Gate Proxy - Connector Guide

Using Gate as a Connector for your Minecraft server or proxy. It is the best supported, most frequently updated Connector with the most capabilities.

-> If you haven't already, checkout Gate's Quick Start first, it's just a tiny binary.

Enable Connect in Gate configuration

First of all, in the Gate configuration, you:

1. enable Connect mode
2. choose your endpoint name

-> See Enabling Connect page for how to do it.

Gate (standard)

For an introduction to Gate, see Gate Docs.

As one of the most capable open source Minecraft proxy in the world, Gate has first class support for Connect with online-mode.

Connect-routed Bedrock players are translated by the Connect edge before they reach your Gate connector. You do not need bedrock: true in your Gate config for that path. Enable bedrock: true only when Bedrock players should connect directly to your self-hosted Gate instance instead of through a Connect address.

-> To customize Gate checkout the starter plugin template

Gate Lite Mode

For an introduction to Gate Lite mode, see Gate Lite Docs.

Gate Lite remains a thin Java protocol reverse proxy. It can sit behind Connect as a connector for Java traffic, while Connect-routed Bedrock translation happens at the Connect edge. Use standard Gate, not Gate Lite, if you want your own direct Bedrock listener.

Current behavior

In Lite mode, Gate does not terminate a player login as a full Minecraft proxy. It reads enough of the Java protocol to select a backend route, then forwards the connection, including ping and player authentication, to that backend.

When Gate Lite is used behind Connect, the Connect edge is still the public ingress point. Gate Lite only sees the connection that Connect forwards to your connector and then pipes it to the selected backend route.

This works well when the target behind Lite does not need to run its own Mojang online-mode login for Connect-routed players. For example, Lite can route to an offline-mode backend, or to a proxy/server setup that is already designed to trust the connector path you configured.

Not supported today

Connect -> Gate Lite -> Online Mode Backend

That topology is not supported today by changing Gate Lite configuration alone.

Gate Lite forwards the backend's authentication flow; it does not translate Connect's edge-authenticated player session into a backend online-mode session. Connect's AuthSession API and passthrough support are still unavailable, so an online-mode Velocity, Paper, Waterfall, or similar backend behind Gate Lite should not be expected to accept Connect-routed players through AuthSession yet.

If you need online-mode players through Connect today, use standard Gate with Connect enabled or the Connect Java Plugin on a supported server/proxy. Use Gate Lite behind Connect only when the backend auth model is compatible with a thin reverse-proxy hop.

Example Setups

Minekube Connect advances the way players connect and developers architect secure Minecraft servers and networks. Let's take a look at some common example setups.

#1 Example: Online mode Velocity

Connect -> [ Gate Lite -> [ Velocity -> Papers ] ]

Not supported today

This example depends on Connect passthrough/AuthSession support for Lite backend routes. That support is not available yet. Use standard Gate with Connect enabled, or install the Connect Java Plugin on Velocity, for online-mode Velocity behind Connect.

We could only use Gate -> Paper without Velocity, but this topology would be useful for existing Velocity networks after Connect passthrough/AuthSession support exists.

• We have Velocity in online mode running on localhost:25577 and want to use Connect through Gate.
• Because Velocity is a proxy itself, we need to use Gate Lite mode for simple reverse proxying.
• We enable lite in Gate config and add a wildcard route * to forward all traffic to Velocity at localhost:25577.
• We enable connect mode in Gate config and choose a name for our endpoint.
• This will require Connect passthrough/AuthSession support before online-mode players can join reliably through Lite.

Velocity here could have been replaced by another proxy like BungeeCord/Waterfall or even Gate standard (reduce Gate layers: try to set up Example #2 instead).

#2 Example: Paper online or offline

Connect -> [ Gate -> Papers ]

• We have Paper in online or offline mode running on localhost:25565 and want to use Connect through Gate.
• This time we chose to not enable lite mode in Gate config, because we want to use Gate's full proxying capabilities like switching servers with /server
• We enable connect mode in Gate config and choose a name for our endpoint.
• Done! We can now join to our Paper server at <endpoint>.play.minekube.net and online mode players from Connect Network can join as well thanks to Gate's first class Connect online-mode support. All without using port forwarding nor the Java Plugin nor the AuthSession API.

Getting Support

If you have any questions or need help, simply post a support request in the Minekube Community Discord forum!. https://minekube.com/discord