For your information, all publish-over-ssh component type JENKINS issues related to the Publish Over SSH plugin have been transferred to Github: https://github.com/jenkinsci/publish-over-ssh-plugin/issues

Here is the direct link to this issue in Github: https://github.com/jenkinsci/publish-over-ssh-plugin/issues/216
And here is the link to a search for related issues: https://github.com/jenkinsci/publish-over-ssh-plugin/issues?q=%22JENKINS-13831%22

(Note: this is an automated bulk comment)

Code changed in jenkins
User: bap2000
Path:
src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/publish_over_ssh/BapSshTransfer.java
src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/publish_over_ssh/descriptor/BapSshTransferDescriptor.java
src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/publish_over_ssh/options/SshOverrideTransferDefaults.java
src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/publish_over_ssh/BapSshTransfer/config.jelly
src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/publish_over_ssh/BapSshTransfer/help-makeEmptyDirs.html
src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/publish_over_ssh/options/SshOverrideTransferDefaults/config.jelly
src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/publish_over_ssh/BapSshClientTest.java
src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/publish_over_ssh/BapSshHostConfigurationTest.java
src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/publish_over_ssh/jenkins/IntegrationTest.java
src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/publish_over_ssh/jenkins/LegacyConfigurationTest.java
http://jenkins-ci.org/commit/publish-over-ssh-plugin/02b6aa8c02abf62072f3ecdde9020932bd0f3a55
Log:
[FIXED JENKINS-13831] Option to create empty directories

Code changed in jenkins
User: bap2000
Path:
src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/publish_over/BPBuildInfo.java
src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/publish_over/BPTransfer.java
src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/publish_over/FileFinder.java
src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/publish_over/FileFinderResult.java
src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/publish_over/options/GlobalDefaults.java
src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/publish_over/options/TransferOptions.java
src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/publish_over/view_defaults/BPTransfer/Messages.properties
src/main/resources/jenkins/plugins/publish_over/view_defaults/BPTransfer/Messages_no_BV.properties
src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/publish_over/BPBuildInfoTest.java
src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/publish_over/BPTransferTest.java
src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/publish_over/BapPublisherTest.java
src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/publish_over/FileFinderTest.java
http://jenkins-ci.org/commit/publish-over-plugin/d2b08c13cec1e6bb02d1df89344adfeaeb921500
Log:
[FIXED JENKINS-13126] [FIXED JENKINS-13831] Option to create empty directories

I have a solution for this - it will just take a week or two for me to fit it into my backlog.

In the mean time can you use the decades old trick of zero length hidden files? i.e. touch .keep in any leaf directory that yo want to be present on the target machine. (you can even use find in the Exec command to remove them afterwards if you need the dirs to be completely empty)
Alternatively keep zipping until a new version is released.

Hi Ken, thanks for your helpful comments, I really appreciate your input!

I've already had a look at the source to find the exact source fragment involved in this, but I was not successful on the first run. Maybe I find more time later. In the meantime I would appreciate any hints on which source files to start for this feature.