Strangely, I've noticed that sometimes command blocks will target a non-op player, but only if an op hits the button to activate the command blocks (if the command block targets the nearest player, for example, but was pressed by the op, who's farther away) Which permissions settings? server.properties? Is there another one for vanilla servers?
I like sheep. Almost all other mobs peaceful give a useful drop when killed (food, leather, eggs). Except for the sheep. All it drops is wool, which can be given to you via shearing instead of killing. They are like, "Don't kill me, I has no meatz," and then a wolf comes along and kills it.
I was one of those noobs. When I went on my first server, I was told how to chat (by pressing the T button. When I did that, I thought my friend told me to do /t (message). After I figured out my mistake, I facepalmed so hard, that my palm stung for an hour.
I'm sorta kinda skilled with Redstone. I made a small map, you can check it out if you want, but I'm not going to link it in here. You can always PM me on how to make a certain contraption in you parkour, but most of what I know comes from SethBling, a little experience, and tutorial videos on certain YouTube channels.