Mindustry Plugin Concepts

Server-side game modes, buildable as Mindustry plugins (extend Plugin, hook Events). They run on your servers and are never distributed — so they stay private and are the moat. Tier A = self-contained plugin logic, ship fast. Tier B = backed by your private accounts/backend, which no fork can replicate.

Tier A — self-contained (plugin only)

Zone ControlTier A

Hold the center, harvest the map.

Capturable sectors tick passive resources to whoever holds them — teams fight for map control instead of base-rushing. (Your towerfront zone mechanic, in Mindustry.)

Core loop capture zone → hold it → passive income → spend on units/defense → contest enemy zones

Mechanics 3–5 capture tiles; uncontested team presence for T seconds = captured; held zones drip items to that team’s core; win on zone-seconds or holding all zones for a duration.

Plugin hooks WorldLoadEvent to place zones · Trigger.update to check team presence in radii · team.core().items.add() for income · Call.setHudText status · win via state.gameOver

MVP 3 zones, capture-by-presence, income tick, HUD, score win

Settlement DefenseTier A

Grow your villages, or lose them.

The towerfront village twist as co-op PvE: neutral settlements give passive resources; invest to grow them, but that scales up enemy pressure — lose a settlement and lose its income.

Core loop defend settlements → they produce → invest for more output (& harder waves) → protect or lose

Mechanics 3–4 settlement structures on the map with level-scaling output; enemies path toward them; investing raises output + wave difficulty; a destroyed settlement is removed with its income; players co-op the defense.

Plugin hooks WorldLoadEvent place settlements · Timer resource ticks · Vars.spawner waves targeting settlements · BlockDestroyEvent detect loss · invest via Call.menu/command

MVP 3 settlements, passive income, one upgrade tier, waves, loss-removal

Survival RogueliteTier A

Endless waves, drafted power.

Escalating PvE with meta-choices: between waves, draft one of three upgrades/units. Runs get harder and weirder.

Core loop survive wave → draft 1 of 3 (buff / free units / economy / map event) → next wave scales → repeat until core dies

Mechanics scripted wave curve; a draft menu each wave; global modifiers applied via rules/unit stats; score = waves survived.

Plugin hooks custom wave loop (disable default, spawn via Vars.spawner on a timer) · Call.menu draft · modifiers via state.rules (damage/build multipliers) · game-over on core loss

MVP scripted waves, 3-option draft, a handful of modifiers, wave-count score

Asymmetric SiegeTier A

Build the fortress. Break the fortress.

One team fortifies with time + resources; the attackers get a limited assault window to breach the core. Swap sides — lowest breach time wins.

Core loop defenders build (prep timer) → attackers assault (limited window) → measure breach vs hold → swap roles → compare

Mechanics two timed phases; asymmetric resources; objective = destroy the defender core; scored by time-to-breach or successful hold; best of two rounds.

Plugin hooks phase timers via Timer · per-team build/resource toggles via state.rules.teams · BlockDestroyEvent/CoreChangeEvent for breach · HUD countdowns

MVP 2 phases, 2 teams, core-breach objective, timer scoring, manual swap

Tech RaceTier A

First to the future wins.

A production sprint: first team to hit a tech milestone (build X, produce N of an item, unlock a tier) wins. Great for short competitive rounds + leaderboards.

Core loop race the objective faster than the enemy; optional sabotage

Mechanics defined objective(s) with a real-time progress HUD; first to complete wins; completion times to a leaderboard.

Plugin hooks Trigger.update polls team.core().items/block counts · Call.setHudText progress bars · win via state.gameOver · times → backend leaderboard

MVP one item-threshold objective, progress HUD, first-to-win

Tier B — backend-backed (the moat)

Persistent Conquest / Faction WarfareTier B

A living war map that never resets. — flagship

A meta-map of territories owned by factions, persisting across sessions in seasons. Log in and your faction’s borders are where you left them. Deep retention, impossible to fork — the state lives on your backend.

Core loop join a faction → win matches on contested territories → shift the meta-map → seasonal resets with rewards

Mechanics backend stores territory ownership, faction membership, seasons; in-game matches feed results back; a web meta-map (on the portal); leaderboards.

Plugin hooks plugin POSTs match results to your backend REST API; backend is authoritative for the map; plugin fetches the territory config on map load; identity via your accounts

Backend territory/faction/season DB + REST API + web meta-map (fits the portal)

MVP 5-territory map, 2 factions, match-result → ownership flip, web map view

Extraction / RaidTier B

Get in, grab loot, get out — or lose it all.

Tarkov-like raids: infiltrate a defended sector, grab schematics/resources, reach the extraction point before reinforcements. Your loadout persists in the backend — die and lose it.

Core loop load out (backend inventory) → raid → loot → race to extract vs reinforcement timer → success banks it, death loses it

Mechanics persistent per-player inventory; loot nodes; extraction zones; escalating reinforcement waves; risk/reward — better gear = more to lose.

Plugin hooks on join fetch loadout from backend · loot pickup events · extraction-zone check via Trigger.update · reinforcements via spawner · on extract/death POST result to bank/lose inventory

Backend player inventory/loadout DB + REST API

MVP 1 map, loot nodes, 1 extraction zone, reinforcement timer, backend inventory persist

Player Market / EconomyTier B

A living economy players actually run.

A dynamic-price market where players produce → sell → buy units/blocks with a persistent currency. Wealth carries across sessions.

Core loop produce goods → sell to market (price moves with supply) → earn currency → buy units/upgrades → compete for net worth

Mechanics plugin-run market with supply/demand pricing; persistent per-player balance; buy/sell menus; net-worth leaderboard.

Plugin hooks market via Call.menu/commands · price model in-plugin · balances synced to backend · deliver bought units via spawn/Call

Backend player balance + market-history DB + REST API

MVP 3–5 tradeable items, dynamic pricing, buy/sell menu, persistent balance

Recommended path: prototype Settlement Defense or Zone Control first (Tier A, reuses your village logic), then build Persistent Conquest as the backend flagship.