Tutorials/Player versus Player

PvP or Player vs. Player is a fun but dangerous aspect of Minecraft which is only on Multiplayer as you need another player to fight against. PvP allows you to pit yourself against other Minecraft players in an organized fight or a backstab to steal their hard earned diamonds or whatever valuables you want from them. Whatever you do with it, PvP is almost always fun, unless you are digging dirt and the server's top PvPer is right behind you...

Organized PvP
Organized PvP is when 2 or more players agree to fight for whatever reason ranging from who is the better fighter to who gets the diamond you both just found.

Organized PvP is fun for all partakers (apart from a few sore losers). Arranging a tournament, which can possibly be time-consuming,such as fighting with your fists, is very fun for all combatants. A free-for-all/last-man-standing-takes-all is a great way to get some valuable items with little effort by hiding in a corner (but more about this later).

Friendly PvP
Friendly Pvp is when two or more players agree to pvp for the fun of it, and usually agree to give back any items won afterwards. Friendly Pvp is a very good way to practice fighting.

Can I PvP here?
Some servers endorse building, and being kind to other users. Others are specific PvP arenas. Usually servers will have a "terms of service" that include whether or not PvP is allowed in that particular server. If you own an SMP server, you may change the settings by entering the server.properties file and setting PvP on either true or false.

Faction Wars
Another type of organized PvP is the faction war. This is when two factions invade the other faction's base, killing members and stealing their items, griefing structures,etc. These can range from organized to a surprise attack, and can have up to hundreds of warriors on either side (though this may cause lag).

Help! I'm trapped!
Building a base? Good. But maybe your West, East, and South walls are exposed. What if they penetrate your walls with massive amounts of TNT. And an aerial attack? This all sounds easy to control, with thick walls of Obsidian, but always consider this, what if they manage to somehow break in? Not good. Always keep tunnels underground to escape if the time ever comes. Do not brick yourself in!!! This only gives the enemy an advantage because even though your home is protected, the home spawn point is vulnerable and they will spawn kill you. Tunnels dug up to maybe another territory could work. If your base is in they sky or somewhere where tunnels can't apply, put a nether portal, and carry 14 blocks of Obsidian and some flint and steel. Keep in mind, this is only a last resort, because enemies can follow you, and Hell is no guarantee of survival. Note: Protection and home spawn points apply if your Bukkit server had the Factions Plugin.

Base Building
Building a base to protect yourself from the diamond swords and the arrows? Good work! Here are some tips to help you make a good, efficient base: 1: Size Bigger is better, but makes your base more likely to be ambushed by fire and TNT. Big bases make great headquarters, and can hold more firepower, such as cannons, dispensers, and archer towers. But these attract PvPers and griefers quickly. A small base is also not the best idea, because of in the case of a explosion, you're going to be saying goodbye to your chests and life! An efficient base is a base that is deep underground, where enemies will take hours to hunt you down, while you throw the cobblestone you mined into the fire, in relaxation. 2: Defenses Every good base needs traps and defenses! A common defense is a cobblestone wall, but is easily defeated. A good wall should contain obsidian, which is an explosion-proof block, so you are sure to keep cannons and TNT away, and it takes a long period of time to mine, which will anger players, while their trying to breach your fort while you pick them off with arrows. Traps such as TNT tripwires, pitfalls, and dispensers are great defenses, but some materials, such as sticky pistons, are hard-to-come-by materials, so be careful while trying to get these materials. 3: Allies This is one of the great secrets to PvP mastership! You need allies, AND they must be trustworthy. Allies can be a gift, or a curse. An ally could help in battle, or stab you in the back. So be careful on who you choose for an ally, because you can be betrayed by an ally.

Tactics first before PvP
Keep in mind, faction wars are not always about combat. It's always about preparations and details, for instance how you raided another faction's base, not just that you raided them, how you killed a guy in diamond with only Iron gear, and the preparations you went before going out to war. You can't rush into an attack, you need to plan it. For instance, a new enemy has come, he is powerful and has Protection III armor, with a Sharpness III sword, and a big base all to himself that nobody did so much as dared to penetrate. Yet you still want to attack him anyway. That would be hard on your own, face to face. First, Send a scout to spy on the entrances, exits, tricks, traps, hideaways and chests. Then you visualize a map back home of how things look and work extra hard to get what you need for the raid. After all that, when attacking, blow holes in his base, and take out the inner traps. This also allows you to eliminate his source of power. Then, send someone to cause a diversion to distract him. He'll be chased all the way until he comes back and finds a mess in his home. Distract him again, leading to a cliff, where the wall is shaved clean, at least 64 blocks high. By the time he realizes someone is behind him, it's too late. A plan like this might be hard to follow, but strategy beats power. In other words, smart work can beat hard work.

