User management

Every player is considered a user in the API. We use the SocialUser class to ensure platform abstraction and add some useful methods.

Getting a SocialUser from a Player

You can get the SocialUser instance of a Player by referencing its UUID and using the built-in UserManager:

Getting a SocialUser from a Bukkit Player

UUID playerUuid = player.getUniqueId();
SocialUser user = Social.get().getUserManager().getByUuid(uuid);

Now that we have the user instance, why don't we try putting it to use?

Sending messages

The SocialUser class implements Adventure's Audience. This means that you'll have access to all of its methods.

For example, we can send a Component with Audience#sendMessage:

Sending a Component

Component message = Component.text("Hello world!");
user.sendMessage(message);

Of course, if you're using social's API you'll probably want to send messages with social's text processors. We have created a simple SocialUser#sendParsableMessage method for this:

Sending a parsable message

var message = "Hello, <gold>$(nickname)</gold>! :raw_smile:";
user.sendParsableMessage(message);

Accessing the Player instance from a SocialUser

You can access the Player instance from a SocialUser with the method SocialUser::player. Do note that this method returns an Optional because some users might be dummies or offline. Here's an example of obtaining the Player instance safely:

Obtaining the Player instance from a SocialUser

user.player().ifPresent(player -> {
    // Code that uses the player instance
});

Dummies

Dummies are non-existant users that might be used to perform certain actions that require a SocialUser without reflecting them on a player. You can create a dummy with SocialUser#dummy:

Creating a Dummy

SocialUser dummy = SocialUser.dummy();

// You can also create a dummy with a specific main channel:
SocialUser dummy = SocialUser.dummy(channel);

You can check if a SocialUser is actually a dummy by using Java's instanceof:

Checking if a SocialUser is actually a dummy

boolean isDummy = user instanceof SocialUser.Dummy;

Warning

Dummies are a workaround we provide for very specific cases. It's better to avoid using them unnecessarily. Ignoring this warning will most likely end up causing exceptions in runtime.