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How It Works

DeadChest - How It Works

This page explains how DeadChest behaves in common gameplay situations.

Default behavior

When a player dies, DeadChest creates a protected chest at a suitable location near the death point. By default:

  • chest access starts in a private owner-only phase
  • a hologram shows access state, owner, and remaining time
  • the chest expires after configured timeout (unless infinite)

All behavior is configurable in configuration.

Timeout model

DeadChest supports two phases:

  • Private phase: controlled by chest.duration-seconds
  • Public loot phase: optional, controlled by chest.loot.enabled and chest.loot.*

If the public loot phase is disabled, the chest expires directly after the private phase. If the public loot phase is enabled, the chest becomes public or semi-public after the private timer ends, depending on the configured public access rules.

Hologram states

The top hologram line represents the current access state:

  • PRIVATE: owner-only private phase
  • OPEN: private phase, but chest is open to everyone
  • PUBLIC: public phase, everyone can loot
  • KILLER: public phase reserved to the killer
  • OWNER: public phase reserved to the owner
  • SHARE: public phase with mixed/restricted access rules

Chest placement rules

DeadChest never intentionally replaces solid blocks. If the exact death block is invalid, it searches for the nearest valid location.

Overworld, Nether, End, custom worlds

The same placement logic is used in all worlds.

Death below the world

DeadChest clamps to the lowest valid height for that world at the same horizontal position.

Death above world max height

DeadChest clamps to the highest valid height for that world at the same horizontal position.

Death on non-placeable spots (doors, rails, torches, etc.)

If the exact block cannot host a chest, DeadChest searches for the next valid free space.

Water and lava deaths

DeadChest can generate in these environments if enabled:

  • generation.allow-on-water
  • generation.allow-on-lava

Item handling

  • Items with Curse of Vanishing are not stored.
  • Retrieval behavior depends on chest.recovery-mode.

Protection and anti-grief behavior

Depending on config, DeadChests are protected against unauthorized access and destruction. This includes owner checks and block protection logic.

Performance model

DeadChest is designed for active servers and focuses work on loaded areas/chunks to limit overhead.