As of right now, I’ve discovered a bit of an unfortunate bug with Sponge, or possibly 1.12. I haven’t confirmed this.
If you’re running a MC server on (from what I’ve tested, more versions could be affected) 1.12 sponge (build 288), a strange exploit will appear.
Here’s the details.
Basically, a player can “cheat” by getting a very powerful sword. Once they die with this sword, the actual damage amount on this sword will stay in their hands, making their hands just as effective as the sword. This can really mess with some balance stuff, especially if you have a really substancial daily kit.
It’s possible that this only affects “instant kill” weapons, but chances are this affects all weapons.