NxShards AFK Zones: Create, Configure, and Reward Players

Create reward regions with the NxShards selection wand, set per-zone Shards intervals, and customise the BossBar and titles players see inside.

AFK Zones are the heart of NxShards. Define a 3D region in your world, set how many Shards it pays out and how often, and players standing inside automatically earn currency — complete with on-screen feedback through titles, action bars, and a configurable boss bar.

Creating a Zone

1. Grab the selection wand

   Run /shards wand to receive the configured wand item (default: a Blaze Rod). Hold it in your main hand.

2. Select Position 1

   Left-click any block. Particles will flash to confirm the corner has been registered.

3. Select Position 2

   Right-click another block, ideally at the opposite corner and a different height so the zone is a proper 3D box.

4. Create the zone

   Run the create command, supplying a name, the interval in seconds, and the amount of Shards to award each tick:

   /shards zone create <zone_name> <interval> <amount>
   

   Example:

   /shards zone create vip_afk 60 5
   

   Players inside vip_afk now receive 5 Shards every 60 seconds.

Zone names are case-sensitive and must be unique. Use short, descriptive names — they are referenced in messages and command arguments.

Deleting a Zone

/shards zone delete <zone_name>

The region is removed immediately and any players inside stop earning Shards on the next scheduler tick.

In-Zone Feedback

The moment a player crosses a zone boundary, NxShards triggers three layers of feedback (all configurable):

Element	Trigger	Notes
Entry title + subtitle	On enter	Customise text and duration in config.yml
BossBar	While inside	Color and style configurable per server
ActionBar / payout messages	Every interval tick	Optional — disable in config if too noisy

Example configuration block:

zones:
  default-interval-seconds: 60
  default-amount: 1
  bossbar:
    color: GOLD
    style: SOLID

messages:
  zone-enter-title: "&6AFK Zone"
  zone-enter-subtitle: "&7You are now earning Shards"
  zone-bossbar: "&6Earning Shards — &e%zone%"

Folia Behaviour

On Folia, each zone’s reward timer runs through the entity scheduler of the players currently inside, not a global tick task. This means zones scale linearly with player count and never block the main thread.

Listing Active Zones

Use /shards reload after editing the config to reload the in-memory zone registry; new zones created with /shards zone create are saved instantly without a reload.

Avoid placing two zones that overlap unless intentional — a player inside both regions earns Shards from both, which can break your economy balance.