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Note: If you are impatient, go to the bottom of this page for an example config-file setup to see what the waves could look like. Modify them as you please, but make sure to read this page before asking any questions!
About Modules
The new MobArena waves-system is extremely modular, meaning every time you plug in a new wave, you only have to provide the nodes required by the specific modules you are using. The modules can be broken into wave branches and wave types. The structure of the waves-section in config-file is the following:
waves:
recurrent: <-- Wave branch
<wave name>:
type: <wave type> <-- Wave type
frequency: #
priority: #
single: <-- Wave branch
<wave name>:
type: <wave type> <-- Wave type
wave: #
Wave Branches
The waves are split into two branches, recurrent and single. Recurrent waves (may) occur more than once (as in, they repeat), given a frequency (how often they occur) and a priority (how "important" they are, i.e. which wave should spawn if two recurrent waves clash). Single waves occur just once, on the given wave (and always occur over recurrent waves, should they clash).
Common Nodes
As you can see, the two branches have one thing in common, the type-node. Other than that, their other nodes differ. However, there are two additional nodes that can be used regardless of branch and type (doesn't work for boss waves, though):
amount-multiplier: <decimal value> (optional) minimum value of 0.1, this multiplier helps determine how many monsters spawn per wave (minimum 1). If 8 mobs are supposed to spawn, and the value is 0.5, only 4 mobs will spawn. If the value is 3, 24 will spawn.
health-multiplier: <decimal value> (optional) minimum value of 0.1, this multiplier helps determine the health for each monster in a wave. If a zombie spawns with the default of 20 health points and the value is 0.5, the zombie will have 10 health points. If the value is 4, it will be 80 health points.
These two common nodes can be used to greatly customize the difficulty of the monsters in each wave. If you want more monsters, just set the amount-multiplier higher than 1, and maybe adjust the health with the health-multiplier accordingly. If you want the monsters to be tougher to kill, just up the health-multiplier.
You can also add potion effects to the mobs:
effects: <potion list> (optional) a comma-separated list of potion effects that will be applied to the mobs of the wave when it spawns. Available potion effects are listed in the PotionEffectType constants in the Bukkit API. The potion effect syntax is <effect>:<amplifier>:<seconds>. The amplifier and duration are optional, and will default to 0 (level 1) and pseudo-infinity, respectively. Note that slow, slow:0, and slow:0:600 are identical, except the last one will only last 10 minutes (600 seconds). Check the sample config-file at the bottom for more examples.
An additional node can be used to help determine where enemies will spawn:
spawnpoints: <semi-colon separated list of spawnpoints>
For example, we can make a swarm wave spawn monsters only on spawns 5,53,198, -16,54,185, and -7,53,179 if players are in range:
swarm3:
type: swarm
wave: 11
monster: zombie_pigman
spawnpoints: 5,53,198; -16,54,185; -7,53,179
Note that these spawnpoints must exist in the spawnpoints-list of the coords-section to work.
Recurrent Waves
type: [default|special|swarm|supply|upgrade|boss] (required) determines the wave type. Read the Wave types section further down for more details.
frequency: # (required) determines how often the wave will/can spawn. With a frequency of 1, the wave can potentially spawn on every single wave number. The implicit default waves in MobArena have a frequency of 1, and the implicit special waves have a frequency of 4, which means the default waves (can) spawn every wave, and the special waves (can) spawn every 4th wave.
priority: # (required) determines how "important" the wave is. If two recurrent waves clash, the wave with the highest priority will spawn. The implicit default waves in MobArena have a priority of 1, and the implicit special waves have a priority of 2, which means if the default and special waves clash, the special waves will spawn because their priority is higher.
wave: # (optional) determines the first wave number on which this wave can/will spawn. This is useful for offsetting waves with similar frequencies. Note that if no wave is specified, it will default to the value of the (required) frequency-node. The implicit default waves in MobArena have wave value of 1, and the implicit special waves have a wave value of 4 (same as the frequency), which means the default waves may begin spawning from wave 1, and the special waves may begin spawning from wave 4.