Behind Enemy Lines
As stated earlier, faction wars are not always about PvP. Truth is, there are more secrets in Faction wars that need to be ridden of their cloaks. Let's go into another scenario. Another faction is the third most strong and tactical faction. Your team have never liked them, and in fact, hated them. But there isn't enough intelligence about them to declare war against them. They need a dude who's a sharpshooter, who knows strategy better than the leader, who is best at stealth, who has a lot of patience and who fears nothing, not even the bullet-proof monster who you may be up against. They need YOU. Now, they equip you with Golden armor, a sword of iron enchanted with Sharpness II and Knockback I, a bucket of milk to wear off the effects of a splash potion of poison and 3 of harming, a bow with 128 arrows, and 64 pieces of raw pork. You look loosely equipped, but without any skill you are WORTHLESS and your faction has already lost. Now, in the enemies' base there is a chain of tunnels and caverns. Maybe even a ravine or two. Now, first thing is first, they cannot see your name, even for a few seconds, because even if they don't know who you are, you are exposing your position and they know you are here. To do that, leave a battery or something to hold Shift to relax your fingers and make it so that nobody knows your presence. Second, don't break, put down, or pick up blocks and resources. Enemies can hear your noise and catch you if you do near them. Don't make any sound at all, including fighting monsters, getting hurt, and eating. Eating is the most tempting, since you can starve easily and you want to regenerate if you are being chased, but it's better not to get in a chase yet sacrifice your regeneration. Third make note of EVERYTHING. Don't write on a Book and Quill, write it on pen and paper to avoid being exposed, but write it on an in-game book later. This intel is most important, and can get you one step closer to victory. Keep extra details in mind. Fourth, even if you know you aren't in reach of one, setting off a trap gives you away! Even if you are where you know it can't touch you, setting it off may also alert whoever is in the control room. Take alternate routes. The only reason to try to defuse a trap is if there is no other way. Fifth, do not forget that this mission is Recon and only to obtain intel on the enemy. In other words, don't attack, approach, bomb, or loot the enemy. Report back to your base once you think you have more than enough information on the enemy and that is when you can declare war. Note: More recon missions may need to apply, get psyched if that ever happens!

A Place To Fight
First things first, you need a place to fight. Fighting in your house may be fun, but to be honest, it isn't a great idea, especially if your house is made of wood and someone uses Flint and Steel and/or TNT. A flat area is good for a while, but after some time you'll get bored. Now if only someone would think of Arena Types and how to build them for you...

Building Your Arena
Well, you're in luck. Best to build on creative, then switch to survival

It's quick and easy to build arenas consisting of a floor, some type of wall, and 2 entrances; so let's start:
 * 1) Clear a flat area for your arena, make it as large as you want, but a 10x10 square is a good minimum. Another option is to simply make this on a superflat world.
 * 2) Place a 2-high wall made out of fence or iron bars around the arena so spectators can see what’s happening but not interfere (Arrows can get over a 1 high wall). Place some fence gate or doors at 2 ends of the area so combatants can enter.
 * 3) You're done! Have fun in your very simple arena.

Time consuming and hard to build arenas consist of any shaped floor (e.g. circular, triangular, which has an intriguing design) patterns and shadow shapes. Walls are seats to make a stadium-like building. Arenas also may contain Piston traps (lava, TNT, mob, and pitfalls), piston combatant entrance and many more features. If TNT or lava is used an arena cleaner is going to be needed. Note: if your arena is going to have TNT, or other explosives, it's recommend that you use obsidian.

