This is a huge update for the server, some reading will need to be done to understand the full effects of the update! We're beginning to change the way our economy works and we've added some new stuff to it that I think everyone will enjoy!

Firstly, a TL;DR: Moved Diamond-Backed currency to Vault so it can be used across all plugins that support it. We still use diamonds; you will buy and sell as you always have. We will be moving towards a virtual currency in the future and these changes will enable us to do so. We also have a new auction house.

For a full explanation, please continue to read below!

Economy:

• We've had a diamond backed economy since the launch of the server and relied on player shops. This has served us well so far but it's time we modernize our economy and allow for more features to be added. To do this, we need a new currency that's linked to Vault (a plugin). Vault, to keep it simple, allows plugins to talk to one another. The vast majority of Minecraft servers use Vault. What I did is this:
• I created a new currency that is technically virtual, and linked it to a physical item (diamonds). It's like having a dollar bill backed by gold IRL.
• The /bank command now takes you to a GUI where you can see how many diamonds you own. This only counts diamonds that are in your inventory & your ender chest. It does NOT count diamonds in regular chests. This is the menu in which you will pay other players, convert currency (future release) or see a break down of where your diamonds are.
• /profit will take you to a menu to see how many diamonds your shops have earned. You can deposit and withdraw as you always have.

So what does this mean for you? Right now, it means minimal changes. It means all the behind the scenes work is done and the framework is setup for a more robust economy in the future where we use a totally virtual currency! Here are some FAQ's below that I've seen on the server thus far.

Where are my Diamonds?

•  Your diamonds are where they have always been, in your chests! However, if you use your Enderchest, you can always keep track of how many diamonds you actually own. Cool feature, you can keep diamonds inside of shulkers, inside of the ender chest and it still counts your total amount of diamonds.

Can I buy stuff from the auction house / player shops without having the diamonds in my inventory?

• Yes! As long as you have diamonds in your ender chest, purchases will pull those diamonds from the ender chest automatically.

Is /cshop bank going away?

• No! This is permanently tied to the player shop plugin. It's been named "profit" to distinguish between your total balance on your account in /bank, and the money you've earned from sales in your shop.

Why are you doing all of this?

• We cannot have a bidding system in the auction house. I can't tie diamonds to plugins like Player Warps or Grief Defender without an economy system. Diamonds can be farmed Enmasse, I can't limit this outside of implementing a world border. It's much harder to add alternate ways to earn money if the only source of an income is mining. In the future, players will be able to earn money by farming, cutting trees, mining, brewing, fishing, blacksmithing ,etc.

Auction House:

A new auction house has been added! This new AH allows players to actually bid on items and compete with other players to purchase sought-out gear. It also comes with a much nicer filter to limit the search to specific categories like food, armor, tools, etc. On top of that, you get 4 AH slots instead of just 1. So you can sell a full set of gear if you want to, now. All auction listings will be done in a GUI. Here is a tutorial!

Step one:

• Type /ah
• In this menu, on the bottom row you will see a multitude of icons, one of them being "list item". click this.
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Step two:

• Select if you want a Bin Item, or an Auction Item. Descriptions are available in the menu.
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Step three:

• Drag and drop the item you want to list into the blank slot in the middle of the gui. 
• At the bottom right corner of this menu, you can choose between listing a single item, or bulk listing.
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Step four:

• Pricing your item involves 2 OR 3 options. You must FIRST set your buy out price. This is how much a person has to pay to bypass all bidding and purchase the item.
• Second, set your starting bid
• Third, set your bid increments, i.e how much to increase the bid by when a player places a bid.
• Fourth, on the right hand side you'll see a green glass pane, click this to DISABLE a buy out option, and only enable bidding.
• Bids will last for 24 hours
• Expired items will remain in the claim box for 7 days.
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