Playing with MiniModes

Player overview

This page explains how MiniModes feels to use as a player — the commands you’ll actually type, the menus you’ll see, and what each feature is for.

If you only care about playing (not configuring the server or writing games), this is the guide you want.

Your mental model as a player

Think of MiniModes as:

A game browser (/minimodes) that shows all mini‑games your server has.
A party system (/party) so you and your friends always play together.
A pre‑game lobby flow for teams and settings voting.
Optional in‑game settings UI, depending on the game.
A Mashup mode that keeps starting random rounds for your group.

You don’t manage worlds, config files, or plugins — you just use a few commands and GUIs.

Core player commands

You don’t need to memorize everything, but these are the essentials:

/minimodes or /mm

Open the MiniModes game selection menu.

Pick which mini‑game to play (if you’re the party leader).

/party ...

Create or join a party, invite friends, start Mashup, and more.

/mm game ...

Interact with your current game: leave, spectate, stop (leaders), or open in‑game settings.

Tip: MiniModes always keeps you in some party. If you’re alone, you’re just in a solo party.

Parties: playing together

MiniModes is built around parties — small groups of players that play games as a unit.

What is a party?

A party has:

A leader (the one in charge)
A set of members (invited players)
An internal ID (you don’t need to care about this)

Only the leader can:

Start games from /minimodes
Invite or kick players
Start/stop Mashup mode
Use some game‑management commands (e.g. marking winners)

Everyone else just joins, accepts invites, and plays.

Basic party flow

Here’s a typical flow when you want to play with friends:

1. Create or join a party

If you’re starting the group:

/party create — create a new party and become the leader.

Then invite your friends:

/party invite <player> — invite someone.
They accept with: /party accept <yourname>

If you’re joining someone else:

Wait for the invite pop‑up or chat message.
Run /party accept <leader>.

You can always see who’s in the party:

/party list

Note: You’re never truly “party‑less” — if you’re not in a shared party, MiniModes treats you as a solo party (just you).

2. Leaving or cleaning up

/party leave — leave your current party.
If you’re the leader and you leave, the whole party disbands and all related state (rematches, mashup sessions, some GUIs) is cleaned up.

3. Kicking

Leaders can remove members:

/party kick <player>

Use this if someone goes AFK or you need to free a slot.

Picking and starting games

Once you’re in a party:

Use /minimodes or /mm.

This opens a GUI like “MiniModes – Select a Game”.

For each game you’ll see:

Name & description
Min/max players
Whether your current party can start it:
- Too few/many players?
- Are you the leader?
- Is anyone already in a game?

2. Starting a game

Only the party leader can actually start games.
Everyone else can still open the menu and see info, but clicking the game won’t start it.

If you can’t start a game, the GUI will tell you why, for example:

“You are not the party leader.”
“Party has too few players (need at least 4).”
“Someone in your party is already in a game.”

Once the leader clicks a valid game:

MiniModes checks requirements.
If all good, it kicks off the pre‑game flow (teams and settings, if the game supports it).
Then it starts the actual round.

Pre‑game: teams and settings voting

MiniModes has two main pre‑game steps that some games use:

Team selection
Settings voting

Not every game uses both, but when they do, the process is shared and familiar.

1. Team Selection GUI

If the game is team‑based, you might see a Team Selection GUI.

Typical options include:

Shuffle evenly — balance players across teams.
Keep parties together — group party members on the same side.
Manual assignment — leader (or sometimes everyone) can drag/drop players into teams.

You’ll usually see:

Slots for teams
Player heads/icons you can move
A countdown so the lobby doesn’t last forever

Once teams are locked in, MiniModes moves on to settings (if applicable).

2. Settings Voting GUI

Next, you might see a Settings Voting GUI shown to the whole party.

Here you can vote on things like:

Map (Desert / Forest / Random)
Game length
Difficulty
Other options provided by the specific game

Key details:

Everyone in the party sees the same GUI at the same time.
Votes update in real time for everyone.
When voting ends (countdown or leader confirmation), the final settings are chosen.

After this, the game starts with the selected teams and settings.

During the game

Once the round starts, MiniModes mostly gets out of your way and lets the game run. But there are still a few shared commands you should know.

Leaving and spectating

Use the /mm game sub‑commands:

/mm game leave
Leave your current game and go back to the lobby / normal world.
You stay in your party.
/mm game spectate <player>
Teleport into someone else’s running game as a spectator, if allowed.
Useful if you died early or joined late and want to watch.

