Protobuf from bundled MySQL connector conflicts with newer gencode

[vjh0107]

Expected behavior

Plugin's resolved protobuf-java:4.34.0 is used at runtime, satisfying Protobuf's runtime >= gencode rule

Observed/Actual behavior

Paper's bundled protobuf-java:4.29.0 takes precedence, throwing:

Steps/models to reproduce

Plugin depends on a library with Protobuf gencode ≥ 4.30 (e.g., micrometer-registry-otlp).

Plugin and Datapack List

(My plugin with Protobuf only)

[07:25:35 INFO]: [PluginInitializerManager] Paper plugins (1):

• gameserver_lobby (1.0.0-SNAPSHOT)

Paper version

[07:25:40 INFO]: This server is running Paper version 1.21.11-128-ver/1.21.11@1fdbce1 (2026-04-04T20:51:11Z) (Implementing API version 1.21.11-R0.1-SNAPSHOT)

Other

I hope Paper don't provide Mysql connector as a transitive dependency

[vjh0107]

#7782

I carefully suggest erasing unnecessary dependencies

[electronicboy]

we cannot remove those without breaking plugins, thus making them not unneccesary.

This is generally not a bug, if you want to use your own versions of stuff already bundled by the server or other things, you will need to take measures to avoid conflicts, this is not a bug

[vjh0107]

Okay, I understood. Then, can't you just bump the Protobuf version? It's because of OpenTelemetry. I'd really appreciate it if you could review it.

[electronicboy]

That would require us to add extra explictly defined dependencies to manage which is generally not something we want to do, it would also just cause the exact same inverse breakage. If you want to use protobuf then you should isolate it or relocate it.