Single Waves
type: [default|special|swarm|supply|upgrade|boss] (required) determines the wave type. Read the Wave types section further down for more details.
wave: # (required) determines the wave on which this wave will spawn. No matter what priority a recurrent wave have, if it clashes with a single wave, the single wave will always spawn instead of the recurrent waves. Single waves are good for extraordinary waves like "swarm" waves, "boss" waves or even normal waves with specific monster types, for instance.
Wave Types
All MobArena waves must specify a wave type, which must be either default, special, swarm, supply, upgrade or boss. These different wave type modules introduce some new required and optional nodes. Note that no matter what the wave type is, any wave must adhere to the requirements of the wave branch (read above).
Default Waves
Default waves are waves that spawn an amount of monsters picked semi-randomly from an optional list of monsters. The amount of monsters grow at a configurable (but optional) rate. If no growth or monster-list is specified, default waves will consist of 5 different monster types (zombie, skeleton, spider, creeper, wolf), all equally likely to spawn, spawned at the "old" growth rate (player count + wave number).
growth: [old|slow|medium|fast|psycho] (optional) determines how fast the monster count grows with every wave. old means (player count + wave number), but the other four use a mathematical function to determine the monster count, also based on player count and wave number. See Formulas for more info.
monsters: <map of monster to probability> (optional) determines monster types, and their individual probabilities of spawning on each wave. Note that the probabilities are just that, probabilities. They do not specify exact amounts, but only chance of spawning. As an example, let's say we have 2 players in the arena, growth is set to slow (see Formulas), and this is wave number 9, so we need to spawn (2/2)*9^0.5 = 3 mobs. With the example configuration shown below, we should statistically see 2 zombies and 1 skeleton, because zombies are twice as likely to spawn as skeletons.
fixed: [true|false] (optional) the probability values in the monsters list becomes amount values instead, such that the above wave will spawn exactly 10 zombies and 5 skeletons, regardless of player count, wave number, and wave growth.
Example with probabilities (spawns zombies more often than skeletons)
default1:
type: default
monsters:
zombies: 10
skeletons: 5
Example with fixed amounts (spawns exactly 10 zombies and 5 skeletons)
default2:
type: default
monsters:
zombies: 10
skeletons: 5
fixed: true
Special Waves
Special waves are waves that spawn one type of monster, and always a fixed amount. Unlike with default waves, the (optional) monster list with probabilities determines which monster out of the entire list should spawn. The monsters-node's notation is identical to that of default waves.
monsters: <map of monster to probability> (required) similar to the map used in Default Waves.
Example (spawns powered creepers 75% of the time and slimes the other 25%)
special1:
type: special
monsters:
powered-creepers: 3
slimes: 1
Swarm Waves
Like special waves, swarm waves spawn just one type of monster, but in a configurable (but optional) amount. The swarm wave monsters only have 1 health point, meaning they will die with just one blow from anything. Their numbers are vast compared to default and special waves, however, so they may be a bit hard on some servers. Use with caution!
monster: <monster> (required) which monster type the swarm consists of. Note that this is different from special waves, in that only one type is specified, and no probability value.
amount: [low|medium|high|psycho] (optional) how many monsters should spawn. Defaults to low (which is still a lot). See Formulas for more info.
Example
swarm1:
type: swarm
monster: slime
amount: medium
Supply Waves
These waves spawn one monster per player, and will drop a random item from a customized drop list (same notation as the class items). The monster list notation is identical to that of default and special waves.
monsters: <map of monster to probability> (required) similar to the map used in Default Waves.
drops: <item list> (required) a comma-separated list of items dropped by the mobs when killed (see Item and Reward Syntax).
Example (spawns cows and chickens that all have a chance to drop either cooked chicken or cooked beef)
supply1:
type: supply
monsters:
cow: 4
chicken: 2
drops: cooked_chicken, cooked_beef
Upgrade Waves
These waves don't spawn any monsters, but will give or upgrade items (see Item and Reward Syntax). The class names are optional (you don't have to give items to all classes), and it is possible to use the all identifier to specify items that will be given to all players regardless of class.
upgrades: <map of class to upgrades> (required) a map of class names to upgrades. Upgrades can either be a simple comma-separated list of items (similar to the drops list in Supply Waves), or a more complex node similar to how classes are defined in the classes section.
