OlEncounters 1.5.0 Update Notes

OlEncounters 1.5.0 is a major update that expands the plugin beyond meteor-only events. This release moves the plugin name, commands, package structure, and player-facing content to the OlEncounters brand. It also introduces advanced arrival modes, full-schematic animations, mob arrival effects, improved previews, and expanded administration tools.

New plugin identity

• Renamed the plugin from OlMeteor to OlEncounters.
• Updated the author name to OlPlugins.
• Changed the main command to /olencounters.
• Moved the primary permission structure to olencounters.*.
• Updated the PlaceholderAPI identifier to %olencounters_*%.
• Migrated the Java package structure to com.olencounters.
• Renamed the primary API service to OlEncountersAPI.

Backward compatibility is retained for legacy OlMeteor data folders, commands, permissions, PlaceholderAPI identifiers, and persistent data tags.

New arrival modes

Encounters are no longer limited to falling from the sky. Every encounter can use its own arrival style.

Available arrival modes:

• Instant placement
• Normal sky fall
• Slow cinematic descent
• Underground rise
• Portal arrival
• Materialization
• Horizontal fly-in

Duration, starting distance, particle density, and sound behavior can be configured independently.

Full-schematic animation

Previous versions could animate a meteor core or temporary visual object. Version 1.5.0 can animate the actual schematic by converting its blocks into display entities during the arrival sequence.

• Schematic blocks move according to the selected arrival mode.
• The real structure is placed when the animation finishes.
• Live encounters and previews use the same animation system.
• Large schematics are processed in batches to reduce server load.
• The maximum number of animated blocks is configurable.
• Blocks can appear in delayed layers.
• Batch size and layer delay can be adjusted.
• Oversized schematics can safely fall back to the meteor-core animation.
• Pending animation tasks and display entities are removed when an encounter is cancelled.

Mob arrival animations

Arrival effects have been added for MythicMobs and regular encounter mobs.

Available mob arrival modes:

• Instant spawn
• Sky descent
• Underground emergence
• Portal arrival
• Materialization

Mob arrival duration, distance, particle density, and sound behavior can be configured separately for each encounter.

Administration GUI improvements

Encounter and arrival-animation settings are now available through the in-game administration interface.

Administrators can:

• Select the encounter arrival mode.
• Change animation duration.
• Configure animation distance.
• Adjust particle density.
• Enable or disable arrival sounds.
• Enable or disable full-schematic animation.
• Change the maximum number of displayed schematic blocks.
• Configure animation batch size and layer delay.
• Select mob arrival modes.
• Configure mob arrival effects.
• Preview the selected animation before saving.

Preview system

• Full-schematic arrival animations can be previewed without starting an encounter.
• Preview and live-event animations use the same block-animation system.
• Preview duration and movement follow the configured values.
• Display entities created by a preview are removed automatically.
• Administrators can click saved location messages to teleport to the encounter area.
• Click-to-teleport actions are only shown to players with the required administrative permission.

Automatic encounter system

• Automatic-event commands were updated for the OlEncounters command structure.
• Multiple encounters can remain assigned to a single category.
• Encounters can be selected from categories using configurable weights.
• World, center location, minimum radius, and maximum radius are supported.
• Circle, square, triangle, diamond, and hexagon search areas are available.
• Land, air, and any-surface placement modes are supported.
• any_surface accepts natural overworld surfaces, including tree tops, while excluding configured invalid surfaces such as water, lava, or caves.
• Air placement supports configurable minimum and maximum heights.
• Rough-terrain placement can be controlled per encounter.
• WorldGuard regions and Towny towns can be excluded from automatic placement.
• Failed location searches and startup failures now provide more detailed diagnostic output.

Language and message system

• Turkish and English locale files were updated for the OlEncounters brand.
• Command suggestions now follow the selected language more consistently.
• Prefix settings were consolidated under the OlEncounters identity.
• Automatic text migration was added for legacy OlMeteor branding.
• Administrator-only diagnostic and error messages were separated from public messages.
• Global, nearby, distant, participant-only, and administrator-only message targets remain configurable.

Safe migration from older versions

OlEncounters can detect the legacy plugins/OlMeteor directory during its first startup.

• Existing data can be copied safely into plugins/OlEncounters.
• A migration marker prevents the same data from being copied repeatedly.
• Legacy commands can redirect to the new command system.
• Legacy permissions continue to work for compatibility.
• The old PlaceholderAPI identifier remains available as a compatibility alias.
• Legacy PDC and NBT tags remain readable.
• Existing data is not deleted automatically during migration.

Do not keep both the old and new plugin JAR files installed at the same time.

API and integration changes

• The primary API service is now named OlEncountersAPI.
• The API remains available through Bukkit's ServicesManager.
• WorldGuard, Towny, MythicMobs, and other optional integrations remain isolated behind safe hook wrappers.
• External API types are not loaded directly by the main plugin class.
• Missing optional dependencies do not disable the entire plugin.
• PlaceholderAPI expansion metadata was updated for OlEncounters.
• The PlaceholderAPI author field is now OlPlugins.

Bug fixes

• Fixed errors caused by spawning particle types without their required color or particle data.
• Fixed cases where the animation started but the schematic did not visibly move.
• Reduced differences between preview and live-event animations.
• Improved cleanup of unfinished scheduler tasks.
• Prevented display entities from remaining in the world after cancellation.
• Reduced the risk of entity and location operations using an incorrect scheduler on Folia.
• Reduced the performance impact of animating large schematics.
• Invalid animation durations and distances are now restricted to safe values.
• Missing or invalid arrival modes fall back to a safe default.
• Improved logging and cleanup when an automatic encounter fails to start.
• Removed remaining legacy branding from several menus, messages, and help sections.

Technical information

• Version: 1.5.0
• Plugin name: OlEncounters
• Author: OlPlugins
• Main command: /olencounters
• Main permission: olencounters.*
• Java: 21
• Server: Paper/Folia 1.21.1+
• Required dependency: CommandAPI

Updating to 1.5.0

1. Fully stop the server.
2. Back up the existing OlMeteor or OlEncounters JAR.
3. Back up the plugins/OlMeteor or plugins/OlEncounters data directory.
4. Remove the old JAR file.
5. Place OlEncounters-1.5.0.jar in the plugins directory.
6. Start the server normally.
7. Review the migration and integration messages in the console.
8. Use /olencounters to verify menus and saved encounters.

Using /reload after this update is not recommended. Because the plugin identity, command structure, and integrations have changed, a complete server restart is required.