BetterBanner [1.14-26.3]

Originally made by Jootunk.

Allows players to create banners with more layers than vanilla. Uses the normal loom interface — no custom commands, no special GUIs, and no client mods. Permissions control how many layers each player can add.

BetterBanner does not affect banners with six or fewer layers.

Features

• Apply more than 6 patterns to a banner — up to unlimited layers.
• Uses the normal Minecraft loom interface.
• Zero commands required for normal use — completely transparent to players.
• No custom GUIs or client-side mods required.
• Permissions control the maximum number of layers each player can create.
• Seamless experience with ProtocolLib installed.
• Works without ProtocolLib, with only minor visual flicker when editing banners with 6+ patterns.
• Does not affect normal banners with six or fewer layers.
• Supports Spigot and Paper 1.14 through 26.2.

Version Support

BetterBanner currently supports Spigot/Paper 1.14+.

It has been tested on 1.14.4 and briefly tested on other supported versions.

For older Minecraft versions:

• 1.13 → use BetterBanner v0.1.8.0
• 1.8–1.12 → use the original BetterBanner plugin

Requirements

• Spigot or Paper 1.14+
• ProtocolLib — optional, but recommended for a completely seamless experience.

ProtocolLib versions:

• Minecraft 1.14.x → use ProtocolLib 4.8.0
• Minecraft 1.15+ → use newer compatible ProtocolLib versions

Download ProtocolLib

Commands

• /betterbanner version - Shows the installed BetterBanner version.
  Permission: betterbanner.version
  
• /betterbanner debug - Toggles debug logging.
  Permission: betterbanner.debug
  
• /betterbanner debug nms - Dumps NMS adapter diagnostics.
  Permission: betterbanner.debug.nms
  
• /betterbanner debug adapter - Shows information about the currently active adapter.
  Permission: betterbanner.debug.nms
  
• /betterbanner reload - Reloads the configuration file.
  Permission: betterbanner.reload

All command permissions default to OP, except betterbanner.version, which defaults to true and can therefore be used by everyone.

Configuration

The configuration file can be found at:

plugins/BetterBanner/config.yml

Default configuration:

default: 6
basic: 8
intermediate: 11
advanced: 15
disable-metrics: false

• default: 6 - Number of layers a player can create without additional permissions.
  
• basic: 8 - Maximum number of layers for players with the betterbanner.basic permission.
  
• intermediate: 11 - Maximum number of layers for players with the betterbanner.intermediate permission.
  
• advanced: 15 - Maximum number of layers for players with the betterbanner.advanced permission.
  
• disable-metrics: false - Controls whether plugin metrics are disabled.

Layer limits are automatically clamped so that each permission tier is at least as high as the tier below it.

For example, basic can never be lower than default, intermediate can never be lower than basic, and so on.

Permissions

• No permission - Allows up to the configured default number of patterns (6 by default).
  
• betterbanner.basic - Allows the player to create banners up to the configured basic limit (8 by default).
  
• betterbanner.intermediate - Allows the player to create banners up to the configured intermediate limit (11 by default).
  
• betterbanner.advanced - Allows the player to create banners up to the configured advanced limit (15 by default).
  
• betterbanner.unlimited - Allows the player to create banners with an unlimited number of patterns.
  
• betterbanner.version - Allows use of /betterbanner version.
  
• betterbanner.debug - Allows use of /betterbanner debug.
  
• betterbanner.debug.nms - Allows use of the NMS/adapter diagnostic debug commands.
  
• betterbanner.reload - Allows use of /betterbanner reload.

How It Works

Minecraft's vanilla client hides the loom's pattern-selection grid once a banner reaches 6 patterns. BetterBanner works around this while continuing to use the normal loom interface.

When editing a banner with 6 or more patterns, BetterBanner temporarily places a 5-pattern copy of the banner into the loom input slot. This causes the vanilla client to make the pattern-selection grid available again.

The server then computes the selected pattern normally. BetterBanner extracts that new pattern, restores the original banner, appends the new pattern to it, and places the completed banner in the loom output slot.

No custom crafting system or client modification is required.

ProtocolLib Integration

When ProtocolLib is installed, BetterBanner rewrites the outgoing packets associated with the temporary banner swap.

As a result, the client never sees the temporary 5-pattern banner. From the player's perspective, using BetterBanner is completely identical to normal loom usage — the pattern grid simply continues working beyond the vanilla 6-pattern limit.

Without ProtocolLib, BetterBanner still works normally, but players may notice a minor visual flicker when working with banners containing more than six patterns.

Support