PlaceholderAPI — a plugin for substituting dynamic data in Minecraft
- Minecraft version the article was tested and written on: 26.1.2
- Range of supported versions: 1.8.x – 26.1.x
Minecraft version the article was tested and written on: 26.1.2
Range of supported versions: 1.8.x – 26.1.x
PlaceholderAPI (PAPI for short) is a server-side plugin for Minecraft that substitutes dynamic values into text in place of special markers. On its own it doesn't output anything: it's an engine that finds a marker like %player_name% in a string and replaces it with the actual value — the player's name, balance, rank, server online count. The data itself is supplied by separate modules — expansions, while PAPI only performs the substitution. Thanks to this, chat, scoreboard, tab list, and menu plugins all read values in the same format, without their own syntax.
Placeholder format
A placeholder is written between two percent signs: %<розширення>_<параметр>%. The first part before the underscore is the expansion name, followed by the specific parameter. For example, %player_name% returns the player's name, and %server_online% returns the number of players online.
The substitution only works where the receiving plugin itself calls it. If a plugin doesn't support PAPI, markers in its messages remain plain text. You can check a specific placeholder with the parse command:
/papi parse me %player_name%
If the marker text itself is returned instead of a value, the required expansion is missing or the source plugin is disabled.
Expansions and eCloud
PlaceholderAPI ships with no placeholders out of the box — they all come from expansions. Some are built into the source plugin and register themselves when the server starts; others are separate jar files in the expansion cloud (eCloud) and are installed into the /plugins/PlaceholderAPI/expansions/ directory.
You can download the expansion you need directly from the game:
/papi ecloud download <розширення>
Only verified expansions can be downloaded via the command — this is a safeguard against malicious code. Unverified ones are installed manually: download the jar from the site and place it in the expansions folder.
Access to eCloud: if the hosting or a firewall blocks the outgoing connection, downloading via the command won't work — the expansion will have to be added manually.
Commands
All commands start with /papi. By default they are only available to operators; individual permissions are granted through the placeholderapi.* nodes.
| Command | Purpose |
| /papi parse <гравець|me> <текст> | Parse placeholders in text for a player |
| /papi parserel <гравець> <гравець> <текст> | Parse relational placeholders for two players |
| /papi list | Show active expansions |
| /papi info <розширення> | Information about a specific expansion |
| /papi ecloud download <розширення> [версія] | Download an expansion from the cloud |
| /papi ecloud placeholders <розширення> | List of placeholders in the expansion |
| /papi reload | Reload the plugin and config |
| /papi version | Version of the installed plugin |
/papi parse <гравець|me> <текст>
Parse placeholders in text for a player
/papi parserel <гравець> <гравець> <текст>
Parse relational placeholders for two players
Show active expansions
/papi info <розширення>
Information about a specific expansion
/papi ecloud download <розширення> [версія]
Download an expansion from the cloud
/papi ecloud placeholders <розширення>
List of placeholders in the expansion
Reload the plugin and config
Version of the installed plugin
Config
In config.yml only a few parameters are useful to edit:
| Parameter | What it does |
| cloud_enabled | Connection to eCloud. false — the cloud is disabled, expansions are added manually only |
| boolean.true / boolean.false | Text of the boolean placeholder values; can be replaced with yes / no |
| date_format | Date and time format for the corresponding placeholders |
| check_updates | Checks for plugin updates on startup and notifies operators |
Connection to eCloud. false — the cloud is disabled, expansions are added manually only
boolean.true / boolean.false
Text of the boolean placeholder values; can be replaced with yes / no
Date and time format for the corresponding placeholders
Checks for plugin updates on startup and notifies operators
The rest of the values in the file are internal (expansion protection, replacement mode in Adventure components, debug) and are left at their defaults.
Conclusion
PlaceholderAPI provides a single data-substitution format that hundreds of plugins understand: instead of a separate integration for every plugin, one line with a placeholder is enough. It's needed by Minecraft server admins with chat, tab list, scoreboard, or menus built on dynamic data; for singleplayer it has no use.
Installation
A typical installation takes about 5 minutes. The flow is the same; only the loader and the matching build differ.
- Stop your Minecraft server.
- Drop the plugin .jar into the server /plugins folder.
- Start the server once so the plugin generates its config files.
- Edit /plugins/<name>/config.yml as needed, then run /reload confirm or restart.