Integrations

dNicks wants to be the single source of truth for a player’s name, while cooperating with the plugins that own other surfaces (the tab list, the floating nametag, chat). It exposes the nick as %dnicks_name% and gets out of the way everywhere else.

EssentialsX

EssentialsX formats chat and changes the display name. dNicks already handles this:

• Chat — dNicks’ renderer runs at HIGHEST, so it wins. Nothing required.

• Display name — for /msg and other display-name consumers to show the nick too, stop Essentials from overwriting it:

  plugins/Essentials/config.yml

  change-displayname: false

dNicks logs this reminder at startup when EssentialsX is detected (toggle with integrations.essentials-warn).

The TAB plugin — keep the role, swap the name

TAB owns the tab list and the floating nametag. dNicks does not render either of those itself — it feeds TAB the nick via %dnicks_name%, and your role plugin (LuckPerms, etc.) keeps supplying the prefix/suffix. Needs PlaceholderAPI.

1. Nametag above the head. Enable TAB’s unlimited nametags (so the name line can carry hex), then set:

# TAB config.yml
scoreboard-teams:
  enabled: true
  unlimited-nametag-mode:
    enabled: true

# TAB groups.yml / users.yml
_DEFAULT_:
  tagprefix: "%luckperms_prefix%"
  customtagname: "%dnicks_name%"     # the gradient nick as the name
  tagsuffix: "%luckperms_suffix%"

2. Tab list. Let TAB render it from the same placeholder, and tell dNicks to stand down:

# dNicks config.yml
surfaces:
  tablist: false

# TAB groups.yml / users.yml
_DEFAULT_:
  tabprefix: "%luckperms_prefix%"
  customtabname: "%dnicks_name%"
  tabsuffix: "%luckperms_suffix%"

Result: [OWNER] <gradient>DZUSILL</gradient> above the head and in the tab list — role prefix from LuckPerms, gradient name from dNicks, one owner per surface, no duplicates.

dNicks logs this guidance at startup when TAB is detected (toggle with integrations.tab-warn). If you don’t run TAB, leave surfaces.tablist: true and dNicks renders the tab list itself; the nametag above the head then stays the vanilla single-color name (see The Nametag Above the Head for why).

LuckPerms (or any role plugin)

dNicks never touches prefixes or suffixes — it only owns the name. Whatever your permissions plugin exposes as a placeholder (%luckperms_prefix%, %luckperms_suffix%, %vault_prefix%, …) keeps working; you place it around %dnicks_name% in whichever plugin renders the surface. That is the whole design: roles stay yours, the name becomes the nick.

PlaceholderAPI

Required for the TAB/nametag setup above and recommended on any bigger network. Installing it lets dNicks expose %dnicks_name% and friends so any placeholder-aware plugin (scoreboards, TAB, chat plugins) renders the nick. See Placeholders. It is not needed for dNicks’ own built-in chat and tab-list surfaces.

Summary

You run…	Do this
Just dNicks (+ Essentials)	Nothing for chat/tab. Optional: Essentials change-displayname: false. Nametag above the head stays vanilla single-color.
dNicks + TAB (+ LuckPerms)	Install PlaceholderAPI. TAB nametag: tagprefix: %luckperms_prefix%, customtagname: %dnicks_name%, tagsuffix: %luckperms_suffix% (+ unlimited nametags on). TAB tab list: same with tabprefix/customtabname/tabsuffix, and surfaces.tablist: false in dNicks.
dNicks + other scoreboard/chat plugins	Install PlaceholderAPI and point them at %dnicks_name% (wrap with your role placeholders as needed).