TNT Tag: Rules, Abilities, and Sudden Death Mode

How TNT Tag works: IT assignment, punch-to-pass mechanics, 30-second explosion timer, Dash and Double Jump abilities, and a shrinking Sudden Death border.

TNT Tag is the flagship mode of LiricTNT. A random subset of players starts each round wearing a TNT helmet — they are the “IT” players. IT players must punch non-IT players to pass the TNT before the 30-second clock runs out. When the timer reaches zero, every current IT player is eliminated in an explosion. The last surviving player wins the match.

How a Round Works

When you run /tnt iniciar <template>, LiricTNT clones the arena’s Slime world, teleports all online players to random spawn points, and begins a 10-second preparation phase. During preparation, players can spread out — the TNT is not yet assigned and punching does nothing. When the countdown ends, the game selects the initial IT players.

IT Selection

The number of IT players is calculated as floor(alivePlayers / 4), with a minimum of 1. Selected players receive a TNT block as a helmet and see a title screen telling them to pass it quickly. A server-wide announcement names all current IT players so everyone knows who to avoid.

Passing the TNT

An IT player transfers the TNT by punching any non-IT alive player. The attacker’s helmet is removed and the victim immediately receives the TNT helmet. Both players see a colored notification message and the attacker hears an experience-orb pickup chime while the victim hears the creeper-primed hiss.

Explosion Cycle

Every 30 seconds, all current IT players are eliminated simultaneously:

1. An explosion particle effect spawns at each IT player’s location.
2. The explosion sound plays globally across the arena.
3. Eliminated players transition to spectator mode.
4. If at least one non-IT player remains, the cycle resets: new IT players are selected and the 30-second timer restarts.
5. If no non-IT players remain, the game ends immediately.

IT players are visually distinguishable during a round — small flame particles emit from above their heads and a ticking hat sound plays every second so nearby players can track them by ear.

Player Abilities

All alive players receive two active ability items at the start of the game phase. Cooldowns appear on the item’s native durability bar.

Dash (Sugar)

Right-click the Sugar item to fire a burst of speed in your current look direction. Useful for escaping an IT player or closing the gap to pass the TNT. Has a short cooldown before you can use it again.

Double Jump (Rabbit Foot)

Right-click the Rabbit Foot while airborne to gain an extra jump. Lets you reach higher ground or clear gaps that a single jump cannot. The cooldown resets when you land.

Sudden Death

When the alive player count drops to 6 or fewer players, Sudden Death activates automatically.

• All alive players begin glowing so everyone can see each other through walls.
• If CraftEngine is installed, a custom music track starts playing for all alive players and spectators.
• The world border, which started at 150 blocks, begins shrinking: it reduces by 25 blocks every 30 seconds, down to a minimum of 10 blocks.
• Players receive an action bar warning in the final 10 seconds before each border reduction.

The world border deals damage. Players caught outside the border take continuous damage until they move back inside.

Arena Setup

1. Create the arena template

   Register the Slime world as a tag arena template. The name must match the .slime file name on disk.

   /tnt arena create <name> tag
   
2. Add spawn points

   Walk to each desired spawn location and run the command. Repeat for every spawn.

   /tnt arena addspawn <name>
   
3. Start the game

   Clone the world and launch the match with all online players.

   /tnt iniciar <name>