BetterBoss

A Paper plugin that overhauls vanilla boss fights with harder mechanics, extra phases, and custom rewards.

The first module focuses on the Ender Dragon in the End.

Features (Better Ender Dragon)

• Enhanced End Crystal — craftable upgrade used to start an enhanced dragon fight (place four near the exit portal during the respawn ritual).
• Two-phase fight — higher max health, stronger attacks in later phases, and a mid-fight phase transition with invulnerability and custom boss bar behavior.
• End-game mechanics — crystal beam attacks, crying obsidian pillar regeneration, fake endermite distractions, and reduced effectiveness of arrows/explosions after the dragon drops below half health.
• Rewards — bonus experience on kill and a loot chest spawned on the central bedrock pillar.

Progress and fight state persist per End world so enhanced runs survive restarts.

Requirements

• Paper (or compatible fork) for Minecraft 1.21.x
• Java 21

Compatibility

This plugin has only been tested on Minecraft 1.21.11.

Other 1.21.x versions may work but are not verified.

Roadmap

• Wither and other bosses are planned for future modules under the same BetterBoss umbrella.
• More bosses and tuning options may land in later releases.