Broadcast Pixelcard

Description BroadcastPixelcard is a chat broadcast plugin that combines pixel-art patterns with custom card messages, sending them to all online players on a configurable timer.

Features

• Automatic timed broadcasts. Configurable start delay and loop interval.
• Cycle mode: Rotates through all loaded pixelcards.
• Single-card mode: Targets one specific card by name every broadcast.
• Pattern selection: Choose a fixed pattern or let the plugin pick one randomly.
• Smart text wrapping with configurable line length and maximum message size.
• Skips broadcasting when no players are online.
• Add new patterns : it supports standard Minecraft color codes (&a, &b…), legacy section symbols (§), and modern hex colors (#RRGGBB).
• Reload support via /bpc reload without restarting the server.

Architecture No extra dependency JAR is required on the server.

Permissions

• broadcastpixelcard.reload — Allows use of /bpc reload. Defaults to false.

Commands

• /bpc reload — Reloads config.yml, re-reads patterns.json and pixelcards.json, and restarts the broadcast task.

Configuration (config.yml)

• pixelcard-to-display: "CYCLE_THE_CARDS" to rotate, or a specific card name to repeat that card.
• pixelart-pattern: "random" for random selection, or a specific pattern name string.
• broadcast-delay-on-start-minutes: Minutes to wait before the first broadcast after plugin startup.
• broadcast-delay-loop-minutes: Minutes between each broadcast loop.
• message-line-length: Maximum characters per line (default 32).
• message-max-length: Hard cap on message length (default 128).
• debug: true or false. When enabled, prints extra info to the console.

Data Files The plugin expects two JSON files in its data folder (plugins/BroadcastPixelcard/):

• pixelcards.json — An array of card objects, each with:
  • name: Identifier string.
  • text:
    • header: Short title/heading text.
    • content: The main message body.
• patterns.json — A map of pattern names to arrays of 8 strings (the art lines).

Both files are extracted from the plugin JAR on first run only if they do not already exist, preserving any edits made by the server owner.

Color Formatting Three formats are accepted inside JSON and config strings:

1. Legacy section symbols (§a, §b…) — decoded automatically from JSON Unicode escapes.
2. Ampersand codes (&a, &b…) — translated at runtime.
3. Hex codes (#RRGGBB) — converted to Minecraft's §x§R§R§G§G§B§B format

Compatibility

• Server: Spigot or Paper 1.21+
• Java: Compiled for Java 17+ compatibility
• Target: Tested against Spigot API 1.21.11

Usage

1. Place the plugin JAR into your server's plugins/ folder.
2. Start the server once to generate config.yml, patterns.json, and pixelcards.json.
3. Stop the server, edit the JSON files with your cards and patterns, and adjust config.yml.
4. Start the server. The broadcasts will begin automatically after the configured delay.