Velocity

Velocity is a modern, high-performance Minecraft proxy system that connects multiple servers into one network. Developed by the PaperMC team, Velocity was built from the ground up to address the limitations of BungeeCord, delivering up to 8x better performance, enhanced security, and native support for modern Minecraft features while maintaining the same network functionality players expect. It's quickly becoming the industry standard for new Minecraft networks.​

What Is Velocity?

Like BungeeCord, Velocity is a proxy server, software that sits between players and your backend Minecraft servers, allowing seamless switching between game modes without disconnecting. However, Velocity takes a fundamentally different approach to achieve dramatically better performance and security.​

When players connect to a Velocity network:

1. They connect to the Velocity proxy using a single IP address​
2. Velocity authenticates them and routes their connection to a backend server (lobby, survival, minigames)​
3. Players can switch between servers using commands or hub portals without leaving the game​
4. The proxy handles all player information forwarding securely between backend servers​

Key Features

Exceptional Performance

Velocity is significantly faster than BungeeCord and Waterfall:​

• Up to 8x better performance in throughput and CPU efficiency​
• Optimized packet handling: Smart protocol optimizations reduce overhead​
• Native compression library: Uses libdeflate instead of zlib on Linux, doubling compression speed​
• No entity ID rewriting: Eliminates costly packet rewrites that BungeeCord requires​
• Supports 1,000+ concurrent players on a single proxy with minimal performance degradation​

For large networks with hundreds or thousands of players, Velocity's performance advantages translate to lower CPU usage, reduced latency, and more resources available for actual gameplay.​

Enhanced Security

Velocity features modern player information forwarding that's far more secure than BungeeCord's methods:​

• Pre-arranged secret key: Backend servers and the proxy share a secret that validates connections​
• No IP forwarding vulnerabilities: Unlike BungeeCord, Velocity's modern forwarding can't be spoofed​
• Proactive DoS protection: Built-in defenses against denial-of-service attacks​
• No additional security plugins required: Secure out-of-the-box (unlike BungeeCord which needs BungeeGuard)​

To enable modern forwarding, set player-info-forwarding: modern in velocity.toml and configure your backend servers to accept the shared secret.

Active Development

Unlike BungeeCord (which sees minimal updates) and Waterfall (which is end-of-life), Velocity is actively maintained by the PaperMC team:​

• Regular updates with new features and optimizations​
• API improvements that balance compatibility with modern design​
• Strong community support and extensive documentation

Comparison: Velocity vs. BungeeCord vs. Waterfall

Velocity is the clear choice for new networks and is worth migrating to for existing ones.

Plugin Compatibility

Velocity uses a different plugin API than BungeeCord. Most major proxy plugins now support Velocity natively.

For BungeeCord plugins without Velocity support, there's an experimental adapter called Snap, though it doesn't work with all plugins. Always test plugins thoroughly before production use.

Why Choose Velocity?

Use Velocity if you want:

• Best-in-class performance for high-player-count networks​
• Modern security without additional plugins​
• Active development with ongoing improvements​
• Native Forge support for modded networks​
• Future-proof infrastructure backed by the PaperMC team​

Velocity represents the future of Minecraft proxy technology, combining exceptional performance, modern security, and active development into a proxy that simply outperforms its predecessors.

While BungeeCord pioneered the proxy concept and served the community well for years, Velocity's up-to-8x performance improvement and built-in security make it the obvious choice for any new network or existing network looking to upgrade.