Guilds Update

This update is mainly a modernization and maintenance release for Guilds.

Guilds has received a major build and dependency tooling refresh to make future updates safer, cleaner, and easier to maintain. The plugin now uses a modern Gradle setup, updated dependencies, improved CI checks, and a refreshed development workflow.

Important: Guilds now requires Java 11 or newer. This applies even when running older Minecraft versions.

Highlights

• Updated the Gradle build system and project tooling
• Added runtime dependency loading with Quark to reduce the plugin jar size
• Moved Kotlin runtime loading out of the shaded jar
• Updated several bundled dependencies
• Improved support for modern Minecraft version formats, including 26.1.2
• Added local test server tasks across legacy, modern, and latest Minecraft versions
• Improved GitHub Actions CI workflow
• Updated project documentation and build instructions

Compatibility Notes

• Java 11+ is now required
• Minecraft 1.8.8 is still supported, but the server must run on Java 11 or newer
• Latest Minecraft 26.1.2 support has been validated
• No config changes are required

Runtime Dependency Note

Guilds now downloads some runtime libraries when the plugin starts. Server environments should allow access to Maven Central so these dependencies can be resolved normally.

For Server Owners

This update should be mostly transparent for existing servers, as long as your server is running Java 11 or newer. If you are still using Java 8, you will need to update your Java version before using this release.