Bukkit

This page covers the process of creating an arena extensively for KotH v1.2.x++.
Setting up an arena is pretty simple once you get down to it! But to newbies, it can be pretty involving and this page will get you on your way. I strongly recommend you only touch the config when making rewards; otherwise, you would be best suited to use in-game commands to ensure you do not make a mistake.

After you finish setting up your arena, you will probably want to protect it with WorldGuard or another protection plugin. This will keep your arena from being destroyed by griefers.

Without further ado, let's begin!

Building your own Arena

A good arena consists of the following: A grand lobby to entice your players and allow for class and team selection, a well-built arena that provides a fun, combative experience and a spectating location. Optionally, you will want to include an area where players can go when they choose to leave the arena or the game is over, known as an end-warp. Let's take the time to discuss each of the following in greater detail.

The Lobby:
The lobby is a pre-arena location. In the lobby, players will select their chosen class and their chosen team. A decent-looking lobby will utilize the arena sign features.

The Arena:
This is where the game takes place. You will want it to look superb so your players come back for more. The arena requires a balance, and if too small your players will feel crowded. If too large, there won't be enough combat. You will need space for each hill which will be the center of combat. You will probably want your spawns guarded so as to prevent spawn-killing. A good arena has walls, roof, etc to prevent players from escaping.

The Spectator area:
Players who want to spectate an arena in progress can use /koth spectate <arena>. The area should be created such that players cannot leave or enter the area without using the command. It is recommended they are surrounded by glass so they can see outside but cannot touch the arena.

The End-Warp:
Players and you, the server admin, may want to include an optional end-warp where players go upon leaving the game or when the match finishes. To do this, be sure to toggle the setting via config to true. A proper end-warp should, while perhaps allow players to freely leave, it should not give access to other parts of the arena and should be properly protected. Remember that this is optional. If you've taken the time to make a proper arena, the end-warp is not needed to make it whole.

Setting up the Arena

Once you have built your arena, you will need to register it as one. Setting it up is mostly command-based and where possible, is recommended over editing from the config-file. This is because with commands, there are checks in place to ensure you do not accidentally mess up and ruin your plugin. For this reason alone, it is highly encouraged that you maintain recent backups of your config-file.

About Locations

There are two types of locations: spawnpoints and hills. There are four types of spawnpoints: A lobby point, a spectator point, and a warp for each team spawn. You can have an unlimited amount of hills for your arena. These hills are in a rotating, ordered list. Let's cover both the warps and hills in greater detail.

Hills:
To create a hill, use the /koth sethill command. This sets a hill at your feet location and adds it to the current list. If you want to change an existing hill, you can specify a hill-number to override. This hill-number corresponds with the number of the hill in your config-file.

So, what is a hill? A hill is an arbitrary location where players score points for their team. Players score one point per second if they have more teammates in the hill than the opposing team. This area where players can score points is defined by the hill location you just set. The hill can either be circular or square, and the region where players can score in is marked by a configurable radius around the hill location (default is 5 blocks). The hill changes locations every x amount of seconds specified in your config (in the hill-clock setting).

Spawnpoints:
The command to set a spawnpoint at your foot location is /koth setwarp <arena> <lobby|spec|red|blue|end>. To create a lobby spawnpoint, which is where players will teleport to when they first join, use the lobby parameter. The spec parameter marks where players will end up when they leave or decide to watch a session. The red and blue parameters decide where the players will spawn, according to their team. All warps override: this means if you have an existing one, it will be changed to the one you just set. The end parameter specifies an optional end-warp.

Protecting your Arena:

As previously mentioned, KotH makes little attempt to protect your arena. All we do is provide features that prevent block placing and breaking. It is extremely recommended you use WorldGuard or other region management plugins to protect your region. Furthermore, you can also put all your arenas on one world and deny building, monsters, explosions, etc. on that one world.