The default config.yml file will look something like this, when first setting up the plugin you should go through it and decide which of the ban reasons should take affect on your server and also decide on the ban limits to be used under each one. Each section of the config file is explained below.

api-key: change this
bungee-cord-mode:
  enabled: false
  auth-str: CHANGE_ME
  address: 127.0.0.1
  port: 8000
use-compact-join-info: false
ignore-removed-bans: true
use-group-bans: true
block-public-proxies: true
block-known-compromised-accounts: true
messages:
  kick:
    player: You have been kicked from the server.
    server: '&c%player_name% &ahas been kicked by %admin_name%'
  unexempt:
    player: You have been removed from the exempt list
    server: '&c%player_name% &ahas been removed from the exempt list by %admin_name%'
  local-ban:
    player: You have been banned from the server
    server: '&c%player_name% &ahas been banned by %admin_name%'
  global-ban:
    player: You have been banned from the server for %short_reason%
    server: '&c%player_name% &ahas been banned by %admin_name% for &c%short_reason%'
  temp-ban:
    player: You have been banned from the server for %duration%
    server: '&c%player_name% &ahas been banned by %admin_name% for &c%duration%'
  unban:
    server: '&c%player_name% &ahas been unbanned by %admin_name%'
  exempt:
    server: '&c%player_name% &ahas been been added to the exempt list by %admin_name%'
ban:
  max-temp-duration: 7d
  commands:
    autoexec: false
    global:
    - lb rb player %player_name% world world since 10.10.1010
    - lb rb player %player_name% world world_nether since 10.10.1010
    local:
    - lb rb player %player_name% world world since 10.10.1010
    - lb rb player %player_name% world world_nether since 10.10.1010
    temp:
    - lb rb player %player_name% world world since 3600
    - lb rb player %player_name% world world_nether since 3600
max-bans:
  total:
    ignore-disabled-rules: true
    total: -1
    confirmed: 15
    unconfirmed: -1
    low: -1
    medium: -1
    high: 5
  theft:
    enabled: true
    total: -1
    confirmed: 10
    unconfirmed: -1
    low: -1
    medium: 5
    high: 5
  grief:
    enabled: true
    total: -1
    confirmed: 10
    unconfirmed: -1
    low: -1
    medium: 5
    high: 5
  x-ray:
    enabled: true
    total: -1
    confirmed: 10
    unconfirmed: -1
    low: -1
    medium: 5
    high: 5
  abuse:
    enabled: false
    total: -1
    confirmed: 10
    unconfirmed: -1
  advertising:
    enabled: false
    total: -1
    confirmed: 10
    unconfirmed: -1
  fly:
    enabled: true
    total: -1
    confirmed: 10
    unconfirmed: -1
  movement-speed:
    enabled: true
    total: -1
    confirmed: 10
    unconfirmed: -1
  block-reach:
    enabled: true
    total: -1
    confirmed: 10
    unconfirmed: -1
  nofall:
    enabled: true
    total: -1
    confirmed: 10
    unconfirmed: -1
  noswing:
    enabled: false
    total: -1
    confirmed: 10
    unconfirmed: -1
  pvp-cheats:
    enabled: false
    total: -1
    confirmed: 10
    unconfirmed: -1
  chat-spam:
    enabled: true
    total: -1
    confirmed: 10
    unconfirmed: -1
  item-drop:
    enabled: true
    total: -1
    confirmed: 10
    unconfirmed: -1

This is used to tell the database which server the request is coming from, it should be a 40 character random string and can be found on your My Servers page at minebans.com. This should not be shared with anybody, it is linked to your servers IP address for security reasons.

This section is used to configure BugeeCord support, when enabled the plugin will attempt to communicate with minebans.com via the proxy instead of directly. The settings here must match the ones set in the config for the BungeeCord plugin.

If this is set to true a more compact (one line) join message will be used, it will not include removed bans just the total the the total in the last 24 hours.

If set to true the join info will not be shown if the player only has removed bans.

If this is set to true any player that has been globally banned from one (or more) of your other servers will be prevented from connecting. This effectively shares your other global bans as local ones.

This setting controls whether the plugin should attempt to block people using proxy servers. People often use these to try and evade IP bans or to log in with multiple accounts using a spam bot.

This setting controls the blocking of Minecraft accounts which are known to be compromised. These accounts are often used as alts by people to evade being banned. The accounts on this list are scraped from various public sources and when a player tries to connect using one of these accounts they are blocked and advised to change their password. The scraping is done once per week so it would take one week before they are allowed to re-join the server. Bare in mind though that if their account is compromised it is fairly unlikely that it was actually them trying to join.

This section allows the messages that are show to the player and broadcast to the server, colour codes can be used (example &4) as well as formatting codes (example #b for bold).

The message to send when the player is kicked via the /kick command or similar.

The message to send when the player is banned, note that if the ban is a global one the string "\n(appeal at minebans.com)" will be appended to this.

The message to send when the player is temporarily banned, the amount of time will be appended to this.

The message to send when a player is kicked due to being removed form the exempt list.

This section allows the banning process to be configured

This sets the maximum time that a player may be temp banned for, the format is the same as for the command.

These commands are executed when a player is banned. The default example show a common use of this feature, to rollback a player's actions using LogBlock. These commands are executed as the player that issued the ban and not the console, this means that they will need to have permission to use them.

If this is set to true the commands will be executed automatically, the default behaviour is to require the player to use the /minebans exec command to execute them. The string "%player_name%" will be replaced with the name of the player being banned also note that the / should not be included.

The list of commands to be executed when a player is globally banned.

The list of commands to be executed when a player is locally banned.

The list of commands to be executed when a player is temporarily banned.

This section allows for customisation of the restrictions placed on players joining the server. Each section represents on of the available ban reasons. There is one special section, total, for which the limits act on the sum of the bans for all of the enabled reasons.

Each section has the following settings, note that a value of -1 will disable that restriction.

This controls if that reason is enabled on the server, you will only be able to globally ban players for reasons that are enabled.

This limits the total number of bans a player may have, for that reason, while still be allowed to join.

The same as above except that this will only affect bans that have been confirmed by the evidence uploaded with the ban. This will be the sum of the low, media and high values.

The opposite of the above, this limits how many unconfirmed bans a player is allowed to have. It is recommended to leave this setting disabled.

These settings are not available for all reasons, just the ones that have a severity associated with them. As with the other settings, these act as a limit for the number of bans a player is allowed to join with. These exist due to the fact that some different server have different tolerances for rule breaking.