Installation

Server admin

Requirements

Paper or Folia, Minecraft 1.20.6 or newer (1.21.x recommended)
Java 21

AbstractMenus does not bundle Adventure — it relies on the copy Paper ships. Plain Spigot will not work.

Install

Download AbstractMenus-<version>.jar from the releases page.
Drop it into your server’s plugins/ folder.

Start the server. AbstractMenus creates these files on first run:

plugins/AbstractMenus/
  ├── config.conf            main configuration
  ├── animated_heads.conf    head animation definitions
  ├── menus/                 your menu files (one or more .conf)
  │   └── menu.conf          a starter menu
  ├── addons/                addon jars (optional)
  └── variables.db           SQLite store for /var and /varp

Run /am addons list. You should see AbstractMenus-Core tagged [built-in]. That’s the plugin registering its own bundled types through the same SPI external addons use — sanity check passed.

Configuring

plugins/AbstractMenus/config.conf holds every server-wide setting — provider defaults, click debounce floors, MiniMessage opt-in, BungeeCord, time formatting. Full key-by-key reference: config.conf reference.

After editing, run /am reload.

First-run files

File	What it is
`config.conf`	The keys above. Edit, then `/am reload`.
`animated_heads.conf`	Reusable head animation definitions referenced through the `%hanim_:<name>:<id>%` placeholder (see placeholders).
`menus/menu.conf`	One sample menu opened by `/am open menu`. Delete it once you have your own menus.
`variables.db`	SQLite. Don’t edit manually.
`addons/`	Drop addon jars here.

Updating

Replace the jar and restart. Menu files and config.conf are preserved across upgrades. Migration notes for breaking releases land in the changelog.

Uninstalling

Remove the jar from plugins/. To wipe state too, delete the plugins/AbstractMenus/ folder.