Building a Minecraft network with Velocity and the Proxy Network tab

A Minecraft network lets players join one address and move between several servers, for example a lobby, a survival world and a minigames server. On ServerPrism you build it with a Velocity proxy (BungeeCord and Waterfall work too) and the Proxy Network tab, which splits your plan into the proxy and its backend servers and writes the proxy config for you.

How it works

• The proxy is the front door. Players connect to it, and it sends them on to a backend.
• Each backend is a normal Minecraft server with its own world, plugins and console.
• Backends are made from your proxy's own plan: when you add one, part of the plan's RAM, CPU and disk moves to the new server. The total stays the same as your plan.

Step 1: Get a proxy server

Either choose Velocity as the runtime when you order, or switch an existing server to Velocity in Change Runtime (see Switching game, server type or version).

Pick a plan with room for the proxy plus at least one backend. Velocity itself needs very little; the backends need the RAM. When you order a proxy, checkout shows whether the plan you picked can be split into a proxy and a backend.

Start the proxy once so it creates its config files.

Step 2: Add a backend

1. On the proxy server, open Proxy Network in the sidebar (under Proxy).
2. Click Add Backend.
3. Choose a Server type. Each preset comes with a few plugins. Every preset gets LuckPerms and PlaceholderAPI, and:
   • Lobby, KitPvP and Prison add EssentialsX.
   • Survival adds EssentialsX, WorldGuard, WorldEdit and CoreProtect.
   • SkyBlock adds BentoBox, Creative adds WorldEdit, and Factions adds EssentialsX and a factions plugin.
   • Bedwars, Practice, Minigames and Custom add nothing extra.
4. Give it a Server name (for example Lobby or Survival) and choose its RAM allocation. The window shows what the proxy keeps and the price of each part.
5. Click Create backend.

The proxy restarts while it is resized, so anyone online is disconnected for a few seconds. The new backend runs the latest Paper build. To use a specific Minecraft version, open the backend once it has started and use Change Runtime there.

Step 3: Sync the proxy

Once the backend has started, go back to Proxy Network and click Sync backends to velocity.toml in the Backend Registration card. This:

• writes every backend into the [servers] list in velocity.toml,
• turns on modern forwarding and creates a forwarding secret,
• puts that secret into each Paper backend's config/paper-global.yml and sets online-mode=false in its server.properties, which is what a backend behind Velocity needs.

A running proxy restarts by itself to load the new config. Restart each backend afterwards so it picks up its new settings. Run Sync again whenever you add or remove a backend.

Each backend shows synced once it is in the proxy config, or not synced if it still needs a Sync.

Step 4: Tell players the proxy's address

Players always join the proxy: use the address on the proxy card in Proxy Network, or the proxy's subdomain. Don't share the backends' addresses. Players who try to join a backend directly are turned away, because the backend only accepts players who come through your proxy.

To move between servers, players use /server <name> by default. Lobby menus, portals or compass selectors come from plugins you set up on the lobby.

Managing the network

• The Proxy Network tab shows each backend's status, RAM and CPU, with buttons to start, stop, restart or open it. With more than one backend you can also start, stop or restart them all at once.
• Remove from network deletes a backend and gives its resources back to the proxy. We keep its files for 7 days, so contact support if you change your mind. You confirm by typing a phrase, and the proxy restarts if it is running.
• The Forwarding secret is shown in the Sync card for setting up backends by hand. Treat it like a password.

Backends that aren't Paper

Sync only sets up Paper-type backends (Paper, Purpur, Folia and similar). A Fabric or Forge backend needs a mod that supports Velocity's modern forwarding, configured with the forwarding secret from the Sync card.

BungeeCord and Waterfall

On BungeeCord or Waterfall the config file is config.yml. Sync writes your backends into its servers: list and turns on ip_forward: true. There is no forwarding secret. Set bungeecord: true in each backend's spigot.yml yourself, then restart the backends.

Common issues

Splitting and adding backends is only available on paid plans, not on free trials. If you get stuck, open a support ticket from the proxy server and tell us which backend is affected.