Bukkit

ExChat is a project that I started, that allows you to chat on a server without using a Minecraft client. I've found that, on my own server, I often want to chat with players, without having the overhead of Minecraft running. ExChat allows you to join the server chat with only a TCP client (even telnet will work). Alternatively, I've written a simple client in Java, with a GUI, that can be used.

Features

• Chat on your server without a Minecraft client
  
• Starts a server on a custom port (default: 21997)
  
• Customizable MOTD, sent to clients on first join
  

Usage

ExChat works by starting a separate server on a customizable port. Any networking client that works with raw TCP messages can be used with ExChat (e.g. the telnet command on Linux, Mac, and Windows (if enabled)). Make sure that the port you set in the config is not used by any other services.

Client

If you don't have access to a network client (or don't want to the the annoying "!status" messages sent by the server), I've written a simple client with a GUI that can be used. You can download it here. Just enter the information that it asks for, and you're a go!

Disclaimer

ExChat is a very experimental plugin. It is bound to have bugs, and shouldn't be expected to work 100% of the time. That being said, ExChat can't cause security problems for the server (you can't run server commands, for example), and is only able to send chat messages.

If you have issues, please report them in the comments below.