Minecraft network

A Minecraft network is a Velocity proxy that players join, with Paper servers behind it. Velocity's modern forwarding has to be set up on the proxy and on each server, with one shared secret. Zelie does that for you at each start, so the files never drift apart.

What works

The servers behind the proxy must be Paper or Purpur. They read Velocity's forwarding from a setting. Vanilla, Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Bedrock cannot take part.

A proxy can have up to 32 servers behind it.

Setting it up

1. Create a Velocity server with a public port. This is the address players join.
2. Create the Paper or Purpur servers with No public port. Players reach them only through the proxy.
3. Put all of them in one network group.
4. Open the proxy's Network page and go to Minecraft network.
5. Turn on Set up the network at each start.
6. Under Servers behind the proxy, choose the servers to use. Mark the one players join first with Join first. If a server is down or kicks a player, the proxy tries the next one in the order shown; move them up or down to change it.
7. Press Save. Nothing changes until the servers start again.
8. Start each server once, then restart it. The page lists the servers that need a restart.

Only an administrator can change this, because it edits the files of several servers.

Why a new server needs a second start

A server that has never started has no config files yet. Zelie applies the settings once the server has made them, so the first start creates the files and the next start applies them. Until then the server keeps online mode on, and the proxy cannot send players to it.

What Zelie writes at each start

On the proxy, in velocity.toml:

• player-info-forwarding-mode = "modern" and the forwarding secret file.
• The [servers] table, one line per chosen server with its address in the group, and try in the order you set, starting with the server players join first.
• Forced hosts that name a server that is not in the list are removed, since Velocity will not start with them.

On each server behind it:

• In config/paper-global.yml, Velocity support is turned on, with the same secret.
• In server.properties, online-mode is turned off, but only in the same start that turns Velocity forwarding on. A server never runs with online mode off and no secret in place.

Settings you did not touch stay as they are.

The secret

The forwarding secret is stored sealed and never shown. Zelie replaces it when a server is dropped from the network. To replace it yourself, press New secret. Running servers keep the old secret until they restart, so players cannot join until all of them have restarted.

Taking a server out

A server that leaves the group, or is removed from the list, is no longer set up. Its files keep their last values, and the network gets a new secret.

Turning Set up the network at each start off only stops Zelie from changing the files. If a server gets a public port later, turn its online-mode back on yourself.