Example of simple setup (all players get a healing potion, and on top of that, all Archers get 64 arrows, and all Oddjobs get 2 TNT and a Netherrack)
upgrade1:
type: upgrade
upgrades:
all: potion:instant_heal:1
Archer: arrow:64
Oddjob: tnt:2, netherrack
Example of complex setup (Archers just get some more arrows (simple setup), Knights get a new enchanted diamond sword and have their chestplate replaced with a diamond chestplate, while Wizards get the permission to cast the Forcepush spell from MagicSpells as well as a speed effect)
upgrade2:
type: upgrade
upgrades:
Archer: arrow:64
Knight:
armor: diamond_chestplate
items: diamond_sword sharpness:2
Wizard:
effects: speed
permissions:
- magicspells.cast.forcepush
Note that items received from upgrade waves are not made unbreakable regardless of the unbreakable flags in class configurations.
Boss Waves
Boss waves consist of one monster with a configurable (but optional) amount of health, and a configurable (but optional) list of special abilities. The health of a boss monster is significantly higher than that of normal monsters, and thus take much longer to kill. The special abilities help increase the difficulty (and fun!) of a boss wave.
monster: <monster> (required) the boss monster types. Note that only one monster will spawn.
name: <name> (optional) the name of the boss. Shows the given name in a name tag above the boss' head.
health: <amount>|[verylow|low|medium|high|veryhigh|psycho] (optional) how much health the boss has. Can be either a flat value, e.g. 40 or 800, or one of the scaling values. Defaults to the scaling value medium. See Formulas for more info about the scaling values.
reward: <item> (optional) a reward for getting the killing blow on the boss. This reward will only be given to one player (the killer, if any).
drops: <item list> (optional) a comma-separated list of items dropped by the boss when killed. The boss will drop exactly the items listed. This could be used to have the boss drop a "key" to advance in the arena, or to gain access to a shed full of weapon chests or something wonderful like that. The item syntax is the same as the one for Supply Waves.
abilities: <comma-separated list of boss abilities> (optional) determines which (if any) boss abilities this boss has. The boss can have several abilities; just separate each ability with a comma (e.g. arrows, fire-aura, throw-target). Note that the abilities happen in a cycle every few seconds, so the more abilities, the longer it takes before each ability is used again. Here is an overview of the different abilities bosses can have:
NAME DESCRIPTION
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
arrows Shoots arrows
fireballs Hurls fireballs
fire-aura Burns all nearby (5 blocks radius) players
lightning-aura Strikes lightning 4 places around itself (3-block radius)
living-bomb A random player is set on fire, and explodes after 3 seconds
obsidian-bomb Spawns an Obsidian block which explodes after 4 seconds
chain-lightning Lightning strikes the target and jumps to a nearby player
disorient-target Spins the target around 45-315 degrees
disorient-nearby Spins all nearby (5 blocks radius) players
disorient-distant Spins all distant (8+ blocks) players
disorient-all Spins all players
root-target Locks the target in place for a couple of seconds
warp-to-player Picks a random player in the arena to warp to
shuffle-positions Swaps everyone's (including the boss) positions around
flood Places a water block on a random player's location
throw-target Throws the target backwards (if in distance)
throw-nearby Throws all nearby (5 blocks radius) players
throw-distant Throws all distant (8+ blocks) players
throw-all Throws all players
pull-target Pulls the target towards the boss' location
pull-nearby Pulls all nearby (5 blocks radius) players towards the boss' location
pull-distant Pulls all distant (8+ blocks) players towards the boss' location
pull-all Pulls all players towards the boss' location
fetch-target Warps the target to the boss' location
fetch-nearby Warps all nearby (5 blocks radius) players to the boss' location
fetch-distant Warps all distant (8+ blocks) players to the boss' location
fetch-all Warps all players to the boss' location
ability-announce: [true|false] (optional) should boss abilities be announced to arena players? Defaults to true.
ability-interval: <seconds> (optional) time between each ability. Defaults to 3.
