Most of the time you don’t need to set any flags. You should only set flags if you want to deviate from the default values or to overwrite set flags of other regions. Specifically don’t set protection-related flags to completely protect or unprotect a region. Use membership or the passthrough flag instead.

Flag Listing

Flags are broken down into categories below.

Overrides

Flag	Type	description
passthrough	state	This flag is short for ‘passthrough build’. It has nothing to do with movement. If not set (default), then the region protects it area. If set to deny, then the region protects its area. If set to allow, then the region no longer protects its area. Where does the flag come into use? When you are using other flags (PvP, healing, etc.) and you don’t want to prevent building. Why not set build to allow (explained later) instead? That would override other regions and let people build!
nonplayer-protection-domains	set of strings	Non-player associables, such as pistons, are usually members of either all regions in which they are in or only of the regions with the highest priorities in which they are in, depending on the use-max-priority-association Configuration setting and if it is a Global Region. Thus there can be borders between regions, such that pistons cannot move blocks from one region into another region. The borders between the regions can be removed for non-player associables by setting the nonplayer-protection-domains flags of these regions. This flag is a set of strings, describing the domains to which the region belongs. If a non-player associable is a member of a region, then it is also a member of another region, if there is at least one domain to which both regions belong to.

Protection-Related

Flag	Type	description
build	state	Everything: Whether blocks can be mined or placed Whether doors, levers, etc. (but not inventories) can be used Whether entities and blocks can be interacted with Whether player versus player combat is permitted Whether sleeping in a bed is permitted Whether inventories can be accessed Whether vehicles (boats, minecarts) can be placed etc.
interact	state	Everything that involves ‘using’ a block or entity: Whether doors, levers, etc. (but not inventories) can be used Whether vehicles (including animals) can be mounted etc.
block-break	state	Whether blocks can be broken
block-place	state	Whether blocks can be placed
use	state	Whether doors, levers, etc. (but not inventories) can be used
damage-animals	state	Whether players can harm friendly animals (cows, sheep, etc)
chest-access	state	Whether inventories can be accessed
ride	state	Whether vehicles (including animals) can be mounted
pvp	state	Whether player versus player combat is permitted
sleep	state	Whether sleeping in a bed is permitted
respawn-anchors	state	Whether respawn anchors can be activated
tnt	state	Whether TNT detonation or block damage is permitted
vehicle-place	state	Whether vehicles (boats, minecarts) can be placed
vehicle-destroy	state	Whether vehicles can be destroyed
lighter	state	Whether flint and steel or a fire charge can be used
block-trampling	state	Whether farmland and turtle or sniffer eggs can be trampled
frosted-ice-form	state	Whether players with frost walker boots will form ice
item-frame-rotation	state	Whether items can be rotated within item frames
firework-damage	state	Whether fireworks can deal damage to entities
use-anvil	state	Whether anvils can be used
use-dripleaf	state	Whether dripleaf can be used

Warning

None of these flags are player-specific. For example, the block-break flag, if set to deny, prevents pistons from breaking blocks.

To understand why, consider the fact that players can fling TNT into a region from outside, or a player can build an inchworm piston machine that moves into another region. While these actions were caused by a player, realistically attempting to figure which player built the TNT cannon or used it is much more difficult. However, you still want to prevent someone from blowing up spawn with a TNT cannon.

Outright blocking TNT cannons or pistons is the wrong solution. Pistons and TNT cannons should be allowed in some cases. For example, a TNT cannon or piston inside should work within the region.

First off, remember who can build in regions: it’s not players, it’s members. When we consider pistons or TNT, it should be no different. How does WorldGuard figure out whether a piston machine or TNT cannon is a member of a region? If it’s inside the region, of course!

When you create a region, before setting any flags on it:

• Members may build

• Non-members may not build

TNT cannons and pistons inside are allowed to work because they are “members.” An imaginary player, “Bobby,” who isn’t a member yet, is unable to place or break blocks. Once you add Bobby to the region, then Bobby can build.