Types:
 * Ancient: Build a Colosseum inspired by the ancient Romans with fights against animals and blood (Redstone) all over the place - use sandstone for walls, sand as the floor and wood for decoration and breaking the sandstone up.
 * Maze: Build the walls and seats so the spectators can watch the combatants run around scared bacon-less as they fear a creeper around the next corner.
 * Multi-leveled: Have several floors on the arena with random holes; make sure the sides are made of glass so spectators can see all the gravitational action.
 * Nether Arena: Note: It doesn't actually have to be in the nether. Make a 3 block high nether brick wall around the wanted arena area, and cap it with nether brick fences. Use a piston door with pressure plates on the entry side. Then, make a spectator booth that rises above the walls with nether brick stairs on one side, and a gold block throne on the other for you or the current arena champion. The arena floor should be netherrack with glowstone in the middle. You can light some of the netherrack if you want. Have fun!
 * Spleef Twist: Who says you have to do the dirty work? Let the lava below the map do it for you! Run around stabbing your opponent whilst removing the floor from beneath their feet.
 * Sky: Build the arena in the sky and use piston traps to make random holes appear. Gravity is now your best and worst friend.
 * Gimmick: create your arena as uniquely as possible-make pistons push from the floor to give some players a height advantage, use stairs to stimulate a slanted room to confuse anyone, use water to slow everyone down and render sprinting useless. The possibilities are endless.
 * Raining Lava: Once the start lever is pulled, opening the combatant entrances, a Redstone repeater delay is all that's stopping lava from pouring from the ceiling. Using pistons and a two minute delay, make lava pour from the ceiling and kill all remaining combatants! (REMEMBER: DON'T USE FLAMMABLE MATERIALS!!!)

Preparing For Organized PvP
Get a full set of armor Iron-level and above, a weapon (Sword), a Bow with some Arrows, an Axe, Flint and Steel, or anything else you can get your hands on which does damage. Now a Potion or 5 is going to be a huge help, especially poison and instant health potions. Some food is also a good idea if the fight is going to be a long one. Also, make sure you >BACK UP EVERYTHING<. Make or ask for a trunk, and put all of the things you're afraid of losing, and doubles, in it before EVER going to an organized PvP.

Anything which will help you win is good! If you know the arena and if it has traps, lure your opponent into them! Everything helps. What's that you say? An honest fight? Okay you go for that but don't worry, I'm sure your opponent will be just as honest and have no TNT or Lava in his bag either.

The Fighting part
Now for some fun, you can fight them like a man sword to sword, bow to arrow, or run around like a headless chicken and hope he starves first. Whatever you do, make sure you win! And try not to damage his armor; remember if you win it's going to be yours afterwards...

Dodge his attacks with your lightning reactions and stab by raging at your mouse's left click button. Use you right mouse button to block attacks, sprint at opponents and hit whilst jumping for critical hits!

What's next?

 * Tournaments: Get a few players together: about 10+ is good, then put them two at a time against each other. If you win, you fight another winner; if you win again, you fight another winner again and again until you lose or are the only winner left. You never fight a loser; if they lose they are out.
 * Free-For-Alls/Last Man Standing: 10+ players fight against whoever they want in the arena at the same time. Maybe there is someone who is annoying or talks too much - who wouldn't want to try killing them...?
 * Team: 10+ players on equal teams. The team with the most players left alive at the end wins.
 * UN-Official Duels: You got a person who you REALLY hate, but you have more TNT then him? Call him on and if he says yes, start the battle. Uh oh, there is going to be a LOT of fouls (like lava pouring and TNT) but, this is why it is called UN-Official.
 * Survival:Make about 10+ players and make monster spawners in the arena.Make all players with wooden swords.There should be no creepers.Last person standing wins.Players can (and should) attack their rivals to kill them.

Keep In Touch
Not all of your faction skirmishes in the PvP world will be set up beforehand. Organize raids with your faction. Find some server to host a voice chat box with your teammates. This will allow you to coordinate your attacks on hostile bases and their creations. The more connected you are with your fellow faction members, the more likely you are to emerge victorious. Keep in touch with them and increase your odds of success.

Unorganized PvP
This is when you're minding your own business and someone runs up behind you and kills you. No warning is normally given and most of the time they want your stuff.

All players have 10 hearts. If you are engaged in a duel, be sure to be prepared with weapons as your opponent will make quick work of you if you are unprepared.

Fight Back!
If you have better stuff than them you will most likely be able to kill them and get their stuff. Use everything to your advantage! They attacked you, and to be honest, fighting is going to lose your hard earned equipment. Use critical hits by sprinting and jumping, block their hits using right click, and so on. It doesn't always matter what stuff you have, skill is tied with power, but power is useless without skill! Just make sure you WIN!

