How do I set up a Minecraft BungeeCord or Velocity proxy network?
A proxy network lets multiple Minecraft servers share a single player pool. Players connect to the proxy and are routed to individual backend servers (lobby, survival, minigames, etc.). BungeeCord and Velocity are the two main options; Velocity is newer and more performant, so use it for new setups.
You need at least two servers on your Zeros Host account: one for the proxy and one or more backend servers.
On each backend server (not the proxy): open server.properties and set online-mode=false. This is required for the proxy to handle authentication. Also open the Paper or Spigot config and enable BungeeCord mode: in spigot.yml set bungeecord: true, or in config/paper-global.yml under proxies.bungeecord set online-mode: true (for Velocity, use velocity: enabled: true and set the secret key instead). Restart backend servers after making these changes.
On the proxy server: download BungeeCord.jar or Velocity.jar and upload it as your server JAR. Edit config.yml (BungeeCord) or velocity.toml (Velocity) to list your backend servers by their internal IP and port. For Zeros Host servers, use the panel-assigned IP and port for each backend. Set the forced_hosts and listeners sections to route the main connection correctly.
Important: with online-mode=false on backend servers, they will accept connections from anyone who knows the address. Make sure backend server ports are not publicly advertised; only the proxy address should be given to players. Most firewall setups on VPS hosting handle this, but confirm with the panel's network settings.
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