When you set the protection flags, you override this behavior. If you set block-break to deny, then even members are unable to break blocks. Bobby cannot break blocks. A TNT cannon inside cannot break blocks. A piston inside cannot break blocks. You break pistons.

That raises two questions:

• How do I prevent players from placing or breaking blocks? Don’t do anything. Don’t change any flags! Remember, only members can build by default.

• How do I change a flag to only affect players? You probably mean: how do you make a flag only affect non-members? Well, that’s easy: use Region Groups.

Tip

Note: If the build flag is set to allow or deny, it can still be overriden with a different flag (block-break, interact, etc.). The build flag is set implicitly with membership.

Mobs, Fire, and Explosions

Flag	Type	description
creeper-explosion	state	Whether creeper explosions can do damage
enderdragon-block-damage	state	Whether enderdragons can do block damage (destroy blocks)
ghast-fireball	state	Whether ghast fireballs and wither skulls can do damage
other-explosion	state	Whether explosions can do damage
fire-spread	state	Whether fire can spread
enderman-grief	state	Whether endermen will break/place blocks
snowman-trails	state	Whether snow golem will create snow beneath them
ravager-grief	state	Whether ravagers will break blocks
mob-damage	state	Whether mobs can hurt players
mob-spawning	state	Whether mobs can spawn, including ‘manually’ spawning via commands, spawn eggs, or similar methods
deny-spawn	set of entity types	A list of entity types that cannot spawn, including ‘manually’ spawning via commands, spawn eggs, or similar methods
entity-painting-destroy	state	Whether non-player entities can destroy paintings
entity-item-frame-destroy	state	Whether non-player entities can destroy item frames
wither-damage	state	Whether withers can do damage (with their body explosions - skull projectiles are handled by ghast-fireball as mentioned above)

Example: Preventing sheep and cows from spawning at spawn

The entity types must be specified:

/rg flag spawn deny-spawn cow,pig

Natural Events

Flag	Type	description
lava-fire	state	Whether lava can start fires
lightning	state	Whether lightning can strike
water-flow	state	Whether water can flow
lava-flow	state	Whether lava can flow
snow-fall	state	Whether snow will form tiles on the ground
snow-melt	state	Whether snow will melt
ice-form	state	Whether ice will form
ice-melt	state	Whether ice will melt
frosted-ice-melt	state	Whether frosted ice will melt
mushroom-growth	state	Whether mushrooms will grow
leaf-decay	state	Whether leaves will decay
grass-growth	state	Whether grass will grow
mycelium-spread	state	Whether mycelium will spread
vine-growth	state	Whether vines (and kelp) will grow
rock-growth	state	Whether rocks (dripstone, etc) will grow
sculk-growth	state	Whether sculk (sculk and sculk vines) will grow
crop-growth	state	Whether crops (wheat, potatoes, melons, etc) will grow
soil-dry	state	Whether soil will dry
coral-fade	state	Whether coral will die when not in water
copper-fade	state	Whether copper will fade

Warning

The fire-spread, water-flow, lava-flow and lava-fire flags require that the “high frequency flags” option be enabled in the configuration. This is because these events can be very frequent, requiring more region lookups, and potentially slowing down your server (or at least warming the server room a bit more).

Movement

Flag	Type	description
entry	state	Whether players (by default non-members) can enter the region
exit	state	Whether players (by default non-members) can exit the region
exit-via-teleport	state	Whether players can exit the region via teleport. This only takes effect if the player is otherwise denied exiting the region
exit-override	boolean	Whether to always allow a player to exit
entry-deny-message	string	The message issued to players that are denied entry
exit-deny-message	string	The message issued to players that are denied exit
notify-enter	boolean	Whether players with the worldguard.notify permission are notified when another player enters the region
notify-leave	boolean	Whether players with the worldguard.notify permission are notified when another player leaves the region
greeting	string	The message that appears in chat upon entering the region
greeting-title	string	The title that appears upon entering the region. Including a newline (\n) will send a subtitle.
farewell	string	The message that appears in chat upon leaving the region
farewell-title	string	The title that appears upon leaving the region. Including a newline (\n) will send a subtitle.
enderpearl	state	Whether enderpearls can be used
chorus-fruit-teleport	state	Whether chorus fruits can be used to teleport
teleport	location	The location to teleport to when the /region teleport command is used with the region name
spawn	location	The location to spawn or teleport to when a player (by default member) dies within the region
teleport-message	string	The message issued to players that are teleported with /region teleport