Example (spider with medium health, 3 potion effects, 4 different abilities with an interval/cooldown of 5 seconds, and drops an ender pearl when killed)
boss1:
type: boss
monster: spider
health: medium
abilities: fire-aura, disorient-target, fireballs, throw-nearby
effects: speed:3:20, wither, increase_damage:1
ability-interval: 5
drops: ender_pearl
Sample config-file setup
If you want to try a sample setup, here's one that you can use. Simply copy this block of text, and paste it into your own config-file, replacing the waves-section. Double check the indentation.
waves:
recurrent:
def1:
type: default
priority: 1
frequency: 1
monsters:
zombies: 10
skeletons: 4
exploding_sheep: 5
def2:
type: default
priority: 2
frequency: 1
wave: 5
monsters:
zombies: 10
skeletons: 6
creepers: 4
spec1:
type: special
priority: 5
frequency: 4
wave: 4
monsters:
powered_creepers: 10
angry_wolves: 10
zombie_pigmen: 10
upgrade1:
type: upgrade
priority: 7
frequency: 10
wave: 10
upgrades:
all: potion:instant_heal:2
Archer: arrow:64
Oddjob: tnt:2, netherrack
single:
swarm1:
type: swarm
wave: 7
monster: slimes
amount: medium
boss1:
type: boss
wave: 9
monster: spider
health: medium
abilities: fire-aura, disorient-target, fireballs, throw-nearby
effects: speed:3:20, wither, increase_damage:1
ability-interval: 5
boss2:
type: boss
wave: 13
monster: zombie_pigman
health: high
abilities: root-target, arrows, fetch-distant, fire-aura
drops: lever, stone_button
upgrade2:
type: upgrade
wave: 14
upgrades:
all: potion:instant_heal:2
Knight:
armor: diamond_helmet
items: diamond_sword sharpness:2;knockback:1
Tank:
items: iron_sword knockback:3
Oddjob:
armor: iron_chestplate, iron_leggings
Wizard:
permissions:
- magicspells.cast.ChainLightning
boss3:
type: boss
wave: 16
monster: wolf
health: psycho
abilities: warp-to-player, fire-aura, throw-nearby, fireballs, fetch-target, arrows
effects: slow:1
ability-interval: 1
reward: diamond_chestplate
supply1:
type: supply
wave: 19
monsters:
cows: 10
pigs: 5
drops: grilled_pork, cooked_chicken, cooked_beef, cooked_fish:2
boss4:
type: boss
wave: 20
monster: blaze
health: low
abilities: fire-aura, throw-nearby
effects: speed
reward: diamond_helmet
Visualization
To make everything a little more visual, the ASCII graph below plots this wave configuration for wave numbers up to 40:
- The x-axis (left to right) is the wave numbers from 1 to 40.
- The y-axis (up and down) is the wave definitions, where the top section is single waves, and the bottom section is the recurrent waves ordered by priority (in parentheses) in descending order from top to bottom (
def1has lower priority thandef2, so it is positioned lower in the graph). omarks the "winning wave", meaning the wave that will spawn on the given wave number.xmarks a "candidate", meaning a wave that could have spawned, had it not been for either a single wave or another recurrent wave with a higher priority.-marks a non-spawn, meaning the given wave would not spawn on this wave number.
boss4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - o - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
supply1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - o - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
boss3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - o - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
upgrade2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - o - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
boss2 - - - - - - - - - - - - o - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
boss1 - - - - - - - - o - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
swarm1 - - - - - - o - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
upgrade1 (7) - - - - - - - - - o - - - - - - - - - x - - - - - - - - - o - - - - - - - - - o
spec1 (5) - - - o - - - o - - - o - - - x - - - x - - - o - - - o - - - o - - - o - - - x
def2 (2) - - - - o o x x x x o x x x o x o o x x o o o x o o o x o x o x o o o x o o o x
def1 (1) o o o x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
wave 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40
Notice how def1 spawns only 3 times. The fourth time it would have spawned, spec1 clashes, and it has a higher priority. After that, def2 "takes over", because it has the same frequency and a higher priority. The reason it didn't start spawning sooner is because of the wave: 5 in its definition.
Additionally, the single waves always "win" over the recurrent waves, because they technically have infinite priority. After wave 20, the waves just keep spawning in the pattern defined by the recurrent waves.