RUN!
If they have diamond armor and you have iron armor the only thing you can do is run; they're going to kill you if you stay. If you see a creeper nearby, run to it and hope it explodes and hurts/kills your attacker. If it works, you can go take their stuff. If you know you can leave the server - some servers have a "time after attacked" limit for escaping pursuers - leave and come back 5 minutes later when you know the person will have gotten bored waiting and walked off. But beware, if you leave in the middle of combat, it is known as combat-logging and is against the rules on some servers. Punishable by death. Just keep running and hope someone gets in his way! Place blocks in his way to distract him, just escape!

Always carry extras
You never want to experience the moment of dawning horror when you are about to finish off the enemy but your sword breaks. Always carry two swords unless you have a fresh diamond sword.

Get mixed in Pig's food...
...get eaten by the pigs. When someone fights someone else, it's great if someone intervenes in your fight but terrible if you are that guy. Never get in a fight that's not yours, because then you have two enemies.

Surviving PvP
Some PvP servers go way out of hand, having player with diamond equipment at spawns or at chest shops or areas with good amounts of materials, and just sometimes people killing others on sight, so here's your guide to surviving PvP servers.

Quick Tips, Tricks, and traps

 * Always carry potions of damage and poison on you. You'll never know whether you're fighting a guy with a stone sword in gold armor with minimal enchantments or if you're face to face with a full armed juggernaut carrying what people consider as "God Equipment." This is the most efficient way of disposing of anybody.


 * Train yourself with weaponry. You may be a fast clicker with a powerful sword and you may have a large chest's worth of damage potions, but without training these aren't good enough. Train yourself to arch with a regular and enchanted bow so that you are so good at it that people accuse you of having an aimbot. Get it in your mind to strafe around the enemy and jump to get critical hits and get an edge over your opponent. Train to throw potions so well that you don't wound yourself and get direct hits for maximum effectiveness.


 * Always keep the best items you find in an ender chest. Even if you can find a spot where nobody can find the diamonds you worked a day for, put them in. You still have a chance of losing them.


 * Santa Claus with a gun is a no-no. Don't carry too many items, useful or not. You will not be able to get all the items from the man you kill, and someone may claim them first before you. Not to mention, your enemy has more items for their convenience.


 * Watch videos and tutorials on how to build traps, and be smart with what you learned. Many people know how to make traps. That is good on one hand, but on another they might not know how to use their knowledge to their advantage. Combine traps and improvise offline.


 * Don't overkill yourself. Think first before charging ahead to do something. Think first of the necessities, which are supplies, and deal with the secondary needs, which are traps, after.

"Good luck, gentlemen."
There is that one case of being Left for Green. This means that your squad disbanded, you are out, all alone with maybe a few enemies a kilometer or two behind you looking for you, and you starving. Be independent. What if nobody is there to help you? What if your leader takes all the valuables and leaves his troops out to die? You must gather resources, get help of any kind, whether it be a lone man just with a stone toolkit or a juggernaut in Protection IV armor, and you must be careful and start your own faction.

Get to your senses.
You may be thinking that when people have lost so much that their anger is uncontrollable so that they go psycho, it's a good thing. And when people come, all overpowerful, you may be scared out of your wits. NO! Anger and fear are both factors to defeat. When either happens, whether it be attempt to kill a guy who has diamond armor and killing him with your fists or combat logging just because you are so scared that you have to go to the bathroom of fear of peeing in your pants, you will most likely forget all the tips you have learned until you get back to your senses. NOT GOOD! Now, you must stay calm. Run for cover, and don't stop to watch the deaths of your teammates. If you have one, drink a Potion of Swiftness (second tier is highly recommended), and keep running. Do not turn back, do not look back, do think of what's back there, and do not stop. Just keep running until you reach safety, whether it be allied or peaceful territory, or a secret place. Don't stop. Stay sharp. (If you can, bring a fat friend along with you and hope the lethal enemies kill him and not you.)

Peace, dude.
Remember what's been said about not trusting anyone? Your turn to chip in to taking a stab at backstabbing. Create peaceful factions for your team. Their only purpose is to earn supplies while being unraidable.

