Minecraft crates plugin guide: CrazyCrates, ExcellentCrates and crates that feel fair

The short version: install ExcellentCrates or CrazyCrates, both free and both updated in 2026, build one crate with mostly common prizes and a published chance of something good, and hand out its keys for votes and events. If you also sell keys, keep every prize in that crate cosmetic and show the odds before anyone pays. That last paragraph is the part most servers skip, and it is the part that decides whether crates are a fun reward loop or the thing players quote when they call your server pay-to-win.

This guide compares the current plugins, walks through a first crate, then spends real time on reward tables, the loot-box rules, and the EULA line, because the plugin is the easy half.

Which crates plugin in 2026

Pick ExcellentCrates if you want to build in game and show a preview with chances, CrazyCrates if you want the most crate types and offline key delivery, and Phoenix if animation is the point. Check the version line against your server before you download; the 26.x jump has left several older crates plugins behind, and a crates plugin that half-loads will eat keys.

Your first crate in ten minutes

1. Install the plugin (and nightcore for ExcellentCrates), restart, and open the plugin folder. Both create a crates folder with an example crate to copy.
2. Create one crate called vote. Ten to fifteen prizes, most of them cheap consumables, two or three uncommon, one rare cosmetic. Set weights so the rare one is genuinely rare; the odds section below has numbers.
3. Make a key. In ExcellentCrates keys are their own objects; in CrazyCrates each crate defines its key item. Give it a clear name ("Vote Key") and lore that says which crate it opens.
4. Place the crate block somewhere at spawn where new players walk past, with a hologram or sign saying "Vote key: /vote".
5. Test the give command from the console. ExcellentCrates: /crates key give <player> <key> [amount] [-sf] (-s keeps the player from being notified, -sf also silences console feedback). /crates key giveall <key> [amount] gives one to everyone online. /crates preview <crate> [player] opens the preview, and /crates open <crate> opens it for testing.
6. Wire the give command into your rewards. VotingPlugin's per-vote reward, a milestone, a party, a quest, or a daily reward; the vote party guide shows the exact reward block.

The reward table: weights, odds and what goes in

Both plugins pick prizes by weight: each prize has a number, and its chance is its number divided by the total. That makes the odds easy to compute and, more importantly, easy to publish. A table that works for a vote crate on a survival server:

Two design rules. The common tier must be something a day-one player is glad to get, or the crate teaches new players that voting is pointless. And the rare tier should be cosmetic, not power: a rare sword with a custom enchant becomes the thing everyone grinds keys for, which turns your vote crate into an economy and your economy into a mess. If you want a power crate for events, make it a separate crate with its own key so the two never mix.

Show the odds in the preview. ExcellentCrates' custom preview can display each prize; CrazyCrates has placeholders for keys and prizes you can put on a hologram. Even a sign at the crate that reads "Common 70%, Uncommon 25%, Rare 5%" is better than nothing, and it is exactly what the next section is about.

The loot-box problem: disclose odds, no cash-out, kids play here

A crate with random prizes is a loot box, and loot boxes have had regulator attention for years. The US Federal Trade Commission held a workshop on them in 2019 and published a staff perspective in 2020; its summary for businesses flags marketing that "may encourage players to overspend or mask the real costs through confusing terms or inadequate disclosures", and the effect on children and on people prone to compulsive spending. In January 2025 the FTC settled with the maker of Genshin Impact: a $20 million payment, no loot box sales to anyone under 16 without a parent's consent, and clear disclosure of what each box costs in real money and the odds of each prize.

You are a small Minecraft server, not a mobile game, but the same principles are the right ones and they cost nothing to follow:

• Publish the odds where the key is bought and where the crate is opened. Per prize, or at least per tier.
• Never let a prize cash out. No prize that converts to real money, store credit or anything tradeable for either. Prizes stay in the game.
• Say what a key costs in real money on the store page, and do not hide it behind a bundle of virtual currency.
• Assume the buyer is a minor. Many of your players are. Keep sold keys cheap, cap purchases per day if your store supports it, and never run "last chance" pressure on crates.
• Prefer earned keys. The more keys come from votes, playtime and events, the less any of this matters, because nobody is paying for a chance.

What the EULA allows in a crate

Mojang's rules for servers say you may sell cosmetics (never capes) and perks that give no competitive advantage, and may not sell anything that affects gameplay. A crate is not exempt because the outcome is random. So a paid key to a crate containing gear, currency or claim upgrades is an advantage sold at random odds, which is worse, not better. A paid key to a crate of only cosmetics is inside the gameplay rule, but it still sits close to the all-ages line above. Free keys (votes, events, milestones) to any crate are fine under the EULA, because everyone can earn them. The EULA guide goes through the allowed list item by item, and the official text is on minecraft.net.

The practical split that keeps you safe:

Keys from votes and events, not just the store

A crate is a reward system or a revenue system depending on where the keys come from. On our list, votes are 15 of the 100 points in Server Score, and one vote per username per day is the limit (the day resets at midnight UTC), so a one-key-per-vote crate gives every player a daily reason to vote and gives you a rank. Events (a build contest, a boss fight, a drop party) hand out event keys to the people who showed up. Milestones (100 votes, 50 hours played) hand out a rarer key once. None of that costs you anything, all of it keeps players in the loop, and none of it needs a store.

If you do sell keys, treat the store crate as the least important of the three and price it like a cosmetic, because that is what it is allowed to contain. The store guide covers the rest of what to sell.

Design that feels fair

• Odds visible before opening. Preview GUI or a sign, every crate.
• No duplicates of permanent prizes. If a player already owns the hat, the plugin should give a substitute, or you refund a key manually.
• A pity floor for the rare tier, if your plugin supports it, or a milestone that guarantees a rare after a set number of opens.
• Common prizes that are worth having. Nobody should open a crate and feel worse.
• Keys that do not expire, and a crate that does not change silently. If you rebalance, say so in Discord first.
• No crate at spawn on a first join. Give the first key through the tutorial instead, so the crate is a reward, not a slot machine at the door.

When the crate is live, list the server and mention the vote crate in your description: players search for it, and it is a real reason to pick you over a server with the same mode and no reward loop.

Quick questions