I personally use Essentials (Optional, but highly useful should you want some of that functionality).
WorlEdit.
WorldGuard - I use this to grief-proof people's bases, although the GriefPrevention plugin is good, if you want people to have *limited* base sizes, or it doesn't require staff to help.
GroupManager - Manage permissions (Although Pex is another alternative).
LWC - Locks chests and doors e.t.c.
NoCheatPlus - Stops people cheating, basically.
MultiWorld/MultiVerse - Managing multiple worlds for special events or the like
PvPTimer - Actually surprisingly useful (for me, anyways). Set a timer for new players joining to not get insta-PvP ganked, and you can also edit a lot like the PvP immunity when teleporting e.t.c

Hope this helps, and good luck!

MCMMO is always fun. c:

If u r looking for trolly plug-ins there r I control u ,Powertool

It all depends on what you want.

For permissions, titles, command restriction, or anything of the sort, I know of two good plugins.
1. GroupManager - This is easier than PEX but I prefer PEX. Link: http://wiki.ess3.net/wiki/Group_Manager
2. PermissionsEX - My favorite permissions plugin. Link: http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/permissionsex/

If someone decided to grief or if something happens you may want some sort of plugin to undo the damage. I usually use CoreProtect on my servers. Very easy to use. Link: http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/coreprotect/

If you want all those basic commands that most servers use such as /home, /tpa, and more, you want to get Essentials. 9/10 servers will more than likely use this plugin. You may have to download the Spigot version of essentials depending on what minecraft version you are using. Link to Bukkit Essentials: http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/essentials/
Link to Spigot Essentials: https://hub.spigotmc.org/jenkins/job/Spigot-Essentials/

Seeing as this is just a vanilla server between friends, you may not need a money system, but just in case you want to do that sort of thing you can get CookieMonster to give you money for killing specific mobs. You can set up shops using essentials. But you may want to get Vault and iConomy as well for this to work properly.
CookieMonster Link: http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/cookiemonster/
Vault Link: http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/vault/
iConomy Link: http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/iconomy/

You may want to protect your land or build things quick. This can be easily done with WorldEdit and WorldGuard. If you do not want WorldGuard you can replace it with a simple grief protection claim-based plugin. It is called GriefPrevention. You have probably seen it on some servers, you use a goldenshovel to claim by default.
WorldEdit Link: http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/worldedit/
WorldGuard Link: http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/worldguard/
GriefPrevention: http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/grief-prevention/

After getting my plugins I usually get PerformanceMonitor just so I can see all the server stats and usage in one command. It even rates your server health. It is not completely needed, but I feel it helps. Link: http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/pe ... e-monitor/

This is where the fun stuff comes in. If you want fancy trails behind your player, Use PlayerTrails. If you want to disguise as other players or any mob, use DisguiseCraft. Want fun spells? MagicSpells works! Want insanely high enchantments? TimTheEnchanter can fix you up! You may not need these as it is going to be semi-vanilla, but they can be fun. Be wary that DisguiseCraft and Magicspells are fairly big plugins and will take up quite the amount of RAM.
PlayerTrails Link: http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/playertrails/
DisguiseCraft Link: http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/disguisecraft/
MagicSpells Link: http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/magicspells/
TimeTheEnchanter Link: http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/enchanter/

I hope I was able to help! If you want a plugin for something specific I maybe able to link you to one, just ask! Other than that, good luck with your server!

Thanks, guys ;D

Forgot about Grief Prevention. That's also really good.

I'm assuming by "semi-vanilla" you mean that players should still be able to claim land, lock chests, and permit their friends to build with them? If that's the case I would highly recommend Grief Prevention. Don't bother with WorldGuard, or any of the other ones. Grief Prevention is stupid simple to use and very effective.

An anti cheat plugin like NoCheatPlus, World Edit and Worldguard are all that's needed for a Vanilla server.

None of the above effect game play and are for security purposes, keeping the vanilla experience.

SammaxbrIt's a Semi-Vanilla server (Survival)

Oh must've missed that part. xD
You'll want some anti-grief plugins such as WorldGuard or NoCheatPlus, a permission plugin like PermissionsEX, and maybe even Multiverse if you want additional worlds.

You could use http://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/killerrewards/

Notice the words vanilla. Vanilla means just the game its self without anything modifying the game. Do you mean Semi-Vanilla?

Well... what kind of server are you planning on having?