Diamonds aren't the key to victory
If two guys in diamond with enchantments come and raid your base, and you're 4 people in iron, and only you have a full set of diamond equipment, do not bring it out! It is obvious you don't stand much chance as you are overpowered. You do, however, need to keep potions. They should consist of the following: Also, keep Flint and Steel, along with fire aspect swords and bows, along with you. And if you find generation errors that create gateways to the void, use them. Don't forget to keep your dispensers loaded and ready to fire with arrows, damage splash potions, and fire charges. The reason why this equipment and these traps can beat men in diamond is because they go right through their armor. Nothing, not even diamond armor, can resist their effects (except for arrows. Fire, potion effects and void damage are the only lethal things unaffected no matter what kind of armor.).
 * Poison
 * Damage
 * Speed
 * Health

Trigger Happiness
Practice. Whether or not it's in Multiplayer; practice shooting moving targets. This can train how well you hit, strafe and can sharpen your reflexes.

Counter-attack via attack
Those useless things that you can't use in PvP and Faction wars may not be so useless after all. Your base could be raided. And if it is high in air then you're somewhat outta luck, since it's hard to escape the raid. If it's attached to the ground but still high, you're somewhat safe. You could escape, but they still have their valuable diamond armor and swords. You can stay and get defeated UNLESS you have tricks and traps around your base. Make sure you and the leader only know about it to prevent traitors from knowing the base too well. Try these:


 * Block Update Detectors and TNT. The first thing enemies would normally do is take out the water around the base and replace it with lava. If that happens, and you have a BUD to confirm that water is still there, TNT is supposed to be set off under a pile of sand, with water to block out the damage to the environment (be careful using it without water, you'll probably get more damage done than you bargained for) and torches to break the sand. Maybe even not add torches to suffocate the enemies, but the explosion will be reduced.


 * Emergency switches. Set your Faction's spawn point in a 2x2 hallway. Put an emergency button to pull in the blocks under you with sticky pistons and the enemy will fall into lava. Note that this is guaranteed to waste the enemy's armor, not to kill him. Use a BUTTON, NOT A LEVER! Stay around to ensure that the enemy cannot teleport to his Faction home.


 * Extremely thick walls. For the paranoid. Make walls 20-40 layers deep if you want. This is not a death trap. This is meant to give you enough time to escape.


 * Secret switches. Not always will enemies come via broken brick walls. They might just come through the front door. Hide your entrances and fool enemies with fake entrances. Make sure all your team knows of them.


 * Spleef o' Death. Dudes in diamond might come and kill you and raid your chests. You are in iron, huh? Shovels are your weapon here. Put snow blocks as the one layer floor block, dig all the way to bedrock, lay TNT everywhere (just make sure it is out of reach from your base), and depending on how strong they are or how much you hate your enemy, put a manual switch or lay tripwire to automatically blow them up. Note that you might not get their loot.


 * Gas Chamber. Cram dispensers in the walls of a tight hallway, load them with damage potions, lead a rapid clicker to them, place a switch to restrain it, and then put sticky pistons in the walls to trap people in separate rooms. Nothing, not even Heavy weapon dudes with so much as Protection X (not that that enchantment is available without editing the NBT file) can survive.

Keep up the map
If a server has an online dynamic map or if Rei's minimap is allowed (most likely), USE THEM. Rei's minimap helps you understand what structures are ahead of you, and Online maps show everything and also show locations of players. Use them to your advantage.

They're bluffing
Don't trust anyone. If there is an online map, use it to track locations of people. Stay away from other guys. If they offer to let you in their faction just if you do something very simple for them, there may be something underhanded about the deal. They might kick you out or even kill you immediately if they give no notice they want you (on servers with the Factions plugin for Bukkit). Be ready for that just as ready as when attacking. Assume that everyone will stab you in the back. Also on some servers there are teleport commands. On a PvP server, if you get a random teleport request from someone you don't know, NEVER ACCEPT IT. They only randomly TP to look for a victim to raid and kill. Also, don't accept it if you think you have better stuff, you may not know what they have in their arsenal and also on some servers there is a /back command. Even if you kill them, they can teleport back and camp there. If someone wants to fight in a 1-versus-1 face-off, do not accept. They may bring someone along to "watch."

What about my diamonds?
On most PVP servers there's no way to protect your equipment and resources, so most players resort to burying them. A good strategy to keep those hard earned diamonds safe is to put a chest in your house with basic invaluable items in it, and bury your more expensive items a short way away from your house. When raiders come to your house, they might grief it and take your stuff (or so they think), but the chest you buried will still be safe. If your really paranoid you can bury your stuff at the bottom of the sea. People rarely cross the ocean and if they do they won't be looking for treasure. Also, use the ender chest. It is player-specific.

