Configuration Overview

Advanced Duels stores its configuration in plugins/AdvancedDuels/. There is no messages.yml — messages live in the langs/ folder instead.

Files

File	What it controls	Migrated on update?
config.yml	Everything gameplay-related (duels, betting, queues, rating, spectating, GUIs...)	Yes, with backup
commands.yml	Command names and aliases (duel, party, queue, duels, kit)	Yes, with backup
langs/lang_XX.yml	All chat messages, GUI texts and usages (7 languages included)	Yes — missing keys merged in
arenas.json, kits.json, queues.json, signs.json	Your arenas, kits, queues, signs (managed in-game, don't hand-edit)	Never touched
users/*.json	Per-player stats, ratings, likes, match history	Never touched
lobby.json, kit_lobby.json	Duel lobby positions	Never touched
backups/	Timestamped copies made before any migration	—

Safe updates

Updating never overwrites your settings:

1. On boot the plugin compares each file's config-version with the version shipped in the jar.
2. If yours is older, the current file is copied to backups/ (e.g. backups/config-v22-2026-09-26_15-34-43-735.yml).
3. New default keys are added; your existing values always win; unknown/custom keys are preserved.
4. If a file is already current but still misses keys (e.g. after a manual edit), the missing keys are healed the same way.

If migration ever fails, the original file is left untouched and the plugin continues with it — it never replaces your config with defaults. Details: Data & Backups.

Reloading config

/duels reload reloads configuration without a restart. Prefer a full restart after updating the jar itself.

Where things live

• Gameplay tuning → config.yml reference
• Renaming /duel etc. → commands.yml (commands.<name>.name + aliases, all lowercased automatically)
• Any text players see → langs/ language files
• PlaceholderAPI fallback texts (user-not-found, not-in-match, ...) → bottom of config.yml

MiniMessage or legacy colors?

use-minimessages: false by default — messages use classic & color codes. Set it to true to parse messages as MiniMessage instead (e.g. <red>text</red>, gradients). There is also a lang_minimessages.yml resource with MiniMessage-styled defaults for reference.