Respawn Backoff

This project was tailor-made for a server I ran for a friend group, so we can have something hardcore-ish, but without bleeding players. I’m open to suggestions and bug reports, but don’t expect much in terms of support.

I recommend having a keepinventory/grave mod, sice sometimes the wait time will exceed the despawn time.

How it plays

When you respawn after a death, you are put in spectator at the place you died, with a full-screen blackout and a countdown. You cannot leave that spot: the server keeps you locked there until the timer ends. Then you return to survival at your normal respawn point (bed or world spawn). If you disconnect mid-penalty, the timer keeps ticking.

Scaling

Each death in a row makes the next wait longer on a doubling curve, clamped between a minimum and maximum number of minutes the server sets. The death streak resets once per calendar day so the next death starts from the short wait again.

Operators

Commands are under /respawnbackoff and require permission level 2: config show / config min <minutes> / config max <minutes>, reset (clear streak for the next death only; does not cancel an active timer), and skip (end the active penalty immediately). Targets can be specified for reset and skip.

Requirements

Fabric Loader, Fabric API, and Java 21 (see the published file’s metadata for the supported Minecraft versions).

Known issues

• The black overlay can be peered through some UI elements, like the chat for example.
• When using Simple Voice Chat, the dead player can hear the alive players talking near his death location.