Product overview

A focused armor progression layer for vanilla Paper servers.

CoreArmorX controls the armor crafting path, adds netherite-only visual skins, and keeps normal upgraded armor clean.

Core Design

CoreArmorX is a Paper-only vanilla+ armor progression plugin for Minecraft/Paper 1.21.11+. It adds controlled armor crafting without custom GUIs, databases, economy hooks, or required external plugins.

Normal upgraded armor stays clean: upgraded items use their vanilla Bukkit material and do not receive CoreArmorX PDC. CoreArmorX identity is stored only on skinned armor and internal skin state.

Armor Progression

The default progression creates a controlled chain from early armor to late-game equipment:

LEATHER -> COPPER
COPPER -> CHAINMAIL
CHAINMAIL -> IRON
IRON -> DIAMOND
IRON -> GOLD
IRON_HELMET -> TURTLE_HELMET

Protected direct vanilla crafting can be blocked at runtime, so players must upgrade from the previous tier. Leather crafting and vanilla diamond to netherite smithing remain untouched.

Recipe System

Recipes are configured in YAML. Ingredient groups let one recipe accept a named set of materials, and runtime matching requires separate one-item ingredient slots to reduce stack-based crafting edge cases.

  • Static recipe-book entries can be enabled for vanilla discovery.
  • Runtime validation checks the real item and CoreArmorX rules.
  • Reload removes and re-registers CoreArmorX recipes without duplicating them.

Metadata Preservation

Armor transformations preserve supported item data, including custom name, original lore, enchantments, durability damage, max damage where supported, repair cost where supported, trims, item flags, unbreakable state, compatible custom data, and non-CoreArmorX PDC.

Generated CoreArmorX lore is rebuilt from the current config and the saved original lore snapshot.

Netherite Armor Skins

CoreArmorX supports netherite-only visual skins for leather, copper, chainmail, iron, gold, and diamond. A skinned netherite armor piece changes to the visual material while keeping a netherite-equivalent armor profile.

The item stores clean material and skin identity in PDC so it can be inspected, fixed, stripped, or refreshed safely.

Inventory Model Mode

Skinned armor can use REAL_TIER mode, where inventory displays the real/netherite tier while equipped appearance remains the visual skin, or VISUAL_SKIN mode, where inventory displays the visual material icon.

Leather Color and Lore

Leather-skinned armor remains compatible with vanilla dye behavior. Leather color placeholders can show hex, RGB, nearest color name, or a MiniMessage-colored square.

Generated lore is controlled by skins.lore.generated-lines. The {item_lore} entry inserts the saved original item lore exactly where configured; if missing, original lore remains stored but hidden.

Skin Durability

Optional skin durability is configured in armor-skins.yml. Supported modes are DISABLED, GLOBAL, BY_SKIN, and BY_ITEM. Mending behavior can be disabled, split between real and skin durability, or doubled.

When enabled, skin durability can mirror real armor damage. When the skin breaks, the configured behavior can remove the skin and return the item to clean netherite.

Skin Removal and Fire/Lava Behavior

Skins can be removed through crafting:

skinned armor + SHEARS -> clean netherite armor

The removal tool is configurable. By default, shears lose one durability instead of being consumed. Dropped skinned armor can also be protected from fire and lava destruction, or stripped back to clean netherite when configured.

Progression Locks and Commands

Progression locks are permission-based. CoreArmorX does not store player unlock data. Supported surfaces include upgrade permissions, skin permissions, optional usage permissions, and a global bypass permission.

/corearmorx help
/corearmorx version
/corearmorx reload
/corearmorx inspect
/corearmorx fixitem

Compatibility and Scope

CoreArmorX requires Paper 1.21.11+ and Java 21+. It does not require Vault, PlaceholderAPI, database storage, custom GUI libraries, resource packs, CoreToolsX, or custom item plugins.