A few words from Anna on exactly what 'flavor' of Minecraft we are.

I think I can say with confidence that it is not possible to run a Minecraft server of any size on stock, vanilla Minecraft. Once you get past 3-5 users, you really need a better performing server. We run Paper, which takes Spigot and adds more changes and tweaks, including a complete replacement of the 'stock' redstone engine.

Both Paper and Spigot make, and allow administrators to make, configuration changes that alter gameplay. Tuning Paper to run well with 20 players on involves a lot of tweaks, which take us even further from strict vanilla gameplay -- but hopefully in ways that are not too noticeable.

Just by starting the server we're already veered away from absolute vanilla purity. But, almost no one stops there: servers add plugins and data packs to enhance security, provide information, ease some of the irritations of multiplayer gameplay on a public server, or just add a little fun.

Ravencraft's additions broadly, are aimed at implementing the minimum number of significant changes needed to have a safe, playable server, or they're aimed at adding a little fun and convenience.

What you won't find here are game changing additions that many, many servers seem fine with: A shop plugin, "/sethome", warps, jobs, factions, loot chests, voting incentives, MCmmo, Towny or any of that stuff which, IMHO, turns the game into something almost unrecognizeable.

The tables below spell out our plugins and data packs: what they are, what they do, and our intent in having them. This should enable you to decide for yourself if we are too vanilla, not vanilla enough, or just right.

Plugin	Function	Nature
AnvilColor	Permits use of chat color codes when naming an item on an anvil	Fun
ColoredSigns	Permits use of chat color codes on signs	Fun
DiscordSRV	Discord/Server chat integration	Community Engagement
dynmap	Dynamic online map of the world	Information
Essentials	Colorized chat, chat prefixes, commands such as /craft, /ec and /nick	Chat enhancement; Server maintainability
GriefPrevention	Anti-grief and land claim system; Prevents explosions from breaking blocks above sea level	Security; Player enjoyment
GSit	Allows players to "sit"	Fun
GuestMode	Restricts new players to "visitor" status	Security
HasteBoost	Enables instant mining of deepslate with an Efficiency V netherite pick & Haste II beacon	Convenience
PermissionsEX	Back-end tool for user and user group management	Security
PortalHelper	Generates coordinates for portal placement	Convenience
SmoothSleep	Accelerates the passage of night based on the fraction of active overworld players in bed	Making multiplayer work better
TalkingBot	Responds to keywords in chat with predifined information	Information
WorldBorder	Allows admin to set per-world soft world borders	Server capacity conservation
WorldGuard	Used to spawn-proof certain areas (it can do a lot more, but this is the feature we use)	Convenience
Wrenchable	Enables crafting of a "wrench" that can rotate all blocks that have "facing". For example: Glazed terracotta, pistons, and stairs.	Convenience

This is not an exhaustive list: Some purely administrative / security plugins are not listed.

Data Pack	Function	Nature
anti enderman grief	Prevents Endermen from moving blocks	Player enjoyment
anti ghast grief	Prevents Ghast fireballs from breaking blocks	Player enjoyment
armor statues	Enables creation of "statues" via posing armor stands	Fun
double shulker shells	Shulkers always drop two shells on death	Player enjoyment
dragon drops	Dragon always drops an elytra on death	Making multiplayer work better
more mob heads	Mobs have a chance of dropping their heads when killed by a player	Player enjoyment
player head drops	Players drop their heads when killed by another player	Player enjoyment
silence mobs	Players can quiet captive mobs with a specially named nametag	Convenience
Ravencraft	Adds recipes for nametags and saddles. See also: If you want to keep it, nametag it!	Convenience
track raw statistics	Enables tracking of player stats	Information
track statistics	Enables tracking of player stats	Information
unlock all recipes	Unlocks all recipes in the crafting book at once	Convenience
charcoal to black dye	Adds recipe to convert charcoal to black dye	Making multiplayer work better
coal to black dye	Adds recipe to convert coal to black dye	Making multiplayer work better
sandstone dyeing	Adds ability to dye sand/sandstone red	Making multiplayer work better
universal dyeing	Adds ability to re-dye wool, terracotta, cement powder	Convenience