IP Forwarding in BungeeCord

What is IP forwarding?

When using BungeeCord as a proxy in front of your Minecraft servers, all player connections pass through the proxy. Without IP forwarding, your backend servers (Spigot/Paper) will only see the BungeeCord server's IP — not the player's real IP address or UUID.

IP forwarding solves this by passing the player's real information to the backend servers. This is required for correct operation, including bans, logs, and any plugin that works with player IPs or UUIDs.

Security warning: Make sure your backend servers are not directly accessible from the internet. Only the BungeeCord proxy should have open ports exposed. Otherwise, players could bypass the proxy and connect directly.

---

Prerequisites

• A running BungeeCord server
• At least one backend server running Spigot or Paper
• File access on all servers

---

Step 1 — Enable ip_forward in BungeeCord

On your BungeeCord server, open the file:

config.yml

Find the line:

ip_forward: false

Change it to:

ip_forward: true

Save the file and restart BungeeCord.

---

Step 2 — Enable BungeeCord mode in spigot.yml

On each backend server, open the file:

spigot.yml

Find the section:

settings:
  bungeecord: false

Change false to true:

settings:
  bungeecord: true

Save and restart the backend server. Repeat this step on all your backend servers.

---

Step 3 — Disable online-mode on backend servers

On each backend server, open the file:

server.properties

Find the line:

online-mode=true

Change it to:

online-mode=false

Save and restart the server.

BungeeCord handles authentication against Mojang's servers itself. If the backend servers also check it, players will not be able to connect.

---

Verify the setup

Connect to your BungeeCord proxy (not directly to a backend server). If everything is configured correctly, you should be able to:

• Log in normally
• Switch servers using /server <servername>
• See the player's real IP in the backend server's logs

If you run into any issues, feel free to contact our support — we're happy to help!