Stopping or finishing games (leaders)

Some games give the game leader extra controls:

/mm game stop
End the current game early.
/mm game win <players...>
Mark specific players as winners and end the game.
(Useful for custom events or resolving close calls.)

Whether you are the game leader depends on the game and the server’s rules — often it’s the party leader who started the game.

In‑game runtime settings

Some games support changing certain settings while the game is running.

If they do, you’ll be able to use:

/mm game settings

This opens the Runtime Settings GUI.

What you can do there:

View all available settings and their current values.
See which ones are mutable at runtime (allowed to change mid‑match).
Cycle through options:
- Left/right click to change values
- Scroll through pages if there are many

Rules:

Everyone can open and view the settings GUI.
Only the game/party leader can change settings.
Only settings explicitly marked by the game as “runtime mutable” can change mid‑game.
Shift‑click (or a similar action) may reset a setting back to its default (depends on the GUI design).

Changes you make update the GUI for everyone watching.

Mashup mode: endless random games

Mashup mode is for those times when your group wants to just keep playing something fun without constantly picking games.

How to start Mashup

Mashup is controlled via the party commands:

/party mashup start — start Mashup mode for your party.
/party mashup stop — stop Mashup mode.

Only the party leader can start/stop Mashup.

What Mashup does

When Mashup is on:

MiniModes picks games at random from all loaded extensions.
It only picks games that:
- Are marked as Mashup‑compatible
- Support your current party size
It tries not to repeat the exact same game twice in a row.
For games that support settings:
- Settings are auto‑randomized — no pre‑game voting.
At the start of each round, your party may get a bit of fall‑damage protection to smooth spawns.
Whenever:
- Your party has online members, and
- No one is currently in a game,
- MiniModes will try to start another round for you.

Mashup stops automatically if:

The party disbands (e.g. leader leaves), or
The leader runs /party mashup stop.

Rematching games

Many MiniModes servers use Rematch as a quick way to replay the last setup (same game, same or similar teams/settings).

The engine tracks this via a Rematch Manager, but as a player you just use:

/party rematch

This tells MiniModes:

“Start another round like the last one we played.”

What usually gets reused:

The game type
Party members
Team configuration (depending on game)
Most or all of the previous settings

This is ideal when you just had a great round and want a “best‑of‑X” without going through menus and voting again.

Common player scenarios

“I just joined the server and want to play something”

Type /minimodes or /mm.
Click a game that supports 1 player.
Play solo, or:
Create a party later and invite friends.

Because you’re alone, MiniModes treats you as a solo party, so you can still use most flows.

“We’re a group of friends and want to run a few games together”

One person runs /party create (becomes leader).
That leader runs /party invite <friend> for each friend.
Each friend accepts with /party accept <leader>.
Leader opens /minimodes and chooses a game that fits your party size.
You go through teams/settings (if any) and play.
Use /party rematch to replay the same setup.

“We want to play endlessly without picking games”

Set up your party as usual.
Leader runs /party mashup start.
Just keep playing — MiniModes will rotate you through random compatible games.
Use /party mashup stop when you’re done.

“I want to spectate my friend’s game”

Ask them which game they are in (or watch chat when they start).
Use /mm game spectate <friend> to join as a spectator.
Leave when you’re done with /mm game leave or via the GUI if provided.

Quick reference cheat sheet

Parties

/party create — create a party, become leader
/party invite <player> — invite someone
/party accept <player> — accept an invite
/party list — show members
/party leave — leave the party
/party kick <player> — leader kicks someone
/party rematch — replay last game setup
/party mashup start|stop — start/stop Mashup mode (leader only)

Games

/minimodes or /mm — open game selection menu
/mm game leave — leave your current game
/mm game spectate <player> — spectate someone’s game
/mm game stop — stop the current game (leader only)
/mm game win <players...> — mark winners and end game (leader only)
/mm game settings — open runtime settings GUI (if supported)

What you don’t need to worry about

As a player you don’t need to:

Install or update the plugin
Configure worlds or maps
Manage .mmx extensions
Understand how managers or APIs work

Server owners and game developers handle all that. You just:

Join a party
Open /minimodes
Vote on what looks fun
Play, rematch, or Mashup

When in doubt, ask:

“Who is the party leader?”
“Can you /party invite me?”
“Can you start Mashup?”

Once you know these basics, you’re ready to play on any MiniModes‑powered server.