Plugin Lifecycle

Prior to any states that make the plugin visible, the plugin loader first sorts through the available plugins, determines if all dependencies are present, and sorts plugins by dependency order. Lifecycle events are given to plugins in this order. For example, plugin A containing «[required-]after:B» will get each event after plugin B has completed work for the given state. Additionally, lifecycle states are global. This means that all plugins visible to each other must be transitioned through all states at once.

Warning

The Sponge Server object is not always available. Availability can be checked using the method Sponge.isServerAvailable() or Game.isServerAvailable().

State Events

There are three categories of state events:

Initialization: When Sponge and plugins are loading, before the actual game has started. Initialization states only occur once.
Running: When the game and world are loading. Running states may occur multiple times.
Stopping: When the game is shutting down. Stopping states, like initialization states, only occur once.

Initialization States

Initialization states only occur once during a single run.

CONSTRUCTION

The GameConstructionEvent is triggered. During this state, the @Plugin class instance for each plugin is triggered.

PRE_INITIALIZATION

The GamePreInitializationEvent is triggered. During this state, the plugin gets ready for initialization. Access to a default logger instance and access to information regarding preferred configuration file locations is available.

INITIALIZATION

The GameInitializationEvent is triggered. During this state, the plugin should finish any work needed in order to be functional. Global event handlers should get registered in this stage.

POST_INITIALIZATION

The GamePostInitializationEvent is triggered. By this state, inter-plugin communication should be ready to occur. Plugins providing an API should be ready to accept basic requests.

LOAD_COMPLETE

The GameLoadCompleteEvent is triggered. By this state, all plugin initialization should be completed.

Running States

Running States can occur multiple times during a single run. SERVER_ABOUT_TO_START may follow SERVER_STOPPED, and SERVER_STOPPED may occur at any point during the process if there is an error.

SERVER_ABOUT_TO_START

The GameAboutToStartServerEvent event is triggered. The server instance exists, but worlds are not yet loaded.

SERVER_STARTING

The GameStartingServerEvent is triggered. The server instance exists, and worlds are loaded. Command registration is handled during this state.

SERVER_STARTED

The GameStartedServerEvent event is triggered. The server instance exists, and worlds are loaded.

SERVER_STOPPING

The GameStoppingServerEvent is triggered. This state occurs immediately before the final tick, before the worlds are saved.

SERVER_STOPPED

The GameStoppedServerEvent is triggered. During this state, no players are connected and no changes to worlds are saved.

Stopping States

Stopping states never occur more than once during a single run. They occur when the game stops normally. (On Servers: the /stop command is typed. On Clients: The «Close» button or the «Quit Game» button are clicked)

Warning

Stopping states are not guaranteed to be run during shutdown. They may not fire if the game is force-stopped via Ctrl-C, Task Manager, a computer crash, or similar situations.

GAME_STOPPING

The GameStoppingServerEvent is triggered. This state occurs immediately before GAME_STOPPED. Plugins providing an API should still be capable of accepting basic requests.

GAME_STOPPED

The GameStoppedServerEvent is triggered. Once this event has finished executing, Minecraft will shut down. No further interaction with the game or other plugins should be attempted at this point.