Son of a beach ball
Equipment saves lives, mostly your own. Keep some snowballs with you to knock enemies back. It MIGHT give the impression they are being attacked. It also knocks them back and gives you more space from him. Most of them will try to use their oh-so-powerful sword and charge you. Back them off.

Boobies are good
Set up booby traps everywhere where the enemy can't find them. In fact, make some that are meant to make the enemy know about the traps but it itself is a trap. These work as warnings and signals. Use tripwires and wool under them to use as signals for example.

Keep your distance
You can melee other players, but you'll need a fast clicking pace and some conditions to fight. Keep your distance! An enchanted bow is the best against an armored player. Regular bows work as well. The only case where you have no choice but to melee is when you're out of ammunition or if arching isn't your thing. Even at point blank range, a bow could be a better choice, fully charged sends a critical hit the power of a diamond sword!

Run for your life
You might be thinking this is an ordinary idea, but running away from your killer might give you an advantage over him, as well as an advantage for him. Running deprives you of your Hunger Bar. The thing is, if his hunger bar is over 80%, he will regenerate. Deprive him of that and get him when he's eating as a head start.

Block
If someone is pummeling you with arrows and you cannot dodge them, block them by right click holding your sword. This will reduce incoming damage by half a heart. Block in between shots while trying to get closer to them.

Punish as the Juggernaut
Most PvP servers are unruly and free-for-all situations. Now what's the best thing you can get? Victory and Survival! What's the best tool? Juggernaut-like armor! First, you'll need to find iron or diamonds. Watch out for people, because they'll most likely be on the same track. Second, brew a potion of Strength. Third, enchant everything. Enchant the armor for maximum Protection. Enchant the sword to maximum power with Fire Aspect, Knockback, etc. Remember, Sharpness is the only generic damage booster. Smite and Bane of Arthropods V may seem impressive, but in a PvP situation they are useless.

Hate The Spawn
If you're building a massive fortress near the spawn, some griefer or some plain dimwit might run behind you and kill you, disassemble your fortress and run off with your materials. Well the easiest method to prevent this is to build your house away from spawn and try to survive a good distance away from spawn. It is usually a good idea to use the /sethome command around this area where you wish to live, as if it is a long way away from spawn and you die, it's a long walk, or mad chase if there are spawnkillers with diamond armor and enchanted diamond swords. Using the /home command if you used /sethome cuts the time getting to your safe zone drastically, usually having the spawnkillers and griefers be dazzled in confusion.

Love the Wolfpack
Usually you'll die singlehandedly from fighting a player with a better advantage than you, but this can be a different story altogether if you have wolves or golems with you. Wolves will follow and protect you, and usually, depending whether your enemy is smart or just blatantly stupid, will either not bother attacking you or die from a pack of wolves attacking them. Even though a wolf has no armor and only has an attack strength of 4 life points, a pack of them can still pack a punch. Iron Golems are a good choice as well as your attacker might accidentally hit the Iron Golem, in which case it will attack them, and even diamond equipment is second to the strength and health of an Iron Golem. You do not have to worry about aggravating the Iron Golem if it is made by you, as Iron golems will never attack their creator.

Note: Iron Golems are neutral mobs and do not attack players unless provoked.

Be great to everyone
If you want those griefers or spawnkillers on your side, be really nice to them, like asking if they wanna live with you in your house or giving them stuff like food and iron ingots, or if you're really nice, diamonds and diamond tools. They are out to get that stuff so if you're offering it to them once every so often they won't hound you for them, plus many spawnkillers are homeless and camp at the spawn for protection anyway, so if they live with you in-game then they won't camp at spawn so often. This may also backfire, if the spawnkillers/ griefers know you have ingots and diamond on you, that just gives more reason to kill you and get it all.

Keep armor and a sword on you at all times
You might have Iron armor and a pickaxe mining in a well known mine, but you're no match for a guy with NO armor but a Stone Sword. Keep a sword on you at all times and hopefully you can retaliate, plus, keep armor, even if it is basic leather or even the fragile gold armor, so if someone does attack you, you can still live to turn around and kill your attempted killer.

Participate in Server Events
Whether it'd be a Drop Party or an organized PvP match participate in server events and you'll be known by most members in the server, meaning people will have second thoughts of attempting to kill you, plus if you really are a good server participator, by winning PvP matches or dropping valuable items, you'll be recognized throughout the server and most players won't attempt to kill you.

