ASkyBlock - the classic SkyBlock plugin
ASkyBlock is a legendary plugin that was the standard on SkyBlock servers for years. Island creation, a challenge system, rankings and cooperation between players. Although BentoBox has replaced it, it still runs on many servers with older Minecraft versions.
What ASkyBlock is
ASkyBlock (A SkyBlock) is a plugin made by tastybento that was the most popular SkyBlock plugin in the world for years (2014-2018). It set the standard for the game mode: the player starts on a small island in the void with a single tree, a starter chest and a lava bucket, and the goal is to expand the island and gather resources.
The plugin introduced mechanics that became the canon of SkyBlock: the cobblestone generator (lava + water = cobblestone), an island level system based on counting blocks, challenges with rewards, and a ranking of the best islands on the server.
Since 2018 ASkyBlock is no longer actively developed. Its author, tastybento, rewrote it from scratch as BentoBox, with a modular architecture. ASkyBlock still runs on 1.8-1.12 servers, but new servers should use BentoBox.
Commands
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/island | Opens the island menu or teleports you to your island |
/island create | Creates a new island (choose a schematic) |
/island reset | Resets the island (the reset limit is configurable) |
/island level | Calculates and shows the island level |
/island top | Ranking of the top 10 islands on the server |
/island invite Player | Invites a player to cooperate on the island |
/island coop Player | Temporary access to the island (until restart) |
/island challenges | Opens the challenges menu |
/island sethome | Sets a home point on the island |
Admin commands: /asadmin (admin panel), /asadmin setbiome (change the biome), /asadmin purge (clean up inactive islands).
Challenge system
Challenges are one of the pillars of SkyBlock gameplay in ASkyBlock. The system divides challenges into difficulty levels:
- Level 1 (Easy) - collect 64 cobblestone, craft a furnace, make wooden tools
- Level 2 (Medium) - build a farm, craft iron tools, make bricks
- Level 3 (Hard) - build a Nether portal, build an enchanting table, craft diamond tools
- Level 4 (Expert) - obtain an elytra, craft a beacon, build an automatic farm
Each challenge gives a reward: items, money (if the economy is enabled) or experience points. Challenges can be repeated for a smaller reward, which gives players a steady source of income.
Configuration
The main configuration file is plugins/ASkyBlock/config.yml:
# Island settings
island:
distance: 200 # distance between islands
protectionRange: 100 # protection radius
maxTeamSize: 4 # max players in a team
resetlimit: 3 # island reset limit
# Island level
island.level:
deathpenalty: 0 # death penalty (points subtracted)
# Nether
nether:
generate: true # generate a Nether per island
trees: true # trees in the Nether
roof: true # bedrock roofChallenges are configured in challenges.yml. The starting island schematics are .schematic files in the schematics/ folder.
Migration to BentoBox
If you run a server on ASkyBlock and want to move to a newer version of Minecraft, migrating to BentoBox is recommended:
- Data importer - BentoBox has a built-in tool for importing islands, teams and levels from ASkyBlock
- Compatibility - BentoBox supports the same commands (
/island), so players won't notice the difference - Progress is kept - island levels, team members and island settings are carried over
- New features - BentoBox adds addons (Biomes, Warps, Border) that ASkyBlock doesn't have
Before migrating, back up the plugins/ASkyBlock/ folder and the islands world. The migration process is one-way.
Tips
- Use BentoBox on new servers - ASkyBlock is no longer developed. BentoBox is its official successor
- Challenges are key - without challenges SkyBlock gets boring fast. Set up at least 20-30 challenges across different levels
- Purge inactive islands - regularly clear the islands of players who haven't logged in for 30+ days. It frees up disk space and island slots
- Nether per island - enable a separate Nether for each island. A shared Nether causes conflicts between players
- Custom schematics - create a few variants of the starting island: easy (more resources), normal, hard (minimal resources)
Related plugins: BentoBox (ASkyBlock's successor), Vault (economy), EssentialsX (basic commands).