Addons & Plugins

⚠️ Managing addons in Pano requires Addon Management permission.
If you are not logged in as an Admin, you must have Addon Management access to open the addons page and perform addon-related actions.

Addons are the heart of Pano’s extensibility.
They allow you to expand, customize, and enhance both your Minecraft server management and your website features — without modifying the Pano core itself.

In Pano’s ecosystem:

• The backend refers to them as plugins (PF4J-based modules).
• The frontend / user interface refers to them as addons (installable extensions).

Regardless of the name, they represent the same modular system that makes Pano powerful, flexible, and community-driven.

🧩 Creating Your Own Addon

If you’re a developer and want to build your own addon, Pano provides a powerful developer-friendly API and lifecycle system based on PF4J.

Addons can:

• Extend Pano’s backend with new features or APIs.
• Add custom UI components to themes and panel in the website.
• Integrate with Minecraft server data, player info, or game events.

Each addon is packaged as a JAR file with a descriptor that defines its metadata and dependencies.
You can distribute your addons publicly via the Pano Store or privately on your own servers.

📘 Learn how to create, build, and publish addons here:
👉 Addon Development Guide →

💡 Why Addons Matter

Pano is designed to be a platform, not just an application.
That means every feature — from login integrations to analytics dashboards — can be built as an addon.

Addons are important because they:

• Let you add new functionality without touching the core codebase.
• Allow the community to share or sell custom features.
• Keep your system modular and easy to maintain.
• Enable automatic updates and compatibility checks through the Pano Marketplace.

With addons, your Pano installation evolves alongside your server’s needs — from simple website extensions to deep in-game integrations.

⚙️ How Addons Work (Under-The-Hood)

Pano’s addon system is powered by PF4J — a well-known Java plugin framework.
Each addon is a self-contained JAR file that includes its own metadata, dependencies, and lifecycle handlers.

When Pano starts:

1. It scans the plugins directory (or the path defined with -Dpf4j.pluginsDir).
2. It loads and validates every detected addon JAR.
3. Dependencies between addons are resolved automatically (based on declared plugin-id and dependencies).
4. Addons are enabled or disabled based on PF4J’s configuration and Pano’s internal addon manager.

By default, if you don’t specify a custom path:

java -jar Pano-<version>.jar

Pano will automatically create and use a plugins/ directory in the same folder as your JAR file.

You can override this directory with:

java -Dpf4j.pluginsDir=/path/to/custom/plugins -jar Pano-<version>.jar

📦 Installing Addons

There are two ways to install addons:

1. From Your Local Computer

1. Open the Admin Panel → Addons page.
2. Click Install Addon — a modal window will appear.
3. Either drag & drop your addon JAR file, or click Select File to upload manually.
4. Wait for installation to complete — your new addon will appear in the list.

2. From the Pano Store

1. In the same Install Addon modal, click Browse Store.
2. Find an addon you’d like to use — free or paid.
3. Click Install.
4. Once installation finishes, it will automatically be available in your addons list.

You can explore new addons, purchase premium ones, or update existing ones — all directly from the Pano Store.

🧩 Marketplace requires a connected Pano Account.

⚠️ Any not verified by Pano addon might be unsafe, use at your own risk!

🧰 Enabling or Disabling Addons

There are two methods to enable or disable addons:

1. Using PF4J (File-based)

Inside your plugins/ folder, PF4J stores metadata files that define an addon’s status.
You can manually disable an addon by editing or creating a disabled.txt file inside its folder —
but this method is intended for advanced users only.

2. Using the Admin Panel (Recommended)

Go to Panel → Addons and simply toggle the addon’s switch to Enable or Disable.
When disabled:

• The addon will stop and no longer load or run.
• Any dependent addons will also be disabled automatically.

When re-enabled:

• All compatible dependents will reactivate if possible.

💡 If an error occurred during enabling an addon, it will provide you some error logs. Check out error logs in Pano console for more details and report it to necessary developer.

⚠️ Downgrading Addons

While technically possible, downgrading an addon (installing an older version over a newer one) is not recommended.

Downgrades may cause:

• Compatibility issues
• Broken dependencies
• Data corruption or unstable system behavior

If you must downgrade, ensure you have:

1. A full backup of your database and configuration.
2. Checked compatibility with the older version’s documentation.

💀 Proceed only if you are absolutely sure — otherwise, reinstalling Pano might be required.

💡 We kindly ask our addon developers to respect this decision, but bear in mind it may not work always!

🧩 Deleting Addons

When deleting an addon:

• Any addons depending on it will also be removed automatically.
• This ensures the system remains stable and no orphaned dependencies exist.

To delete:

1. Go to Panel → Addons.
2. Click on the addon to go to addon detail page and click on Delete button.
3. Confirm the action — dependent addons will be listed before removal.

💡 Although, it's expected an addon to clean itself before deletion. Keep in mind, always there may be leakage!

🔍 Addon Directory Overview

Example file structure for Pano and addons:

/pano/
├── Pano-1.0.0.jar
├── config.conf
├── plugins/
│    ├── disabled.txt (optional)
│    ├── pano-announcements-plugin/
│    │     └── plugin.conf
│    ├── pano-auth-integrations-plugin/
│    │     └── plugin.conf
│    ├── pano-announcements-plugin.jar
│    ├── pano-auth-integrations-plugin.jar
│    └── pano-feedback-plugin.jar
├── themes/
└── file-uploads/

🧠 Summary

Action	Location	Recommended Method
Install Addon (local)	Panel → Addons → Install Addon	Drag & drop or file picker
Install Addon (store)	Panel → Addons → Install Addon → Browse Store	Click install
Enable / Disable	Panel → Addons	Toggle button
Delete Addon	Panel → Addons	Delete with confirmation
Change Plugin Directory	JVM option	-Dpf4j.pluginsDir=/path/to/plugins

🧩 Advanced Notes

• Addons can expose both backend logic and frontend components through the platform’s APIs.
• Some addons register custom routes, API endpoints, or UI widgets.
• If you encounter conflicts or missing dependencies, check your logs folder for PF4J error messages.

🪄 Addons are what make Pano alive — they turn your installation into a customizable, ever-expanding platform that grows with your community.