Revival System Guide

Complete guide to the multiple revival methods available in SSoggySouls, including ritual structures, items, and commands.

Credit: The Hardcore Revive Mode (HRM) mechanics—including player head drops, ritual structures, and revive items—are heavily inspired by and adapted from the excellent Hardcore Revive Mod by JakeCCz.

Table of Contents

  1. Revival Methods Overview
  2. Ritual Structure Revival
  3. Revive Skull Item
  4. Extra Life Item
  5. Command-Based Revival
  6. Head Mechanics
  7. Revival Configuration

Revival Methods Overview

SSoggySouls supports four ways to revive dead players:

| Method | User | Requirement | Speed | Risk | | ——————– | ———- | —————————— | ——- | ———————– |

Ritual Structure Any player Build 3x3x3 structure + head Slow None (repeatable)
Revive Skull Any player Craft item + dead player head Medium None (repeatable)
Revive Command Mod/Admin Permission + command Instant None (authority needed)
Admin Command Admin ssoggysouls.admin permission Instant Highest privilege

All methods work together - you can use any combination!

Ritual Structure Revival

A ritual structure is a 3x3x3 beacon-style structure that automatically revives a dead player when completed.

Structure Layout

The complete structure has three layers:

Layer 1: Base (3x3 grid)


[Soul Sand]  [Stair]       [Soul Sand]
[Stair]      [Ore Block]   [Stair]
[Soul Sand]  [Stair]       [Soul Sand]

Components:

Layer 2: Middle


[Wither Rose]  [Empty]  [Wither Rose]
[Empty]        [Fence]  [Empty]
[Wither Rose]  [Empty]  [Wither Rose]

Components:

Layer 3: Top


[Empty]  [Empty]  [Empty]
[Empty]  [Head]   [Empty]
[Empty]  [Empty]  [Empty]

Components:

Step-by-Step Building

Step 1: Build the Base Layer

  1. Dig a 3x3 pit or find a flat area
  2. Place Soul Sand in all 4 corners (positions 1, 3, 7, 9 if you number them)
  3. Place any Stair blocks in the 4 edge positions (2, 4, 6, 8)
  4. Place any Ore block in the center (5)

Visual (from top, numbers 1-9):


1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

Placement:


Soul Sand    Stair       Soul Sand
Stair        Ore Block   Stair
Soul Sand    Stair       Soul Sand

Step 2: Add Middle Layer

  1. Look up at the Soul Sand blocks in the 4 corners
  2. Place Wither Roses on top of each Soul Sand corner
  3. Look up at the ore block in the center
  4. Place a Fence on top of it

Step 3: Place the Player Head

  1. Get the dead player’s head (find it on the ground or from Revive Skull)
  2. Look up at the fence in the center of layer 2
  3. Place the head on top of the fence

Automatic Revision

Once the head is placed on the fence, the plugin automatically detects the completed structure and:

    • Revives the dead player (database updated)
    • Teleports the player back to Main server
    • Restores lives (default: 1)
    • Optionally destroys the structure (configurable)

Configuration Options

hrm:
  structure-revive: true          # Enable/disable ritual structures

  leave-structure-base: true      # Keep base after revival?

  drop-heads: true                # Players drop heads on death

  detect-hrm-revive: true         # Auto-detect completed structures

leave-structure-base: If true, the base structure stays (only head removed). If false, the entire structure is destroyed.

Example: Complete Structure

Here’s a complete visual example from the side:


Layer 3:          [Head]
                    |
Layer 2:   [Rose]- [Fence] -[Rose]

                    |
Layer 1:  [Soul]- [Ore] -[Stair]

          [Sand]       [Soul Sand]

Full 3D View:
     Head
   W  F  W
S  O  O  S
  W     W
Soul  Stair  Soul
Stair Ore   Stair

Revive Skull Item

A special crafted item that provides an easy way to get dead player heads and revive them.

