Getting Started with Hytale Development

Welcome to Hytale plugin development! This guide will help you set up your development environment and create your first plugin.

What You’ll Need

Required

Java Development Kit (JDK): Hytale runs on Java
- Recommended: Eclipse Temurin 25 (mentioned by Nitrado)
- Minimum: Java 17 or higher
IDE: IntelliJ IDEA (most popular) or VS Code with Java extensions
Hytale Server JAR: Available at launch

Learning Path

If you’re new to Java or plugin development, follow this recommended path:

Learn Java Basics
- Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)
- Classes, methods, and data types
- Collections and data structures
Practice with Minecraft Plugins (Optional but helpful)
- Spigot/Paper plugins use similar concepts
- Great way to understand event-driven programming
- Many Hytale developers come from the Minecraft community
Study Hytale Examples
- Check out community repositories
- Decompile the server JAR for reference (community has done this)
- Review existing plugins
Start Building
- Begin with simple plugins
- Join the community Discord
- Ask questions and share your work

Quick Start


// Example: Basic plugin structure (Hytale-style lifecycle)
public class MyFirstPlugin {
    public void setup() {
        // Register components, events, commands
    }
 
    public void start() {
        System.out.println("My plugin is running!");
    }
 
    public void shutdown() {
        // Cleanup
    }
}

Next Steps

Java Installation - Set up your JDK
Server Download - Get the server JAR
Your First Plugin - Create a simple plugin
Understanding ECS - Learn the architecture

Community Wisdom

“Don’t rely solely on AI coding tools. Learn the fundamentals first, then use AI to speed up your workflow.” - Community consensus

“If you know Java, you can use Kotlin! It compiles to JVM bytecode and is fully compatible.” - From Discord discussions