Install Reedwork for PaperMC Plugins

Reedwork is a Java framework for building PaperMC plugins with automatic component discovery, dependency injection, command generation, event registration, and custom Minecraft registry integration.

This guide explains how to add Reedwork as a dependency to an existing Paper plugin project.

Requirements

Before installing Reedwork, make sure your project already has:

• a working PaperMC plugin project
• Java support matching your Paper version
• a build system using Maven or Gradle

Reedwork is distributed as a JAR file through GitHub Releases.

Download Reedwork

The latest Reedwork release is 4.0.0.

Download reedwork-4.0.0.jar or visit the GitHub Releases page.

Recommended installation: Maven local repository

Recommended

The recommended installation method is adding Reedwork to your local Maven repository.

This keeps the Reedwork JAR separate from your plugin source code and allows Maven and Gradle to resolve the dependency using standard coordinates.

Install the downloaded JAR:

1. Download the latest Reedwork JAR.

2. Install the file into your local Maven repository:

   Replace <PATH_TO_DOWNLOADED_JAR> with the actual path to the directory containing the downloaded JAR file.

   mvn install:install-file -Dfile="<PATH_TO_DOWNLOADED_JAR>/reedwork-4.0.0.jar" -DgroupId="dev.reedworkmc" -DartifactId="reedwork" -Dversion="4.0.0" -Dpackaging="jar"

   Maven stores the artifact in your local repository, normally:

   ~/.m2/repository

   After installation, the downloaded JAR is no longer required.

3. Add Reedwork as a dependency.

   Maven

   Add the dependency to pom.xml:

   <dependency>
      <groupId>dev.reedworkmc</groupId>
      <artifactId>reedwork</artifactId>
      <version>4.0.0</version>
   </dependency>

   Gradle Groovy

   Ensure mavenLocal() is available:

   repositories {
      mavenLocal()
   }
   
   dependencies {
      implementation "dev.reedworkmc:reedwork:4.0.0"
   }

   mavenLocal() allows Gradle to resolve the Reedwork artifact from the local Maven repository.

   Gradle Kotlin DSL

   Ensure mavenLocal() is available:

   repositories {
      mavenLocal()
   }
   
   dependencies {
      implementation("dev.reedworkmc:reedwork:4.0.0")
   }

   mavenLocal() allows Gradle to resolve the Reedwork artifact from the local Maven repository.

Legacy installation: include the JAR in your project

Legacy

The legacy approach stores the Reedwork JAR directly inside your plugin project.

This method can be useful when the dependency should be bundled with the project structure.

However, the Maven repository installation is preferred for normal development.

1. Download the latest Reedwork JAR.

2. Place the downloaded JAR into your plugin project:

   • Directorymy-plugin

     • Directorylibs

       • reedwork-4.0.0.jar
     • Directorysrc

       • …
     • …

3. Add the dependency configuration:

   Maven

   Add a system dependency:

   <dependency>
      <groupId>dev.reedworkmc</groupId>
      <artifactId>reedwork</artifactId>
      <version>4.0.0</version>
      <scope>system</scope>
      <systemPath>${project.basedir}/libs/reedwork-4.0.0.jar</systemPath>
   </dependency>

   The JAR must be located at libs/{jarName} relative to the project root.

   Gradle Groovy

   Add the local file dependency:

   dependencies {
      implementation(files("libs/reedwork-4.0.0.jar"))
   }

   The JAR must be located at libs/{jarName} relative to the project root.

   Gradle Kotlin DSL

   Add the local file dependency:

   dependencies {
      implementation(files("libs/reedwork-4.0.0.jar"))
   }

   The JAR must be located at libs/{jarName} relative to the project root.

Choosing an installation method

For most PaperMC plugin projects, use the local Maven installation.

Advantages:

• standard Maven coordinates
• works with Maven and Gradle
• keeps dependency management clean
• avoids project-local binary files

The legacy libs approach is mainly useful for projects where the Reedwork JAR must remain directly inside the repository.

Verify the installation

After adding Reedwork, your project should be able to import Reedwork classes:

import dev.reedworkmc.reedwork.Reedwork;

You can now initialize Reedwork and start using features such as:

• Dependency Injection
• Events
• Commands
• Enchantments
• Utilities

Next steps

Reedwork is now installed in your PaperMC plugin project.

Continue with the Quick Start guide to create your first Reedwork-powered plugin.