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Authoring a map

Tea's map authoring runs entirely through /tea map ... commands. Each authoring session happens in a temporary void world that is created on create, rendered with your schematic on edit, and torn down on save or discard. Spawn positions are stored as offsets from the region's min-corner, so pasting the map into an arena world always puts spawns in the right place.

WorldEdit or FastAsyncWorldEdit must be installed on the server for schematic capture to work. Tea owns the save itself - you do not need to run //schem save.

Every game built on Tea shares this authoring flow. Games extend /tea map with their own subcommands via the map-extension registry — see each game's own map-authoring page for those extras.

Required fields​

A map can only be saved once all of the following are set:

  • pos1 and pos2 - two opposite corners of the region the schematic captures
  • A waiting spawn - where players stand in WAITING / COUNTDOWN
  • At least one participant spawn - where players teleport when the match goes LIVE
  • min and max player counts

Games may enforce additional required spawns on top of these. /tea map status prints every field (core + game-specific) and flags missing ones before you try to save. /tea map save validates the same list and refuses to save if anything is missing.

The setup sidebar​

While you have a draft open (after create or edit), Tea shows a Map Setup sidebar that walks you through the steps still left to do. Rather than dumping the whole checklist at once, it shows the next few incomplete steps - each with the exact command to run - plus a +N more step(s) left footer so you always know how much is left. As you complete a step it drops off and the next one slides up; once everything required is set the sidebar reads Ready! Run /tea map save.

Because the step list is shared by every game, any extra spawns a game requires (via its map extensions) appear in the sidebar automatically, with the right subcommand - no per-game setup needed.

Toggle the sidebar on or off for yourself at any time:

/tea map board

It defaults on each time you start a new authoring session. To turn it off server-wide, set map-setup-scoreboard.enabled: false in plugins/TeaCore/config.yml.

Workflow: creating a brand new map​

/tea map create <gameId> <mapId>

For example, /tea map create mygame jungle creates a void world tea_edit_<you>_mygame_jungle, teleports you to (0, 64, 0), and puts you in creative mode with an empty draft.

Build your map, or paste an existing schematic with WorldEdit's //paste.

Walk to one corner of the region you want captured (not necessarily the map bounds - just the blocks you want in the schematic):

/tea map pos1

Walk to the opposite corner:

/tea map pos2

Set a waiting spawn (where players stand while the match is in WAITING/COUNTDOWN):

/tea map waiting

For each participant spawn point (where players teleport when the match goes LIVE), walk to that spot facing the direction you want them to spawn and run:

/tea map addspawn

Set the map's player bounds:

/tea map min 4
/tea map max 10

Set any game-specific spawns the game you're authoring for requires. Each game documents its own extra spawn commands.

Check what's still missing at any point - the setup sidebar tracks this live, or print the full checklist in chat:

/tea map status

Save:

/tea map save

This captures the region between pos1 and pos2 into plugins/TeaCore/maps/schems/<mapId>.schem, writes the metadata into plugins/TeaCore/maps/<gameId>.yml, teleports you out, and deletes the edit world.

Workflow: editing an existing map​

/tea map edit <gameId> <mapId>

This re-creates a fresh void world and pastes the saved schematic into it. Your previously-saved pos1, pos2, spawns, and any game-specific fields are loaded so you can verify and modify them.

Modify anything:

  • Rebuild blocks - the next save captures the new version.
  • Move pos1 / pos2 to re-size the captured region.
  • Walk to a new location and run /tea map addspawn to add a spawn.
  • Run /tea map clearspawns to wipe all participant spawns and re-add them from scratch.
  • Re-run any game-specific extension commands the game registers under /tea map.
  • Update /tea map min / /tea map max.

Save:

/tea map save

Always re-captures a fresh schematic. The old one in schems/ is overwritten.

Discarding changes​

/tea map discard

Teleports you out and deletes the edit world without writing anything.

Listing and inspecting maps​

/tea map list
/tea map list <gameId>
/tea map info <gameId> <mapId>

/tea map reload re-reads plugins/TeaCore/maps/<gameId>.yml from disk at runtime - handy if you hand-edited YAML or copied maps in without restarting.

Deleting a map​

/tea map delete <gameId> <mapId>

Removes the YAML entry, deletes the schematic file, and unregisters the map from the running MapService.

Authoring across restarts​

If you crash or restart with drafts open, the temporary edit worlds are purged on the next TeaCore startup (any folder matching tea_edit_* in the world container that's not currently loaded gets deleted). The in-memory draft is lost, so don't expect to resume - re-run /tea map edit to re-paste the latest saved schematic and continue from there.