Removal of support for Java versions before 17 and Minecraft versions before 1.16

[Ingrim4]

Orebfuscator currently extends support to every version of Minecraft since 1.9.4, but this broad compatibility comes with significant drawbacks. Our codebase is burdened with legacy components solely dedicated to maintaining compatibility with older versions, which adds unnecessary complexity and hinders our ability to optimize for newer Minecraft releases.

Updating and maintaining compatibility with multiple Minecraft versions, especially when it involves changes to NMS (net.minecraft.server) interfaces, is a laborious process. With each update, we must meticulously adjust code across numerous versions of these interfaces and their underlying implementations, resulting in substantial increased development time.

These challenges not only impede our ability to deliver updates and improvements but also prevent us from fully using the capabilities of newer Minecraft versions. Our reliance on the 1.13 Spigot-API restricts us from leveraging features introduced in subsequent releases, limiting the potential enhancements we can offer to our users.

To address these issues and streamline development, we're considering phasing out support for Java versions before 17 and Minecraft versions before 1.16. This will enable us to accelerate development, and unlock new possibilities for enhancing Orebfuscator's performance and features. This is where you come in to play we want your input and to share your thoughts and concerns regarding this proposal.

EDIT: This will stay open until the next major minecraft release (1.21.0). Another reason for dropping support for older versions is that no one is using them according to our anonymous statistics: https://bstats.org/plugin/bukkit/Orebfuscator/8942. Please make sure you have enabled them on your server so that we can make more precise decisions on such topics in the future.

[Ingrim4]

Voting has concluded, and the results are in: we will no longer support Java versions earlier than 17 and Minecraft versions prior to 1.16.