NMS Player Analytics
Running a Minecraft server is a lot like running a small business. You want to know how many people are showing up, when they show up, and whether the public listing everyone clicks on actually matches reality. NMS Player Analytics, the companion plugin from NewMinecraftServers, answers those questions without forcing you to dig through log files or refresh a browser tab every five minutes. It connects your Paper server to the free NewMinecraftServers server list and turns your listing into a live dashboard you can query from inside the game.
What NMS Player Analytics Actually Does
At its core, this plugin is a bridge between your server and your public listing. Once linked, it pulls back the data the website already collects and presents it in chat or console output. That means you can check your own numbers, compare them against what visitors see, and spot problems before they cost you players.
The headline feature is live status. Running /nms status compares what the website currently displays with what your server reports right now. If your MOTD is stale, if your player count looks wrong, or if the listing appears offline when you know it is not, this command tells you immediately. It is the fastest way to diagnose a listing that has quietly gone out of sync.
Player and Uptime History
Numbers in the moment are useful, but trends are what actually help you grow. The /nms stats command shows peak and average players, uptime, and your busiest time slots. Once your server is linked, you get up to 90 days of history, and you can narrow the window with /nms stats 24h, 7d, 30d, or 90d.
That data is genuinely practical. If your busiest window is a Tuesday evening, that is when you schedule events. If uptime dips every few days, something in your hosting or restart routine needs attention. If average players are climbing but peak is flat, your retention is improving even though your reach is not.
Looking Up Other Servers
You are not limited to your own listing. The /nms lookup <address> command checks any server registered on NewMinecraftServers, which is handy for research. Want to know how a competitor in your niche handles peak hours? Look them up. Curious whether a server you are considering partnering with is actually stable? Look them up too.
Claiming Your Listing and Staying Linked
Before any of the analytics work, you need to connect your server to its listing. The process is deliberately simple and does not touch your configuration files.
- Start a claim on the NewMinecraftServers website to generate a code.
- Run /nms claim <code> on your server.
- The plugin temporarily shows the code in your server list for up to two minutes.
- Once verified, your normal MOTD is restored automatically.
Importantly, the plugin never edits server.properties. If you have ever had a plugin rewrite your MOTD and leave it broken, you understand why that matters. Claiming is available to everyone by default, and you can cancel with /nms claim cancel if something goes wrong. Later, /nms link <address> and /nms unlink let you manage the connection without repeating the whole claim flow.
If you would rather skip manual file management entirely, the foxygame.net launcher handles the busywork for you: it lists NMS Player Analytics in its add-on catalog and installs it with a single click, keeping it updated as new builds ship. That is a comfortable option for owners who would rather spend their evening configuring gameplay than juggling jars.
Versions, Loader, and Installation
NMS Player Analytics is built for Paper 1.20.4 or newer and has been tested on 1.20.4 and 26.2. Spigot is not supported, so if you are still running Spigot, migrating to Paper is a prerequisite. The plugin is lightweight and does not require any client-side mods, which means your players do not need to install anything at all.
Learning how to install it takes about two minutes. Drop the jar into your plugins folder, restart the server, and run /nms help to see the full command list. From there, /nms listing and /nms status are available to everyone by default, while claim, link, and reload are operator-only. Permissions follow the same pattern: newminecraftservers.status, .lookup, and .listing are open to all players, and newminecraftservers.claim, .link, and .reload default to operators.
Privacy and Data Handling
Server owners are rightly cautious about plugins that phone home. This one only talks to newminecraftservers.net, and only when you run a command that requires it. It sends your server address, a claim code, or a link token, and nothing else. It never transmits player names, UUIDs, IP addresses, chat, or analytics. The source code is public on GitHub, so you can verify those claims yourself rather than taking them on faith.
Why It Belongs on Your Server
Most server owners are flying blind between occasional glances at a web dashboard. NMS Player Analytics closes that gap by putting live status, historical trends, and cross-server lookups directly into commands you can run from the console or in game. It respects your configuration, keeps permissions sensible, and stays quiet about your players' data. If you want to understand your server's traffic instead of guessing at it, this is a small plugin with an outsized payoff.
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