All of these are free and in the Plugins tab.
- LuckPerms: permissions. Groups, prefixes, per-command rights. The foundation for everything else.
- EssentialsX: the everyday commands (
/home,/tpa,/spawn,/warp, kits, basic economy). Add EssentialsX Chat for prefixes in chat. - Vault: lets economy and permission plugins talk to each other. Many plugins require it.
- CoreProtect: logs every block change so you can see who did what (
/co i) and roll back griefing (/co rollback). Install it on day one; you cannot roll back what was not logged. - GriefPrevention or Lands: land claims so players protect their builds themselves.
- WorldEdit + WorldGuard: building tools and protected regions (spawn, shops).
- Simple Voice Chat: proximity voice chat (players need the client mod too); it needs an extra port.
- ViaVersion: lets newer clients join. Handy right after a Minecraft update.
- Spark: performance profiler; see Reading a Spark report.
- Anti-cheat: Vulcan or Grim on PvP servers. On a whitelisted friends server you usually do not need one.
Skip what you do not need. Every plugin costs a little RAM and adds a place for bugs; ten well-chosen plugins beat forty.