YML loading difficulty

I've only used YML files for a short time and don't yet understand their complexities, but I still usually manage to figure out what I'm doing wrong by myself. This is not one of those times:

Code:

if(protectionDat.contains("shieldLocations")){
            Set<String> s = getConfig().getConfigurationSection("shieldLocations").getKeys(false);
            String[] ss = (String[])s.toArray();
            for(int i = 0; i < ss.length; i++){
                shieldLocs.add(locConvert(ss[i]));
            }
        }

The following line is throwing a null pointer exception:

Set<String> s = getConfig().getConfigurationSection("shieldLocations").getKeys(false);

I have no idea why it's happening, I have similar code in other plugins and it doesn't throw an NPE. Any help is appreciated.

 

@nuclearmissile There is no 'shieldLocations.' What is 'protectionDat?' It looks like your checking if it contains shieldLocations, but then you get the set from the default config.

 

@Skionz
shieldLocations is just the header of the file
protectionDat is the name of the YAMLConfiguration object
so how do I get it from the right file instead of default config?

Nevermind, I got it working. Now I feel pretty stupid, but thanks for knocking some sense into me.

EDIT by Moderator: merged posts, please use the edit button instead of double posting.