What Is the Locato Plugin for Minecraft Servers?
Running a Minecraft server often means juggling dozens of coordinates for farms, bases, and important landmarks. Locato is a lightweight Spigot/Paper plugin designed to solve that exact problem. It lets players save, search, share, and check the status of any location directly from the chat, turning messy coordinate notes into a clean, database-backed system. Originally built for a personal SMP server, it has evolved into a reliable tool that server admins can drop into their plugins folder and use immediately.
Core Features That Make Locato Stand Out
Locato isn't just another coordinate logger. It brings a handful of thoughtful features that streamline multiplayer gameplay, especially on servers where players frequently need to revisit or check on shared builds.
- SQLite or MySQL storage – Choose a simple file-based database (SQLite) if you prefer zero configuration, or connect to MySQL for larger networks.
- Private and public location sharing – Send your current coordinates to a specific player with /shareloc or broadcast to everyone.
- Easy place management – Add, edit, and remove saved places through commands, with support for two-point area definitions similar to WorldEdit.
- Keyword search – Find saved places by partial name, so you never have to memorize exact labels.
- Location status checks – See if anyone is currently at a saved place, perfect for checking whether a gold farm or enderman farm is occupied.
- Cross-dimension support – Works in the Overworld, Nether, and End.
While Locato focuses on server-side functionality, players who want a smooth experience managing their client mods and server plugins often turn to the foxygame.net launcher, a modern and flexible tool where you can download mods right from the menu without hunting through external sites.
Understanding the Commands and Permissions
Locato’s power lies in its straightforward command set. Each command is tied to a specific permission node, giving admins full control over who can do what. Here is how you can use them in-game.
/whereis <place_name>
Permission: Locato.whereis
Locate any saved place instantly. For example, typing /whereis spawn will output the exact coordinates and world of the spawn point if it exists in the database.
/shareloc [player]
Permission: Locato.shareloc
Share your current position. Leave the player name empty to broadcast to all online players, or specify a name to send a private message. Ideal for quick meetups or guiding a lost friend.
/locato status <place_name>
Permission: Locato.status
Check if any player is currently inside the boundaries of a saved place. The command notifies you and also alerts the players standing there, so they know someone is looking. This is incredibly useful for avoiding farm collisions.
/locato search <keyword>
Permission: Locato.search
Search through all saved places using a keyword. If you have multiple farms with “iron” in the name, a quick search brings them all up.
/locato add <place_name>
Permission: Locato.add
Add a new place by marking two positions, just like WorldEdit’s pos1 and pos2. Run the command at the first corner, then at the opposite corner. The plugin records the cuboid area. You can also add a place directly by specifying chunk coordinates and dimension, which is handy for console use or precise setups.
/locato remove <place_name>
Permission: Locato.remove
Delete a saved place from the database.
/locato edit <place_name> ...
Permission: Locato.edit
Modify an existing place’s coordinates or dimension by providing the new chunk positions and world name.
Installation and Compatibility
Getting Locato running takes only a few steps. Download the plugin JAR file (the latest version requires Java 17 or newer) and place it into your server’s plugins folder. After a restart or a reload with PlugMan, a config file will generate. The plugin works out of the box with SQLite, so you don’t need to touch anything unless you want MySQL. Locato supports Spigot and PaperMC from version 1.8 onward, and it is compatible with Geyser and Floodgate for Bedrock cross-play. Note that the developer has paused feature additions, so the plugin is now in maintenance mode—bug fixes and version support only.
Why Locato Belongs on Every SMP Server
For server owners, Locato reduces the endless stream of “Where is the gold farm?” questions. It empowers players to self-serve coordinate lookups and even check farm occupancy without bothering an admin. The private sharing feature also cuts down on chat clutter. Because it uses a lightweight database, performance impact is negligible, and the permission nodes let you restrict sensitive commands to trusted ranks.
One small caveat: the plugin does not officially support Multiverse at this time, though testers are welcome. If you run a single-world server or a network with standard dimensions, you will have no issues. The developer’s GitHub repository is the place to report bugs, and while response times may vary, critical fixes are typically addressed.
Final Thoughts
Locato fills a niche that every multiplayer server eventually encounters: organized location management. It is simple enough for casual players to grasp yet powerful enough to handle large databases of points of interest. By combining status checks, private sharing, and quick search, it turns coordinate chaos into a clean, searchable system. If you are tired of sticky notes full of numbers or chat spam asking for coords, give Locato a try. Just remember to use the correct version for your Java setup—1.2 for Java 8 to 16, and the latest build for Java 17 and above—and your server will be running smoother in minutes.