Attack indicator

AttackIndicator v2.4

Reliability, performance, and security pass over the 2.3 codebase. Drop-in upgrade — no config migration required (new keys fall back to safe defaults).

New

• Active-indicator cap — new performance.max-active-indicators (default 200, 0 = unlimited). Bounds spawned entities and per-tick animation tasks during heavy damage bursts (e.g. AoE) to protect server TPS. The cap is enforced at spawn time, so even a same-tick burst cannot overshoot it.
• random-offset.y is now exposed in config.yml (the value was already used internally; it is now documented and editable).

Reliability & Security

• Crash-safe indicators — indicator entities are now spawned with setPersistent(false) on 1.13+, so a server crash or chunk unload can no longer leave orphaned armor stands / text displays behind. Gracefully degrades on 1.8–1.12 where the API is absent.
• Hardened MiniMessage (1.19.4+) — only formatting tags (colors, hex, gradients, decorations) are honored in indicator-format. Interactive tags (<click>, <hover>, <insertion>) are disabled so a format string can never inject clickable links or hover payloads.
• Update checker hardening — the Modrinth response is now size-bounded (1 MB) and the User-Agent correctly reports the running version.
• Safer language loading — the language config value is sanitized (no path traversal), and an unknown/un-bundled code falls back to English instead of failing plugin startup.

Internal

• Null-guarded command registration.
• Aligned config defaults with config.yml; renamed internal Y-offset accessor for axis symmetry; minor cleanups.
• README rewritten: technical overview, version/renderer matrix, command & permission tables, full config reference, architecture diagram, and build instructions.

Compatibility: Paper / Spigot, Minecraft 1.8 → 1.21+ (renderer auto-selected per version). Build: mvn clean package (JDK 17+ toolchain; output targets Java 8 bytecode).

New Features

• Added /attackindicator toggle command — players can now individually enable/disable damage indicators
• Player toggle states persist across server restarts

Bug Fixes

• Fixed potential thread safety issues with concurrent indicator spawning
• Fixed resource leak in update checker (connection not properly closed)
• Fixed potential NullPointerException when projectile has no shooter
• Fixed Y-axis random offset not being applied

Improvements

• Armor stands now use optimized properties (small, no baseplate, no arms) for better performance
• Improved tab completion for commands

Permissions

• attackindicator.toggle — allows toggling indicators (default: true)

Universal Version Support

• Full compatibility with Minecraft 1.8 - latest - one JAR for all versions!
• Automatic server version detection with best method selection:
  • 1.19.4+ → Display Entities (smooth, best performance)
  • 1.16.5-1.19.3 → Armor Stands with MiniMessage (hex colors, gradients)
  • 1.8-1.16.4 → Armor Stands with Legacy ChatColor (basic colors)

New Features

• Added automatic update checker - server owners will be notified in console when a new version is available on Modrinth
• Added show-on-players config option - control whether damage indicators appear on players (default: false)
• Added indicator-scale config option - customize the size of damage indicators (default: 1.5)
• Added vertical-offset config option - adjust vertical position of indicators relative to entity's head (default: 0.5)

Changes

• Removed hardcoded restriction that prevented indicators from showing on players
• Indicators can now be fully customized through config.yml

Added

• Integrated MiniMessages for all plugin text, allowing for more advanced formatting options.

Changed

• Complete rework of the plugin's core mechanics for better performance and stability.
• The plugin is now significantly more lightweight.
• Replaced the old Armor Stand-based indicator with the new Display Entities system, introduced in Minecraft 1.19.4. This should provide a much smoother and more reliable experience.
• Most previous configuration settings have been retained to ensure a smooth transition.

Fixed

• Resolved a major bug where the indicator (an Armor Stand) would not be removed properly, causing it to get stuck in the sky.

• Added support: 1.17.x, 1.18.x, 1.19.x

• Added automatic removal of damage indicators when the associated entity dies. The plugin now listens for entity death events and cleans up any active indicators tied to that entity.

• Introduced tracking for active indicators using a mapping, enabling proper cleanup and reducing visual clutter.

• Minor code refactoring and improvements for better maintainability and performance.

• World/Region Support: The plugin now checks a configurable list of enabled worlds. If the damage occurs in a world not listed, the indicator will not be shown.

• Additional Visual Effects: Particle effects can be enabled or disabled in the configuration. Administrators can customize the particle type, count, and offsets to enhance the visual feedback of damage indicators.

• Adaptive Animation: An adaptive animation feature has been added. When enabled, the indicator's upward movement speed adjusts dynamically based on the amount of damage dealt.

• Configurable Sound Effects: Sound effects are now integrated. You can configure the sound type, volume, and pitch in the config file to play a custom sound when the indicator spawns.

• Added a combo feature that tracks successive hits on the same entity. The combo counter displays a multiplier based on configurable thresholds, allowing for customizable combo designs in the config file.

• Retained all existing functionality (animation, configurable duration, damage source filtering, and reload command) while enhancing performance with asynchronous processing.

• Added an animated damage indicator that smoothly moves upward.

• The duration for which the indicator is displayed can now be set in the config.

• Introduced the /atk reload command (available to operators) to reload the plugin configuration without restarting the server.

• Added a configuration option (damage-source) to filter which damage events display the indicator.

• Default config values are now:

placeholder-format: "&f{damage}&c❤"
indicator-duration: 20
animation-speed: 0.05
animation-enabled: true
damage-source: "ALL"