Tip

As mentioned above, the spawn location flag defaults to “members”, which means that only members can take advantage of it by default. Set the region group for the flag to change this.

Tip

If overlapping regions have the same greeting or farewell flag, no message is sent when moving between these regions, e.g. if you enter one region while being in the other. This is also true, in a more general sense, of any player movement that does not result in the flag at the “from” and “to” locations changing.

Warning

The greeting and farewell message flags require that the “use player move event” option not be disabled in the configuration.

Example: Preventing non-members of a “secret_club” region from entering it

Since entry defaults to “nonmembers”, you don’t need to explicitly set it here:

/rg flag secret_club entry deny

Map Making

Flag	Type	description
item-pickup	state	Whether items can be picked up
item-drop	state	Whether items can be dropped
exp-drops	state	Whether XP drops are permitted
deny-message	string	The message issued to players that are denied an action
invincible	state	Whether players are invincible
fall-damage	state	Whether entities receive fall damage
game-mode	gamemode	The gamemode (survival, creative, adventure) that will be applied to players that enter the region
time-lock	string	Time of day in ticks (between 0 and 24000) that players will see the world as while in the region. Use + or - for time relative to the world time.
weather-lock	weather	Type of weather players will see when in the region. This does not affect world mechanics. Valid values are rain and clear.
natural-health-regen	state	Whether players should naturally regen health from being satiated or being in peaceful mode.
natural-hunger-drain	state	Whether players should naturally lose hunger due to saturation/exhaustion levels.
heal-delay	integer	The number of seconds between heals (if heal-amount is set). Set to 0 to disable.
heal-amount	integer	The amount of half hearts to heal (or hurt if negative) the player at the rate of heal-delay
heal-min-health	double	The minimum number of half hearts that damage (via heal-amount) will not exceed
heal-max-health	double	The maximum number of half hearts that healing (via heal-amount) will not exceed
feed-delay	integer	See equivalent heal flag, except this is for food
feed-amount	integer	See equivalent heal flag, except this is for food
feed-min-hunger	integer	See equivalent heal flag, except this is for food
feed-max-hunger	integer	See equivalent heal flag, except this is for food
blocked-cmds	set of strings	A list of commands to block
allowed-cmds	set of strings	A list of commands to whitelist (any unallowed commands will be blocked)

Warning

The healing and feeding flags require that the “use player move event” option not be disabled in the configuration.

Example: Changing the message players receive when an action they try is blocked

Set the deny-message flag:

/rg flag spawn deny-message Sorry! You are at spawn. If you want to find a place to call home, use the rail station to leave spawn.

Example: Blocking the “/tp” and “/teleport” commands at spawn

The commands in question can be blocked with:

/rg flag spawn blocked-cmds /tp,/teleport

Example: In a “hospital” region, heal players one heart every second up to half their health bar

Without any buffs, the player’s maximum health is 20, so 10 is half of that:

/rg flag hospital heal-delay 1
/rg flag hospital heal-amount 2
/rg flag hospital heal-max-health 10

Miscellaneous

Flag	Type	description
pistons	state	Whether pistons can be used
send-chat	state	Whether players can send chat
receive-chat	state	Whether players can receive chat
potion-splash	state	Whether potions can have splash effects

Note

WorldGuard can only limit chat or commands on the server WorldGuard is running on. If you are using some sort of proxy that handles commands or the chat, WorldGuard won’t be able to affect that.