Set up a Minecraft network with Velocity

A Minecraft network puts several servers behind one address. Players connect to a proxy, which sends them on to a lobby, a survival world or a minigames server. In 2026 the proxy to use is Velocity, made by PaperMC. You need at least three servers: one for the proxy and two to play on.

Do you actually need a network?

For a group of friends with a few worlds, one server with a plugin such as Multiverse-Core is often enough, and cheaper. A network pays off when each world needs its own plugins and settings, or when a single server can’t keep up any more.

What should you order?

• The proxy: Velocity needs very little, so our smallest Java package is more than enough.
• The servers you play on: size each one for its players and plugins. The server size calculator helps.
• One location: order every server in the same location to keep the delay between proxy and servers low. Premium comes with DDoS protection through Cloudflare Magic Transit, which helps once your network is public. Locations per line are listed on specifications.

Java servers start at €4.95 a month; all packages are on Minecraft server hosting.

Step by step

1. Install Velocity on the proxy. In the game panel, open Versions and pick Velocity. You can also upload the jar from papermc.io and set the Server Jar File under Startup to its name. Velocity 4 needs Java 25: if it won’t start, choose Java 25 as the Docker Image under Startup.
2. Start the proxy once, then stop it. Velocity creates velocity.toml and forwarding.secret.
3. Write down the addresses. Each server shows its address on the Console page, for example 123.45.67.89:25570.
4. Edit velocity.toml, for instance through Configs. Set bind to 0.0.0.0 with your proxy’s port, such as "0.0.0.0:25570", set player-info-forwarding-mode to "modern", list your servers under [servers], like lobby = "123.45.67.89:25571", and put the server players should land on in try.
5. Set up the Paper servers. Set online-mode=false in server.properties, and in config/paper-global.yml set enabled and online-mode under proxies and velocity to true, with the contents of forwarding.secret as the secret. The reasons are in Secure your Minecraft network.
6. Start the Paper servers first, then the proxy. Join using the proxy’s address and switch servers with /server followed by a server name.

What usually goes wrong?

• Nobody can get into the lobby? Servers created on Minecraft 26.3 or later have the whitelist on by default. Turn it off or add your players.
• Plugins in the wrong place. The proxy only runs Velocity plugins; Paper plugins belong on the servers themselves.
• Same permissions everywhere? LuckPerms can use one MySQL database for all servers. You create a database under Databases in the game panel.

This guide replaces two Dutch CakeHosting knowledge base articles from 2019, written when networks still ran on BungeeCord.