Crafting Recipe

Shapeless recipe:

| | | | | —————- | ————– | —————- |

Obsidian Ghast Tear Obsidian
Totem of Undying Any Skull/Head Totem of Undying
Obsidian Ghast Tear Obsidian

Materials needed:

Result: 1 Revive Skull item

Using the Revive Skull

  1. Right-click the Revive Skull in your inventory
  2. A GUI menu opens showing all currently dead players
  3. Click on a player’s name in the menu
  4. You receive their player head (item drops in your inventory or on ground)
  5. Use the head in the ritual structure to revive them

GUI Menu

When you right-click a Revive Skull, you see:


═══════════════════════════════════════
        DEAD PLAYERS - REVIVE MENU

═══════════════════════════════════════
  👤 DeadPlayer1
  👤 DeadPlayer2
  👤 DeadPlayer3
═══════════════════════════════════════

Click on any player to get their head.

Features

Configuration

hrm:
  revive-skull-recipe: true  # Enable/disable crafting

Extra Life Item

A craftable item that grants players +1 life when used.

Default Recipe

| | | | | ————— | ————- | ————— |

Diamond Block Emerald Block Diamond Block
Netherite Ingot Nether Star Netherite Ingot
Gold Block Emerald Block Gold Block

Materials needed:

Result: 1 Extra Life item (displays as Nether Star)

Using the Extra Life Item

  1. Craft or obtain an Extra Life item
  2. Right-click it in your inventory

  3. Success: You gain +1 life (if not at maximum)

  4. Failure: Message if already at max lives

Features

Customizing the Recipe

You can completely customize the recipe by editing:

extra-life:
  enabled: true
  item-material: "NETHER_STAR"    # Icon in crafting

  recipe:
    row1: "DED"   # Define row 1: D=Diamond Block, E=Emerald Block, D=Diamond Block

    row2: "INI"   # Define row 2: I=Netherite Ingot, N=Nether Star, I=Netherite Ingot

    row3: "GEG"   # Define row 3: G=Gold Block, E=Emerald Block, G=Gold Block

    ingredients:
      G: "GOLD_BLOCK"           # Define what letter G means

      E: "EMERALD_BLOCK"        # Define what letter E means

      N: "NETHER_STAR"          # Define what letter N means

      D: "DIAMOND_BLOCK"        # Define what letter D means

      I: "NETHERITE_INGOT"      # Define what letter I means

Example: Simple Diamond Recipe

extra-life:
  recipe:
    row1: "DDD"
    row2: "DED"
    row3: "DDD"
    ingredients:
      D: "DIAMOND_BLOCK"
      E: "EMERALD_BLOCK"

This creates a diamond shape with emerald in the center.

Example: Emerald-Only Recipe

extra-life:
  recipe:
    row1: "EEE"
    row2: "EEE"
    row3: "EEE"
    ingredients:
      E: "EMERALD_BLOCK"

Simply 9 Emerald Blocks (easiest recipe).

Disabling the Extra Life Item

extra-life:
  enabled: false

Command-Based Revival

Two permission-based commands for reviving players.

/revive <player>

Permission: ssoggysouls.revive (default: op)

Regular command for reviving a dead player. Less powerful than admin version.

/revive DeadPlayer

/psadmin revive <player>

Permission: ssoggysouls.admin (op only)

Admin command for reviving. Same result as /revive but requires admin permission.

/psadmin revive DeadPlayer

How Command Revival Works

  1. Player must exist in database
  2. Player must be marked as dead
  3. Command instantly marks player as alive
  4. Player is teleported to Main server spawn
  5. Lives are restored (configured in on-revive setting)
  6. Revive cooldown starts (30 seconds default)

Command Revival Benefits

Example Usage


# Revive offline player

/psadmin revive Steve

# Revive from console

> psadmin revive PlayerName

# Revive multiple players

/psadmin revive Player1
/psadmin revive Player2

Head Mechanics

Dead players’ heads are central to the HRM revival system.

Player Head Drops

When a player loses all lives, the plugin spawns their head near the death location. There are two modes for how this works, controlled by hrm.head-place-as-block in config.yml.

Block Mode (head-place-as-block: true, default)

The head is placed as a permanent skull block in the world.

Configuration:

hrm:
  head-place-as-block: true

Item Entity Mode (head-place-as-block: false)

The head is dropped as a standard item entity on the ground — the traditional Minecraft approach.

Two extra options control its survival:

| Option | What it does | | ———————– | —————————————————————————- |

head-no-despawn: true Cancels the natural 5-minute despawn timer. The item stays until picked up.
head-fireproof: true Marks the item as invulnerable. Fire, lava, and explosions can’t destroy it.

