diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index f3c3737..b63c682 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
   <groupId>dev.bailey</groupId>
   <artifactId>ETPlaceholders</artifactId>
-  <version>1.0.1</version>
+  <version>1.0.2</version>
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
 
   <name>ETPlaceholders</name>
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
   </dependencies>
 
   <build>
-    <finalName>et_placeholders1.0.1</finalName>
+    <finalName>et_placeholders1.0.2</finalName>
     <plugins>
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
diff --git a/src/main/java/dev/bailey/etplaceholders/DataManager.java b/src/main/java/dev/bailey/etplaceholders/DataManager.java
index f63ae14..1db6b19 100644
--- a/src/main/java/dev/bailey/etplaceholders/DataManager.java
+++ b/src/main/java/dev/bailey/etplaceholders/DataManager.java
@@ -49,22 +49,20 @@ public class DataManager {
     }
 
     private String getApiUrl() {
-        String url = plugin.getConfig().getString("api-url", "https://api.eaglertiers.com/api");
-        if (url.endsWith("/")) {
-            url = url.substring(0, url.length() - 1);
-        }
-        return url;
+        return "https://api.eaglertiers.com/api";
     }
 
     private HttpURLConnection createConnection(String endpoint) throws Exception {
-        String urlStr = getApiUrl() + endpoint;
         String key = plugin.getConfig().getString("api-key", "");
-        if (key != null && !key.trim().isEmpty()) {
-            if (urlStr.contains("?")) {
-                urlStr += "&key=" + key;
-            } else {
-                urlStr += "?key=" + key;
-            }
+        if (key == null || key.trim().isEmpty()) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("API key is missing in config.yml! ETPlaceholders requires an API key to function.");
+        }
+
+        String urlStr = getApiUrl() + endpoint;
+        if (urlStr.contains("?")) {
+            urlStr += "&key=" + key;
+        } else {
+            urlStr += "?key=" + key;
         }
 
         URL url = new URL(urlStr);
@@ -73,10 +71,7 @@ public class DataManager {
         conn.setRequestProperty("Accept", "application/json");
         conn.setConnectTimeout(5000);
         conn.setReadTimeout(5000);
-        
-        if (key != null && !key.trim().isEmpty()) {
-            conn.setRequestProperty("X-API-Key", key);
-        }
+        conn.setRequestProperty("X-API-Key", key);
 
         return conn;
     }
@@ -104,7 +99,7 @@ public class DataManager {
                                 
                                 String tier = plugin.getConfig().getString("not-found-text", "Unranked");
                                 if (pObj.has("tiers") && !pObj.get("tiers").isJsonNull()) {
-                                    JsonObject tiersObj = pObj.getAsJsonObject("tiers");
+                                    JsonObject tiersObj = pObj.get("tiers").getAsJsonObject();
                                     if (tiersObj.has(mode) && !tiersObj.get(mode).isJsonNull()) {
                                         tier = tiersObj.get(mode).getAsString();
                                     }
@@ -116,6 +111,10 @@ public class DataManager {
                         }
                     }
                 }
+            } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+                plugin.getLogger().warning(e.getMessage());
+                stopTasks();
+                break;
             } catch (Exception e) {
                 plugin.getLogger().warning("Failed to fetch leaderboard for " + mode + ": " + e.getMessage());
             }
@@ -134,7 +133,7 @@ public class DataManager {
                                 Map<String, String> pTiers = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
                                 
                                 if (json.has("tiers") && !json.get("tiers").isJsonNull()) {
-                                    JsonObject tiersObj = json.getAsJsonObject("tiers");
+                                    JsonObject tiersObj = json.get("tiers").getAsJsonObject();
                                     for (Map.Entry<String, JsonElement> entry : tiersObj.entrySet()) {
                                         if (!entry.getValue().isJsonNull()) {
                                             pTiers.put(entry.getKey().toLowerCase(), entry.getValue().getAsString());
@@ -150,6 +149,8 @@ public class DataManager {
                             }
                         }
                     }
+                } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+                    plugin.getLogger().warning(e.getMessage());
                 } catch (Exception e) {
                 }
             });
diff --git a/src/main/resources/config.yml b/src/main/resources/config.yml
index b27f73d..5fde669 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/config.yml
+++ b/src/main/resources/config.yml
@@ -1,11 +1,9 @@
 # ET Placeholders Configuration
 # Available Gamemodes: overall, vanilla, mace, axe, sword, smp, diamondsmp, uhc, pot, nethop, cart
 
-# The base URL of the EaglerTiers API
-api-url: "https://api.eaglertiers.com/api"
 
-# Your API key. While public read requests don't require an API key, it is highly recommended to provide one to avoid rate limits.
-api-key: ""
+# To get an api key, open a ticket on the discord https://discord.eaglertiers.com You need a key for this
+api-key: "" 
 
 # How often (in minutes) to refresh cached player and leaderboard data.
 # Do not set this too low or you may hit the API rate limit (120 req/min).
diff --git a/src/main/resources/plugin.yml b/src/main/resources/plugin.yml
index f3eccad..eda6d22 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/plugin.yml
+++ b/src/main/resources/plugin.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name: ETPlaceholders
-version: 1.0.1
+version: 1.0.2
 main: dev.bailey.etplaceholders.ETPlaceholdersPlugin
 api-version: "1.13"
 softdepend: [PlaceholderAPI]