How can I grief protect certain parts of a world?

Question

I'm working on creating a world for an SMP server I plan on buying. I've created a structure at spawn that I would like to prevent players from griefing. I don't want to prevent players from placing and removing blocks all over the server, just certain locations. I'd also would like to prevent mod damage in this area as well.

Is there a way to accomplish this?

Answer 1

Install Bukkit (note: there is no 1.5 version out yet, you will have to wait possibly a week or more) together with WorldGuard and WorldEdit, and a permission plugin if you want to have several people do things what others cannot. If only you need to do special things, you do not need it.

with WorldEdit you can define a cube in the world and then use WorldGuard to define it as a protected region. Then you can add people to the region to allow them to edit it.

You can also simply deny building for anyone with the ModifyWorld plugin included in PermissionsEX and then allow then to build only in certain WorldGuard regions by adding them to that region. That has the advantage that you automatically prevent people building in the wild.

Answer 2

If you plan on running a CraftBukkit server for 1.5 (and I highly reccomend you do), I'd use the WorldGuard plugin alongside some permissions editor such as PermissionsBukkit. This will allow you to manage users and what they can and can't do.

A quick look at WorldGuard's feature list:

• Block creeper and wither block damage, falling damage, etc.;
• Blacklist certain items and blocks so they can't be used;
• Protect areas of your world so only certain people can build in them;
• Set areas where PVP, TNT, mob damage, and other features are disabled;

I would say that any CraftBukkit server needs this plugin. It may be a bit tricky to set up and involved a lot of testing, but it's worth it.