Diplomacy and Combat Balance

Diplomacy and Combat Balance Mechanics

BalancedTeam was designed specifically with competitive gameplay, faction PvP, and anarchy balance in mind. This document outlines the diplomacy mechanics, anti-zerg constraints, and combat protection algorithms.

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The Diplomacy System

Diplomacy allows teams to establish formal relationships with other teams, altering damage calculation rules and communication options.

                  ┌───────────────────────────────┐
                  │       Diplomatic Status       │
                  └──────────────┬────────────────┘
                                 │
         ┌───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┐
         ▼                       ▼                       ▼
   [Allied Team]          [Neutral Team]          [Enemy Team]
 • Damage Protected*    • Default PvP           • Hostile Target
 • Shared Coordination  • Standard Interaction  • Highlighted Tracking
 • Maximum Cap (e.g. 3)                         • Maximum Cap (e.g. 10)

*Configurable via balance.ally_friendly_fire in config.yml.

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Alliances (Allies)

• Bilateral Agreement: To form an alliance, an Officer or Leader must send an alliance request (/team ally <teamName>). The target team's Officers or Leader must accept the request before the pact takes effect.
• Alliance Request Timeout: Unanswered alliance requests expire automatically after balance.ally_request_timeout_seconds (default: 3600 seconds).
• Anti-Zerg Hard Cap (balance.max_allies): Servers can set a strict limit on the number of allies a team can hold (default: 3). This effectively prevents "mega-coalitions" from dominating server resources.
• Ally Damage Protection (balance.ally_friendly_fire): When set to false, players cannot damage members of allied teams with weapons, bows, tridents, or negative potions.
• Dissolving Alliances: Either team can unilaterally terminate the alliance at any time via /team unally <teamName> or through the GUI.

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Hostilities (Enemies)

• War Declaration: Any Officer or Leader can mark another team as an enemy (/team enemy <teamName>) without requiring the target's consent.
• Enemy Cap (balance.max_enemies): Configurable limit (default: 10) on active marked enemy teams.
• Making Peace: Reverting enemy status to neutral can be executed via /team peace <teamName>.

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Combat Balance & Anti-Abuse Rules

1. Friendly Fire Toggle with PvP Cooldown

• The Problem: In vanilla team systems, players frequently toggle friendly fire on/off rapidly during team fights to avoid accidental team hits while firing weapons or throwing splash potions.
• The Solution: BalancedTeam introduces balance.friendly_fire_cooldown_seconds (default: 30s). When friendly fire is changed, the player is placed on a cooldown preventing further toggles until the timer expires.

2. Team-Hop Anti-Backstab Cooldown

• The Problem: During intense fights or base sieges, malicious players may leave their team instantly, gain damage immunity or switch to an enemy team, and backstab their former comrades from inside their base.
• The Solution: BalancedTeam enforces balance.leave_team_cooldown_seconds (default: 60s). After leaving or disbanding a team, players must wait for the cooldown to elapse before creating or joining another team.

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Damage Interception Matrix (DamageListener)

BalancedTeam intercepts and evaluates damage in real-time across all possible Bukkit attack vectors:

Damage Vector	Supported Checks	Protection Triggered
Direct Melee / Fist Attack	EntityDamageByEntityEvent	Canceled if Teammate/Ally & FF disabled
Arrow / Bow / Crossbow	Projectile Shooter Source Resolution	Canceled if Shooter is Teammate/Ally
Trident Throw	Projectile Shooter Source Resolution	Canceled if Shooter is Teammate/Ally
Potion / Lingering Splash	ThrownPotion / Area Effect Cloud Source	Negative potion effects blocked
Sweeping Edge Attack	Secondary nearby entity damage	Teammates/Allies excluded from sweep damage
Fireworks / Crossbow Rockets	Firework shooter attribution	Teammates/Allies protected from blast

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