Spigot Download & BuildTools Guide

The classic high-performance CraftBukkit fork and de-facto plugin standard.

Latest stable Spigot 26.3 build 4664 · Java 25 · 15 Sep 2026

What Spigot is and who it's for

Spigot is the long-standing fork of CraftBukkit maintained by SpigotMC and the home of the Bukkit/Spigot plugin API that most Minecraft plugins target. Since the 2014 DMCA dispute over CraftBukkit, SpigotMC does not publish ready-made jars: the official way to get Spigot is BuildTools, which downloads Mojang's server and builds Spigot on your own machine.

Each Spigot page here gives the exact BuildTools command, the Java version you need and the output file name. A community-built jar from a mirror is listed as a secondary, clearly labelled option. If you just want a plugin server with official one-click downloads, Paper is a drop-in replacement that runs the same plugins faster.

All Spigot versions

Minecraft 26.x (5)
Version MC release Build Java Status
26.3 latest #4664 25 —
26.2 #4648 25 —
26.1.2 #4632 25 —
26.1.1 #4617 25 —
26.1 #4611 25 —
Minecraft 1.21 (12)
Version MC release Build Java Status
1.21.11 #4598 21 —
1.21.10 #4571 21 —
1.21.9 #4540 21 —
1.21.8 #4534 21 —
1.21.7 #4522 21 —
1.21.6 #4518 21 —
1.21.5 #4504 21 —
1.21.4 #4458 21 —
1.21.3 #4398 21 —
1.21.2 #4349 21 —
1.21.1 #4344 21 —
1.21 #4289 21 —
Minecraft 1.20 (7)
Version MC release Build Java Status
1.20.6 #4195 21 —
1.20.5 #4134 21 —
1.20.4 #4090 17 —
1.20.3 #3961 17 —
1.20.2 #3950 17 —
1.20.1 #3871 17 —
1.20 #3798 17 —
Minecraft 1.19 (5)
Version MC release Build Java Status
1.19.4 #3763 17 —
1.19.3 #3670 17 —
1.19.2 #3610 17 —
1.19.1 #3563 17 —
1.19 #3553 17 —
Minecraft 1.18 (3)
Version MC release Build Java Status
1.18.2 #3498 17 —
1.18.1 #3443 17 —
1.18 #3359 17 —
Minecraft 1.17 (2)
Version MC release Build Java Status
1.17.1 #3284 16 —
1.17 #3170 16 —
Minecraft 1.16 (5)
Version MC release Build Java Status
1.16.5 #3096 8 —
1.16.4 #2987 8 —
1.16.3 #2935 8 —
1.16.2 #2908 8 —
1.16.1 #2850 8 —
Minecraft 1.15 (3)
Version MC release Build Java Status
1.15.2 #2703 8 —
1.15.1 #2574 8 —
1.15 #2520 8 —
Minecraft 1.14 (5)
Version MC release Build Java Status
1.14.4 #2502 8 —
1.14.3 #2405 8 —
1.14.2 #2366 8 —
1.14.1 #2331 8 —
1.14 #2294 8 —
Minecraft 1.13 (3)
Version MC release Build Java Status
1.13.2 #2148 8 —
1.13.1 #1915 8 —
1.13 #1807 8 —
Minecraft 1.12 (3)
Version MC release Build Java Status
1.12.2 #1573 8 —
1.12.1 #1399 8 —
1.12 #1371 8 —
Minecraft 1.11 (3)
Version MC release Build Java Status
1.11.2 #1251 8 —
1.11.1 #1112 8 —
1.11 #1110 8 —
Minecraft 1.10 (2)
Version MC release Build Java Status
1.10.2 #986 8 —
1.10 #886 8 —
Minecraft 1.9 (3)
Version MC release Build Java Status
1.9.4 #849 8 —
1.9.2 #818 8 —
1.9 #765 8 —
Minecraft 1.8 (7)
Version MC release Build Java Status
1.8.8 #582 8 —
1.8.7 #536 8 —
1.8.6 #475 8 —
1.8.5 #437 8 —
1.8.4 #433 8 —
1.8.3 #422 8 —
1.8 #343 8 —

How to set up a Spigot server

Steps for the latest version (26.3); every version page has its own exact commands.

  1. Install Java 25 or newer (e.g. Eclipse Temurin) and check it with java -version.
  2. Download BuildTools.jar from SpigotMC's Jenkins: hub.spigotmc.org/jenkins/…/BuildTools.jar, into an empty folder.
  3. BuildTools needs Git. The current BuildTools installs it automatically on Windows; on Linux/macOS install git with your package manager. (Since January 2024 BuildTools also has a GUI if you double-click the jar.)
  4. Run java -jar BuildTools.jar --rev 26.3. BuildTools downloads Mojang's server, decompiles and patches it — this takes several minutes the first time.
  5. Your server jar is spigot-26.3.jar in the same folder. Copy it into a new server folder and start it with the script below.
  6. Accept Mojang's EULA: after the first start set eula=true in eula.txt, then start again.

Spigot FAQ

What is the latest Spigot version?

The newest Spigot release on MCJarHub is 26.3 (build 4664), published 26 Oct 2026.

Where do I download Spigot officially?

Only as BuildTools from SpigotMC. Run java -jar BuildTools.jar --rev <version> and it builds spigot-<version>.jar.

Spigot or Paper?

Paper is a fork of Spigot: same plugins, better performance and official downloads. Most servers use Paper today. See Paper vs Spigot vs Purpur.

BuildTools fails — what now?

The most common causes are the wrong Java version for the revision, missing git on Linux/macOS, or too little memory. Check the Java version on the version page first.

Spigot Java requirements

MinecraftJava
26.1 – 26.3Java 25+
1.20.5 – 1.21.11Java 21+
1.18 – 1.20.4Java 17+
1.17 – 1.17.1Java 16+
1.8 – 1.16.5Java 8+
Full Minecraft → Java table

Spigot vs alternatives

Paper Purpur CraftBukkit
Detailed comparison →

Official links

Grab it via API

curl https://mcjarhub.com/api/v1/latest/spigot Full API documentation →