AJLeaderboards: leaderboards for your server

What AJLeaderboards is

AJLeaderboards is a universal ranking plugin that sorts players by any numeric value and shows the result in the game world. For a ranking of the richest players, plug in the %vault_eco_balance% placeholder. For kills, use %statistic_player_kills%. For skill level, use %auraskills_power%.

The plugin doesn't collect data on its own: it uses PlaceholderAPI as its source of information. That means it works with any plugin that registers placeholders, with no dedicated integrations needed.

AJLeaderboards is available on SpigotMC. It's free and requires PlaceholderAPI. Optionally it integrates with DecentHolograms and other hologram plugins. It supports versions 1.8 to 1.21.x.

Display types

AJLeaderboards supports four ways of presenting rankings:

• Holograms: floating text in the game world (requires DecentHolograms, HolographicDisplays or CMI holograms). The most popular option: rankings at spawn that everyone can see.
• Signs: a ranking on signs placed on walls. Each sign is one position in the ranking. They look neat but take up space.
• Heads: player heads on armor stands or in item frames. The head changes dynamically to the player holding that position. Looks great on a podium.
• Chat/Scoreboard: the /ajlb [leaderboard] command shows the ranking in chat. You can also hook the placeholders into a scoreboard plugin.

Rankings update automatically at a configured interval (every 5 minutes by default). On servers with many rankings, raise the interval to 10-15 minutes to reduce the load.

Creating a leaderboard

Creating a ranking takes two steps:

1. Define the leaderboard in the config with a source placeholder.
2. Place a display in the game world (a hologram, a sign or a head).

An example in plugins/ajLeaderboards/boards.yml:

boards:
  baltop:
    title: "&6&lRichest players"
    placeholder: "%vault_eco_balance%"
    type: NUMBER
    sort: DESCENDING
    size: 10
    format: "&e#%position%. &f%name% &7- &a$%value%"
    update-interval: 300       # updates every 5 minutes (seconds)

  kills:
    title: "&c&lKills ranking"
    placeholder: "%statistic_player_kills%"
    type: NUMBER
    sort: DESCENDING
    size: 10
    format: "&e#%position%. &f%name% &7- &c%value% kills"

Once the board is defined, place a hologram with /ajlb add hologram [board_name] while standing where it should appear. The ranking shows up automatically.

Commands and permissions

Configuration

The main settings in plugins/ajLeaderboards/config.yml:

# General
default-update-interval: 300   # default update interval (seconds)
max-boards: 50                 # max number of leaderboards
default-board-size: 10         # default number of positions

# Performance
async-sorting: true            # asynchronous sorting
cache-duration: 60             # result cache (seconds)

# Holograms
hologram-plugin: DecentHolograms  # which hologram plugin to use

AJLeaderboards also generates its own placeholders: %ajlb_[board]_[position]_name% and %ajlb_[board]_[position]_value%. You can use them in a scoreboard, in TAB and in DeluxeMenus.

Uses on a server

• Baltop at spawn: a hologram with the top 10 richest players. It motivates earning and adds an element of competition.
• PvP ranking: kills, K/D ratio, ELO rating. A staple on PvP servers.
• Voter ranking: combined with VoteRewards, show who votes the most. It motivates the community.
• Skill ranking: with AuraSkills or mcMMO. Who has the highest mining, combat or fishing level.
• Playtime ranking: who has spent the most hours on the server. A simple but engaging ranking for veterans.
• Seasonal tables: reset the rankings every season and show "Champions of Season 5" at spawn.

Related articles: PlaceholderAPI, DecentHolograms, Vault, plugin catalog.