Added code to convey idea before I write all of it out, also added default config files, everything is subject to change

.gitignore

@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@ Thumbs.db
 *.sdf
 *.opensdf
 *.cache
-*.txt
 *.pdb
 *.csproj.user
 */_ReSharper*/*

TShockAPI/FileTools.cs

@@ -152,6 +152,7 @@ namespace TShockAPI
             }
             return false;
         }
+
         public FileTools() { }
     }
 }

TShockAPI/Group.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Text;
+
+namespace TShockAPI
+{
+    public class Group
+    {
+        private string name;
+        private Group parent = null;
+
+        public Group(string groupName, Group parentGroup = null)
+        {
+            name = groupName;
+            parent = parentGroup;
+        }
+
+        public string GetName()
+        {
+            return name;
+        }
+
+        public Group GetParent()
+        {
+            return parent;
+        }
+
+        public bool HasPermission(string permission)
+        {
+            //TODO: implement this
+            return true;
+        }
+    }
+}

TShockAPI/Permission.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Text;
+
+namespace TShockAPI
+{
+    class Permission
+    {
+    }
+}

TShockAPI/TSPlayer.cs

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ namespace TShockAPI
         public uint tileThreshold;
         public bool syncHP = false;
         public bool syncMP = false;
+        public Group group;
 
         private int player;
         private bool admin;

TShockAPI/TShockAPI.csproj

@@ -58,7 +58,9 @@
     <Compile Include="ConfigFile.cs" />
     <Compile Include="ConfigurationManager.cs" />
     <Compile Include="FileTools.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="Group.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Log.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="Permission.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Tools.cs" />
     <Compile Include="TShock.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs" />

TShockAPI/Tools.cs

@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ namespace TShockAPI
 {
     class Tools
     {
+        private static List<Group> groups;
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Provides the real IP address from a RemoteEndPoint string that contains a port and an IP
         /// </summary>
@@ -317,6 +319,39 @@ namespace TShockAPI
             tr.Close();
         }
 
+        private static void LoadGroups()
+        {
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Shows a MOTD to the player
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="ply">int player</param>
+        public static Group GetGroup(string name)
+        {
+            //first attempt on cached groups
+            for (int i = 0; i < groups.Count; i++)
+            {
+                if (groups[i].GetName().Equals(name))
+                {
+                    return groups[i];
+                }
+            }
+            //shit, it didnt work, reload and try again
+            LoadGroups();
+
+            for (int i = 0; i < groups.Count; i++)
+            {
+                if (groups[i].GetName().Equals(name))
+                {
+                    return groups[i];
+                }
+            }
+
+            //sigh :(, ok, you fucked up the config files, congrats.
+            return null;
+        }
+
         public Tools() { }
     }
 }

TShockAPI/config/groups.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#Format
+#name parent permisson1 permission2 permissionN
+#if there is no parent, put null instead
+#groups inherit permissions from their parents
+#put a ! before a permission to negate it
+#currently avaliable permissions: kick ban ignorecheatdetection
+#Do not remove the group default
+#Do not name a group SuperAdmin, that is hard-coded into the code, it grants total permissions
+default null
+admin default kick ban
+trustedadmin admin ignorecheatdetection
+newadmin admin !ban

TShockAPI/config/users.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#format
+#ip group
+#see groups.txt for a list of groups
+127.0.0.1 superadmin