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Language

Homestead includes an English (US) language file by default. You can translate it to any language or customize the messages to match your server's style.

Changing the Language

The language setting is in config.yml:

language: "en-US"  # The language file name (without .yml extension)

To use a different language:

  1. Navigate to the Homestead/languages/ folder
  2. Copy the en-US.yml file
  3. Rename it to your language code (e.g., fr-FR.yml, es-ES.yml, de-DE.yml)
  4. Translate the messages in the new file
  5. Update config.yml to use your new language file
  6. Reload or restart the server

Language File Location

Language files are stored in: 

plugins/Homestead/languages/

Default file: 

plugins/Homestead/languages/en-US.yml

Common Language Codes

This is the table for common language codes if you don't know your local language code!

Language Code Example Filename
English (US) en-US en-US.yml
English (UK) en-GB en-GB.yml
Spanish es-ES es-ES.yml
French fr-FR fr-FR.yml
German de-DE de-DE.yml
Portuguese (Brazil) pt-BR pt-BR.yml
Russian ru-RU ru-RU.yml
Chinese (Simplified) zh-CN zh-CN.yml
Japanese ja-JP ja-JP.yml
Korean ko-KR ko-KR.yml
Dutch nl-NL nl-NL.yml
Italian it-IT it-IT.yml
Polish pl-PL pl-PL.yml

Translating the Language File

Using AI Translation Tools

You can use AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Google Translate to translate the language file:

  1. Copy the en-US.yml file content
  2. Use an AI tool with a prompt like: 
    Please translate this Minecraft plugin language file to [your language].
Keep all variable names (text in curly braces like {region-name}) unchanged.
Only translate the text outside the variables.
  3. Paste the English content from en-US.yml
  4. Save the translation to a new file with your language code
  5. Review the translation to ensure it sounds natural

Manual Translation

If you prefer to translate manually:

  1. Open en-US.yml in a text editor
  2. Create a new file for your language
  3. Copy each line and translate only the message part
  4. Do not translate variable names (see below)

Important Translation Rules

DO NOT Change Variable Names

Variables are placeholders that get replaced with actual data. They look like {this}.

Correct Translation Example (English to Spanish):

# English
90: "You created region {region-name}!"

# Spanish - CORRECT
90: "¡Has creado la región {region-name}!"

# Spanish - WRONG (don't do this!)
90: "¡Has creado la región {nombre-de-región}!"

Always keep these exactly as they appear in the English file.

Keep Color Codes

Minecraft color codes start with & followed by a number or letter:

# Keep the color codes (&c, &a, &7, etc.)
error-message: "&cError: You don't have permission!"
success-message: "&aSuccess! Region created."
info-message: "&7Region: &2{region-name}"

Common Color Codes:

  • &c - Red (errors)
  • &a - Green (success)
  • &e - Yellow (warnings)
  • &7 - Gray (info)
  • &2 - Dark green (emphasis)
  • &b - Aqua (links)

Translate the text but keep the color codes in place.

Keep Formatting Codes

These special codes control text appearance:

  • &l - Bold
  • &o - Italic
  • &n - Underline
  • &m - ~~Strikethrough~~
  • &r - Reset formatting

Testing Your Translation

After creating a new language file:

  1. Set the language in config.yml: 

    language: "es-ES"  # Your language code

  2. Reload the plugin: 

    /hsadmin reload

  3. Test various commands to see your translations: 

    /region help
/region create TestRegion
/region info

  4. Check for:

    • Missing translations (shows the English version)
    • Broken variables (shows the variable name instead of data)
    • Formatting issues (weird colors or symbols)

Common Issues

Variables don't work (showing {region-name} instead of actual name):

  • Check that you didn't modify the variable name
  • Make sure curly braces {} are still present
  • Verify the variable spelling is exact

Missing translations:

  • Compare your file with en-US.yml to find missing keys
  • Every message key must be present even if not translated

Colors don't work:

  • Ensure color codes start with & not §
  • Check that you didn't accidentally delete the &

Plugin won't load language file:

  • Verify the filename matches what's in config.yml
  • Check that the file is in plugins/Homestead/languages/
  • Make sure the file extension is .yml
  • Validate YAML syntax using an online YAML validator

Customizing Messages

Even if you're keeping English, you can customize messages to match your server's style!