ThunderPerms review
A free, open-source Paper permissions plugin with auditing, backups, and repair tools.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
ThunderPerms is a free, open-source permissions-management plugin for Paper Minecraft servers. It is intended for small and medium servers that need structured control over players, groups, inherited permissions, temporary grants, and world-specific access. Player permissions are managed by UUID, while groups support inheritance with cycle prevention. Wildcard and true/false permission nodes provide additional control for server administrators.
Its strongest advantage is the combination of permission management and operational diagnostics. ThunderPerms can explain permission resolution, verify and repair data, create backups, and record permission and administrative actions through audit logging. YAML is the default storage option, with SQLite, MySQL, and MariaDB also supported. These capabilities make it a fit for administrators who need to investigate access decisions or recover from permission data problems rather than only assign basic nodes.
ThunderPerms applies Bukkit permission attachments, allowing Bukkit-compatible external plugins to use normal permission checks. It also integrates with AugmentedThunder plugins, StormEconomy, StormParty, and StormFactions, and provides an API for permission checks, group inspection, assignment access, and storage-health checks. The main constraint is platform scope: its supported platform is Paper. Choose ThunderPerms when auditing, recovery, temporary access, and multiple storage options matter on a Paper server. Servers running other platforms, or those seeking a broader server-management suite beyond permissions, should consider a different plugin.
ThunderPerms pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Free and open-source with inheritance and temporary grants
- Supports YAML, SQLite, MySQL, and MariaDB storage
- Includes audits, backups, verification, and repair tools
- Where it doesn't
- Verified platform coverage is limited to Paper
- Storage and permission administration require server configuration
- Its feature set is focused on permissions rather than broader server management
ThunderPerms fact sheet, pricing and score →
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