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<div class="section" id="introduction-to-hocon">
<h1>Introduction to HOCON<a class="headerlink" href="#introduction-to-hocon" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<p>HOCON (Human-Optimized Config Object Notation) is an easy-to-use configuration format. It is used by Sponge and
individual plugins utilizing the Sponge API to store important data, such as configuration or player data. HOCON files
typically use the suffix <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">.conf</span></code>.</p>
<div class="section" id="components">
<h2>Components<a class="headerlink" href="#components" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<ul class="simple">
<li>a <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">key</span></code> is a string preceding a value</li>
<li>a <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">value</span></code> is a string, number, object, array, or boolean following a <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">key</span></code></li>
<li>a <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">key-value</span> <span class="pre">separator</span></code> separates keys from values, and can be either <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">:</span></code> or <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">=</span></code></li>
<li>a <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">comment</span></code> is prefixed with <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">#</span></code> or <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">//</span></code>, typically serving to provide feedback or instructions</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Example:</strong></p>
<div class="highlight-none"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span>yellow-thing: "Sponge"
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>In this example, the <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">key</span></code> is <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">yellow-thing</span></code>, the <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">value</span></code> is <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">Sponge</span></code>, and the <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">key-value</span> <span class="pre">separator</span></code> is <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">:</span></code>.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="working-with-hocon">
<h2>Working with HOCON<a class="headerlink" href="#working-with-hocon" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>HOCON is more flexible than the JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format in that there are several ways to write valid
HOCON. Below are two examples of valid HOCON.</p>
<p><strong>Example #1:</strong></p>
<div class="highlight-none"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span>player: {
name: "Steve",
level: 30
}
</pre></div>
</div>
<p><strong>Example #2:</strong></p>
<div class="highlight-none"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span>player {
name = "Steve"
level = 30
}
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>In practice, it is best to follow the formatting conventions of the HOCON configuration you are editing. When editing
a HOCON configuration for Sponge or an individual plugin utilizing the Sponge API, the values are likely the only thing
you will be changing unless otherwise specified.</p>
<div class="section" id="debugging-your-configuration">
<h3>Debugging your configuration<a class="headerlink" href="#debugging-your-configuration" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>If a HOCON configuration does not appear to be working, here are some tips.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Curly braces must be balanced</li>
<li>Quotation marks must be balanced</li>
<li>Duplicate keys that appear later take precedence</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="specification">
<h2>Specification<a class="headerlink" href="#specification" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>More information about the HOCON format can be found <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/typesafehub/config/blob/master/HOCON.md">here</a>.</p>
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