There are two ways to stop people breaking each other's builds, and they suit different servers. Choosing the wrong one is not fatal, but switching later means re-teaching everyone, so it is worth ten minutes now.
The two models
| Region-based | Claim-based | |
|---|---|---|
| Who defines areas | Staff, by selecting corners | Players, usually with a tool |
| Good for | Spawn, shops, event arenas | Survival servers where players build anywhere |
| Admin effort | Every area is a staff job | Almost none after setup |
| Player control | None | They manage their own trust lists |
Most servers want both
Region protection for spawn and anything staff-built, and claims for everywhere else. The two coexist happily: staff regions take precedence in the areas they cover, and players claim the rest.
Protecting spawn, whichever you pick
- Define the region generously
Include the area around spawn, not only the platform. People place lava at the edge of protection, not in the middle of it.
- Deny building, breaking and containers
Container access is the one people forget. A protected build with an unprotected chest is not protected.
- Set the spawn point inside it
New players and anyone who dies without a bed arrive here. It should be somewhere they can stand safely without a mob in it.
- Test with an account that has no permissions
Your own account bypasses region protection if you are staff. Testing as yourself proves nothing at all.
Anything griefed before you set up the region stays griefed, and a claim made after a build does not undo what happened to it. Block logging is what recovers the past; protection only prevents the future.
The most common support question on a claim-based server is «how do I protect my house?». One pinned message with the tool and the command answers it permanently.
A test account cannot break a block at spawn, cannot open a chest there, and can claim and protect a plot of their own elsewhere.