FileHunter

FileHunter is a Paper plugin that searches for words and phrases across your server files, plugin jars, databases and logs using a single command: /search.

Supported versions: Paper 1.20.6 - 1.21.11
Java: 21

Features

FileHunter helps server administrators quickly locate information without manually opening dozens of files.

Search through:

• Configuration files (.yml, .yaml, .json, .properties, .txt, .conf, .cfg, .toml, .xml)
• Plugin jars
• SQLite databases
• Server logs
• Chat messages
• Commands executed by players
• Death and kill logs

Additional tools include:

• Player statistics from logs
• YAML validator
• Duplicate plugin detector
• Live log monitoring
• Export results to .txt

FileHunter is read-only. It never edits, moves or deletes files. Searches run asynchronously to avoid affecting server performance.

Quick Examples

/search yml host
/search yml -k enabled
/search log message hello
/search log death -victim Steve
/search stats Steve
/search export my-results

Commands

Search Files

/search <type> [options] <text>

Supported types:

• yml
• json
• properties
• txt
• jar
• db
• all

Search Logs

/search log all [filters] [text]
/search log command [filters] [text]
/search log message [filters] [text]
/search log death [filters] [text]
/search log kill [filters] [text]

Tools

/search stats [player]
/search validate [plugin]
/search jars
/search tail
/search export [name]
/search page <number>
/search reload

Search Syntax

Exact Phrases

Words written together are treated as a phrase:

/search yml hello world
/search log message good night all

AND Search

/search yml host & port
/search log message good night & everyone

OR Search

/search yml host | port
/search log message thanks | thank you

Exclusions

/search yml host !debug
/search log message hello !test

Case Sensitive

/search yml host -cs

By default searches ignore case.

File Search

Supported file types:

Useful options:

-p <plugin>   Search only selected plugins
-k            Search YAML keys only
-v            Search YAML values only
-c <number>   Show context lines
-cs           Case-sensitive search

Jar Search

FileHunter can search inside plugin jars without extracting them.

It scans:

• plugin.yml
• config.yml
• Language files
• JSON files
• Properties files
• XML files
• Text files

It can also locate strings stored inside compiled classes, helping identify:

• Messages
• Permissions
• Commands
• URLs
• Config keys

Examples:

/search jar "You do not have permission"
/search jar my-command

Database Search

SQLite databases are read in read-only mode.

Examples:

/serch db Steve
/search db token
/search db 192.168.1.5 | 10.0.0.7

Features:

• Searches every table and column
• Sensitive columns are automatically censored
• Binary data is ignored
• Supports AND (&) and OR (|) queries

Log Search

FileHunter reads:

• latest.log
• .log
• .log.gz

Examples:

Commands

/search log command gamemode creative

Chat Messages

/search log message hello

Deaths

/search log death -victim Steve

Kills

/search log kill -pvp

Errors

/search log all -l error

Player Statistics

Generate statistics from logs:

/search stats
/search stats Steve

Available data includes:

• Playtime
• Joins
• Last seen
• Commands used
• Chat activity
• Session statistics

YAML Validator

/search validate
/search validate Essentials

Checks:

• YAML syntax errors
• Duplicate keys

Reports line numbers and locations of problems.

Duplicate Plugin Checker

/search jars

Detects:

• Duplicate plugin jars
• Different versions of the same plugin
• Identical jar copies

Live Log Monitor

/search tail all
/search tail message -u Steve
/search tail death
/search tail stop

Monitor new log entries in real time directly in-game.

Permissions

Security Notice

FileHunter can locate passwords, tokens and other sensitive information stored in server files.

The plugin includes automatic censoring for common sensitive fields, but administrators should only grant filehunter.use to trusted staff members.

Requirements

• Paper or Paper forks (Purpur, Pufferfish, etc.)
• Minecraft 1.20.6 - 1.21.11
• Java 21

Known Limitations

• One search runs at a time.
• MySQL and MariaDB are not supported.
• Searches use plain text matching (not regex).
• Log-based death detection depends on vanilla English death messages.
• Results are stored only until the next search.
• /search jars scans only jars directly inside the plugins folder.