Getting Started for Plugin Developers

This guide helps you start building Oxygen plugins for SCUM servers. It covers the minimal setup, the plugin file layout, and where to go next.

What is Oxygen for Developers?

Oxygen provides a C# plugin runtime for SCUM servers. You write plugins in C#, drop them into the server plugin folder, and Oxygen compiles and loads them.

Key developer features:

C#/.NET 8 runtime for plugins.
Hot reload of .cs files.
Command and permission attributes.
Hooks for player and server events.
Managed timers for delayed and recurring logic.
JSON config and data persistence helpers.
HTTP server routes and HTTP client helpers.
Read-only access to SCUM database data.

Prerequisites

Before writing your first plugin, ensure:

Oxygen is installed and running on a SCUM server.
You have file access to the server plugin directory.
You have a code editor (VS Code, Rider, or Visual Studio).

If Oxygen is not installed, start with Installing Oxygen.

Directory Layout

These directories are used most often during development:

SCUM/
└── Binaries/
    └── Win64/
        └── oxygen/
            ├── plugins/        ← C# plugin files (.cs)
            ├── configs/        ← JSON config files
            ├── data/           ← JSON data files
        └── logs/OxygenError.log ← Plugin compilation/runtime logs

Plugin Skeleton

A minimal Oxygen plugin looks like this:

using System;
using Oxygen.Csharp.API;
using Oxygen.Csharp.Core;

[Info("My Plugin", "YourName", "1.0.0")]
[Description("Test plugin showing the new architecture")]
public class MyPlugin : OxygenPlugin
{
    public override void OnLoad()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("My Plugin loaded");
    }

    [Command("hello")]
    private void HelloCommand(PlayerBase player, string[] args)
    {
        player.Reply("Hello from Oxygen!");
    }
}

Save this as MyPlugin.cs in oxygen/plugins/. Oxygen will compile and load it.

Hot Reload

Oxygen automatically detects changes to .cs files and reloads plugins. This lets you iterate quickly without restarting the server.

If a plugin fails to load:

Check /logs/OxygenError.log for compile errors.
Verify your file name and class name are valid.
Confirm you are using the correct namespaces.

Core Concepts You Will Use

Commands: Chat Commands
Permissions: Permissions
Player Hooks: Player Hooks
Timers: Timers & Delays
Config Files: Configuration
Data Storage: Data Storage
Web API: Web API for Plugins
HTTP Client: HTTP client
Database Access: Database Access