Rankly 0.7.7

Create pixel rank badges in a browser, then export them to your Minecraft server. Rankly’s self-hosted Studio gives text, frames and symbols their own colours, effects and animation timing. It exports ItemsAdder or Nexo glyphs and can synchronize managed groups with LuckPerms.

What is included

• A browser editor served by your own server, with saved designs and previews.
• Whole-pixel text, borders, symbols, imported artwork and animation controls.
• Independent text, frame and symbol styling, with optional linked timing.
• ItemsAdder and Nexo resource-pack export.
• Optional LuckPerms group synchronization and PlaceholderAPI output.
• Diagnostics and a static fallback when an animated pack cannot be verified.

Players must accept the resource pack to see custom glyphs. Your chat or TAB plugin must support the selected glyph and text format.

Requirements and compatibility

Rankly targets Paper servers and retains its Paper 1.21.8 / Java 21 compile baseline. Use Java 25 for Paper 26.3; older servers must use the Java version required by their server build. This release passed startup, /rankly diagnose and clean shutdown on Paper 26.3 build 157 BETA with Java 25, including startup without LuckPerms.

The editor and exporter recognize these animation routes:

These are source and export boundaries, not a record of gameplay tests on every listed server. Native Minecraft rendering, paid-provider pack merges, chat/TAB consumers and graphics mods still need checking with a player on your setup. The special ItemsAdder 4.0.18 adapter remains specific to Minecraft 1.21.10.

Installation

1. Back up existing Rankly data, provider packs and LuckPerms data before upgrading. Stop the server and put Rankly.jar in plugins, replacing the old Rankly JAR.
2. Install the integrations you need, then start the server once to create plugins/Rankly/config.yml.
3. Run /rankly web as an authorized administrator. Studio defaults to 127.0.0.1:8765 and generates an API token. On a remote host, use an authenticated HTTPS reverse proxy and configure web.public-url; keep the admin token private.
4. Choose integration.provider: itemsadder for baked animation, or the appropriate separate static provider workflow. Save a design and run /rankly sync.
5. Let the provider rebuild finish. When integration.auto-reload is disabled, run /iazip for ItemsAdder or /nexo reload all for a Nexo export.
6. Reconnect, accept the rebuilt pack, then check /rankly diagnose and /rankly preview <rank-id>. Verify the result in your actual chat and TAB plugins.

For a separately hosted Studio, put its exact HTTPS origin in web.allowed-origins. Wildcards are rejected. An HTTPS page cannot call a plain-HTTP server API. Configure web.bind and hosting port access deliberately; the default listener is local only.

Publishing animations on 26.3

Use ItemsAdder-only export and a compatible ItemsAdder build. Its final pack metadata must include 97.1. Change format compatibility through the provider’s supported configuration so a rebuild retains it.

Rankly first publishes a static badge while the pack rebuild runs. After ItemsAdder finishes compressing its final ZIP, Rankly checks the expected shaders, frame textures and font mappings before publishing animated prefixes. A failed check keeps the static badge and reports the reason.

Rankly preserves other plugins’ shader files. Enabled ItemsAdder text effects or a competing text-shader owner can keep animation in static fallback. Rankly does not disable those features or rewrite their settings. An incompatible installed BetterHud also remains a fallback case.

The animation runs from a shared client clock, without a repeating server animation task or resending chat. It does not restart for each message. Oversized animation cycles are rejected rather than silently dropping transported frames.

Chat and TAB setup

PlaceholderAPI is optional. If installed, Rankly registers its expansion automatically:

%rankly_prefix_legacy%
%rankly_prefix_minimessage%
%rankly_rank_<rank-id>_prefix_legacy%
%rankly_animation_status%

Use the legacy placeholder in fields that parse section-sign RGB text. Use the MiniMessage placeholder where the receiving plugin parses MiniMessage after placeholder expansion. Preserve full RGB formatting and negative glyph advances; reducing colours to the basic sixteen-colour palette can break animation.

Animation status can be not-exported, static, blocked-static, awaiting-pack or ready. Ready confirms publication, not that a player’s client loaded or displayed the pack. Watch the same chat message for several cycles, then check TAB separately, normal surrounding text and any graphics mods you use.

Commands and existing groups

The root command is /rankly, with alias /ranks:

rankly.admin gates administrative commands; individual operations also check their corresponding permissions. Diagnose and preview use rankly.sync.

Keep sync.authoritative-group-nodes: false for existing mixed-use groups. Rankly then replaces only nodes it can identify as its own, preserving unrelated, temporary or contextual nodes. Authoritative mode replaces all direct prefix, weight and permission nodes in managed groups; reserve it for groups entirely managed by Rankly.

When an older provider file has no ownership receipt, follow the exact file path in the diagnostic. Back up that named YAML outside the provider content directory before generating a replacement. Keep recovery directories and manifests if an export reports a conflict; do not clear the provider folder to force an update.

Changes in 0.7.7

• Added a separate Minecraft 26.3 text-shader route with native rendering branches retained.
• Added checks for format 97.1 overlays, final frame textures and font mappings before animated publication.
• Fixed startup without the optional LuckPerms dependency; unavailable group migration now gives a clear message.
• Updated the upgrade and integration guides.

Release checks: 369 Java tests with one optional fixture skipped; 48 Vulkan shader compile/link variants; Paper 26.3 build 157 BETA startup, diagnostics and shutdown. Full native-client animation and paid-provider acceptance were not performed in this release check.

Further help

The download includes docs/minecraft-26.3.md, docs/integrations.md, docs/core-shader-safety.md, docs/animation-timing-sync.md and docs/security-self-hosting.md. Asset and font notices are included with the download. Third-party integrations are separate products and are not included.