Configuration:

hrm:
  head-place-as-block: false
  head-no-despawn: true    # item never despawns

  head-fireproof: true     # item survives lava/fire

Head Cleanup on Revival

When a player is revived (any method — ritual, skull, command, admin), the plugin removes all copies of their head from the world. This runs in two passes:

Pass 1 — Targeted removal (instant) If the server placed the head as a block, it stored the exact location in memory. On revive it looks up those coordinates directly, force-loads the chunk if it isn’t currently loaded, removes the block, and releases the chunk. This is always correct regardless of whether the chunk is loaded or not.

Note: The location map is in-memory only. If the server restarts between a player’s death and their revival, Pass 1 has no data and Pass 2 acts as the safety net.

Pass 2 — Tick-spread scan (fallback) Scans across all worlds to catch anything Pass 1 missed: item entities, item frames, player inventories, ender chests, shulker boxes, and any stale skull blocks left from before location tracking was introduced. Work is spread across multiple server ticks to avoid lag spikes on large servers.

In item-entity mode the chunk block scan is skipped entirely (no skull blocks to find), making cleanup faster.

Wearing Head Effects

When a living player wears a dead player’s head, they receive:

Configuration:

hrm:
  head-wearing-effects: true

Getting Heads Without a Physical Drop

If the original head was lost, burned, or simply too far away, use the Revive Skull to get a fresh copy:

  1. Right-click a Revive Skull
  2. Select the dead player from the menu
  3. Receive their head instantly

The database always holds a permanent record of which players are dead, so a new head can be obtained at any time regardless of what happened to the original.

Revival Configuration

Enabling/Disabling Features

Master HRM Toggle:

hrm:
  enabled: true  # Master on/off for all HRM features

Individual Toggles:

hrm:
  drop-heads: true              # Drop heads on death

  structure-revive: true        # Enable ritual structures

  revive-skull-recipe: true     # Enable Revive Skull crafting

  head-wearing-effects: true    # Speed/night vision on heads

  detect-hrm-revive: true       # Auto-detect completed structures

  leave-structure-base: true    # Keep structure after revival

  head-place-as-block: true     # Place head as permanent block (recommended)

  head-no-despawn: true         # (item-entity mode) head item never despawns

  head-fireproof: true          # (item-entity mode) head item survives fire/lava

Lives on Revival

lives:
  on-revive: 1  # How many lives restored per revival

Options:

Revive Cooldown

lives:
  revive-cooldown-seconds: 30  # Post-revival death protection

After revival, player has this many seconds of protection where they cannot lose lives.

Revival Flow Examples

Scenario 1: Using Ritual Structure


1. Player dies
   ↓
2. Head drops at death location
   ↓
3. Teammate collects head
   ↓
4. Teammate builds 3x3x3 ritual structure
   ↓
5. Teammate places head on top
   ↓
6. Plugin detects structure and revives player
   ↓
7. Player appears on Main server with 1 life restored

Scenario 2: Using Revive Skull


1. Player dies
   ↓
2. Head drops at death location
   ↓
3. Teammate uses Revive Skull (right-click)
   ↓
4. Teammate selects dead player from menu
   ↓
5. Teammate receives player's head
   ↓
6. Teammate builds ritual structure and places head
   ↓
7. Plugin revives player
   ↓
8. Player appears on Main server

Scenario 3: Using Command


1. Player dies
   ↓
2. Moderator/admin runs /revive PlayerName
   ↓
3. Player instantly revives (no structure needed)
   ↓
4. Player teleported to Main server
   ↓
5. Lives restored to 1

Tips & Tricks

Efficient Revival Teams

Ritual Structure Locations

Revive Skull Strategies

Extra Life Farming

Troubleshooting Revival

Structure Not Triggering

Check:

Solution: Try using /revive <player> command instead to verify database is working.

Revive Skull Not Opening Menu

Check:

Solution: Craft a new Revive Skull or verify crafting recipe.

Heads Not Dropping

Check:

Solution: Use Revive Skull menu instead.

Extra Life Not Working

Check:

Solution: Check console for errors, verify recipe materials.

See Also

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