diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 2ca3795..146e840 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 
     <description>Implementation of YardWatchAPI for common protection plugins</description>
     <properties>
-    <java.version>1.8</java.version>
+    <java.version>17</java.version>
     <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
   </properties>
     <url>https://youhavetrouble.me</url>
@@ -81,6 +81,12 @@
           <groupId>com.sk89q.worldguard</groupId>
           <artifactId>worldguard-bukkit</artifactId>
           <version>7.0.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
+          <exclusions>
+              <exclusion>
+                  <groupId>org.bstats</groupId>
+                  <artifactId>bstats-bukkit</artifactId>
+              </exclusion>
+          </exclusions>
           <scope>provided</scope>
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
diff --git a/src/main/java/me/youhavetrouble/yardwatch/hooks/WorldGuardProtection.java b/src/main/java/me/youhavetrouble/yardwatch/hooks/WorldGuardProtection.java
index 31ed401..d8b5916 100644
--- a/src/main/java/me/youhavetrouble/yardwatch/hooks/WorldGuardProtection.java
+++ b/src/main/java/me/youhavetrouble/yardwatch/hooks/WorldGuardProtection.java
@@ -81,8 +81,7 @@ public class WorldGuardProtection implements Protection {
     @Override
     public boolean canDamage(Entity attacker, Entity target) {
         if (!isEnabled()) return true;
-        if (!(attacker instanceof Player)) return true;
-        Player player = (Player) attacker;
+        if (!(attacker instanceof Player player)) return true;
         com.sk89q.worldedit.util.Location wgLocation = BukkitAdapter.adapt(target.getLocation());
         LocalPlayer localPlayer = WorldGuardPlugin.inst().wrapPlayer(player, true);
         RegionContainer container = WorldGuard.getInstance().getPlatform().getRegionContainer();