Humiliation
If you really hate someone, make a place near their base/main spawn. Then expose yourself. In that place, you need to leave TNT or whatever will kill the enemy. It kills you as well, but it's for your enemy.

Circle in a square game
Circle strafing around your foes can really save your bacon, especially if they have diamond weapons. Because the player attacking you needs to aim ahead with the bow, since there is a delay before the arrow strikes, it can disorient them and you can avoid hits much easier. To make it even harder for your opponent to hit you, use potions of speed. However, this should be avoided as much as possible when near obstacles like walls, or hazards like lava or cactus. Most people don't strafe, that's your advantage.

Safety first
When you are using lava or TNT, bring some obsidian. This will protect you from explosions and burning.

Be Vigilant
On a PvP server, you never know where people are. Even if you are far away from spawn someone may be spying on you, stalking you, waiting to attack or worse. NEVER think you are alone, always assume someone is near you and will attack you. Keep your fingers ready to whip out your sword.

Equipment
Being properly equipped is very important if you're entering into organized PvP, or even simply being prepared for unexpected attacks.

Armor
Don't leave home without it! One of the best ways to outlast you opponent is to reduce the damage you take by wearing quality armor. This damages them indirectly by giving you more time to kill them.
 * Style: Defensive, indirect
 * Protection: Leather blocks 30% damage, Gold blocks 44% damage, Chainmail blocks 48% (only obtainable through trading), Iron blocks 60% damage, and Diamond blocks 80% damage. Armor can be more potent with enchantents added, like Protection or Feather Falling.

Milk

 * Style: Defensive, indirect
 * Use: Eradicates all potion effects, good or bad.

Sword

 * Style: Offensive, direct
 * Range: Melee
 * Damage: Varies with material  wood-4 gold-4 stone-5 iron-6 diamond-7

Bow

 * Style: Offensive, direct
 * Range: Ranged
 * Damage: No charge:, Half charge: , Full charge: , rarely

Water Bucket

 * Style: Defensive, hindering
 * Range: 7 from source (cannot be used in The Nether)
 * Damage: Usually none, drowning possible

Lava Bucket

 * Style: Offensive, lasting
 * Range: 3 from source (7 in The Nether)
 * Damage: Contact ( every second, + fire effect)

TNT

 * Style: Offensive, Explosive
 * Range: ~10 blocks in diameter (depends on surrounding blocks)
 * Damage: Explosive (around at point blank range)

Flint & Steel

 * Style: Contact, Lasting
 * Range: Damage on contact
 * Damage: every second while on fire

Sand or Gravel

 * Style: Ambush, Lasting
 * Range: Unlimited
 * Damage: From suffocating

Potions

 * Style: Support or Punishment, varies on Potion
 * Range: User (regular), 5 blocks after toss (splash)
 * Damage: Depends on potion

Ender Pearls

 * Style: Transport, Stealth
 * Range: A long way
 * Damage: 2 1/2 hearts damage to the user
 * Use: When thrown, it teleports the user to the place it lands. Useful for getting over walls.

Snowballs or Eggs

 * Style: Offensive, Direct
 * Range: Up to 15-20 blocks
 * Damage: None
 * Use: Deals no damage except to Blazes and Endermen. Knocks back all other mobs. High rate of fire. Best when next to cliffs. They only damage other players if there is a plugin for the server that gives the ability of harm for these. They are still useful.

Food

 * Style: Support
 * Range: User
 * Damage: None
 * Use: Always make sure to have full food during a fight! If your food goes below 8 bars,you will not regenerate health, and if your food gets below 3 bars, you cannot sprint. Golden apples are best because they heal you at the same time, but any other food works.

Redstone, Repeaters, Redstone Torches, Levers or Buttons, Dispensers, and TNT

 * Style: Indirect
 * Damage: Depends on what Dispensers are loaded up with.
 * Use: Always bring Redstone supplies when going on raids. These can be used to blow holes in the enemy's base, surround them, lay traps, etc. Leave one dude to handle these and the rest to fight. Note that this CAN leave you vulnerable.

Creeper

 * Style: Destructive, Offensive
 * Range: Wherever you lure them.
 * Damage: Depends on difficulty.
 * Use: Creepers are more effective than TNT cannons, so don't kill them on sight. They can destroy bases protected with a certain plugin, unless the plugin disables explosions as well.