Network Integration

minecraft-gateway separates edge routing (hostname matching) from network routing (join/fallback logic). The network proxy is the component responsible for the latter, and the controller exposes a gRPC API — NetworkXDS — that any proxy can call to receive its routing configuration. The built-in integration uses Velocity. This guide explains how to implement your own.

Prerequisites

Your proxy runs as a Kubernetes Deployment managed by the controller (via networkTemplate)
Your proxy can make gRPC calls to the controller’s network xDS server

How it works

When a Gateway listener is reconciled, the controller:

Creates a Deployment and Service for your proxy using the image and configuration from networkTemplate.
Injects environment variables your proxy uses to identify itself to the xDS server.
Keeps a snapshot of all routes and backends for that listener up to date.

Your proxy calls NetworkXDS.GetSnapshot with an infinite timer to retrieve its snapshot, then uses the snapshot to make routing decisions.

Environment variables

The controller injects these environment variables into every network proxy container:

Variable	Description
`NAMESPACE`	Kubernetes namespace of the Gateway
`GATEWAY_NAME`	Name of the Gateway
`LISTENER_NAME`	Name of the listener this proxy serves
`GATEWAY_NETWORK_XDS_HOST`	Hostname of the NetworkXDS gRPC server
`GATEWAY_NETWORK_XDS_PORT`	Port of the NetworkXDS gRPC server (default: `19000`)

The NetworkXDS API

The API is defined as a single unary RPC:

service NetworkXDS {
  rpc GetSnapshot(GetSnapshotRequest) returns (GetSnapshotResponse);
}

message GetSnapshotRequest {
  string gateway_namespace = 1;
  string gateway_name = 2;
  string listener_name = 3;
}

message GetSnapshotResponse {
  Snapshot snapshot = 1;
}

Pass the three injected environment variables (NAMESPACE, GATEWAY_NAME, LISTENER_NAME) as the request fields. The server returns UNAVAILABLE if no snapshot has been built yet and NOT_FOUND if the gateway/listener combination does not exist.

The Snapshot message

message Snapshot {
  string gateway_name = 1;
  string listener_name = 2;
  string current_generation = 3;
  repeated ManagedService services = 4;
}

current_generation is an opaque string that changes whenever the snapshot changes. Poll the endpoint periodically and re-apply configuration when the generation changes.

ManagedService

message ManagedService {
  string namespaced_name = 1;   // "namespace/name"
  string namespace = 2;
  string name = 3;
  DistributionStrategy distribution_strategy = 4;
  repeated ManagedServer servers = 5;
  repeated Route routes = 6;
}

enum DistributionStrategy {
  RANDOM = 0;
  LEAST_PLAYERS = 1;
}

Each ManagedService represents a Kubernetes Service that was discovered as a backend. servers lists the live endpoints; routes lists the join and fallback rules that point to this service.

ManagedServer

message ManagedServer {
  string unique_id = 1;
  string name = 2;
  string ip = 3;
  uint32 port = 4;
  optional uint32 numerical_id = 5;
  optional uint32 max_players = 6;
  optional uint32 current_players = 7;
}

max_players and current_players are populated when the controller can read them from the game server. Use them together with distribution_strategy to implement LEAST_PLAYERS routing.

Route

message Route {
  uint32 priority = 1;
  bool is_join = 2;
  bool is_fallback = 3;
  repeated OptionRuleSet rules = 4;
}

message OptionRuleSet {
  RuleType type = 1;   // NONE=0, ANY=1, ALL=2
  repeated Rule rules = 2;
}

message Rule {
  optional string domain = 1;
  optional string permission = 2;
  optional string fallback_for = 3;  // "namespace/name" of the service this is a fallback for
}

Join routes (is_join = true) route a player’s initial connection. Fallback routes (is_fallback = true) activate when a primary backend is unavailable. Evaluate routes in descending priority order.

Routing algorithm

A minimal correct implementation:

On connect: find all join routes across all services whose rules match the player (domain, permission). Take the highest-priority match. Select a server from that service using distribution_strategy.
On failure: if the selected server is unavailable or full, find fallback routes whose fallback_for matches the failed service’s namespaced_name and whose other rules match the player. Take the highest-priority match.
Generation polling: re-fetch the snapshot when current_generation changes. Apply the new routing table without disconnecting existing players.

Deploying your proxy

Use networkTemplate in NetworkInfrastructure to deploy your proxy image:

apiVersion: gateway.networking.minefleet.dev/v1alpha1
kind: NetworkInfrastructure
metadata:
  name: my-infrastructure
  namespace: default
spec:
  discovery:
    namespaceSelector:
      from: Same
    labelSelector:
      matchLabels:
        minefleet.dev/gameserver: "true"
  networkTemplate:
    template:
      spec:
        containers:
          - name: network
            image: ghcr.io/your-org/your-proxy:latest

The controller creates one Deployment per listener and injects the environment variables above. Your image should read them at startup to connect to the xDS server. See Customizing the Network Proxy for additional networkTemplate options such as mounting secrets and setting resource limits.

Using the Java integration-api

If you are writing a JVM-based proxy plugin, the integration-api library wraps the raw gRPC API and handles polling, diffing, and retries for you. The Velocity built-in integration is implemented using it.

Add the dependency

<dependency>
  <groupId>dev.minefleet</groupId>
  <artifactId>integration-api</artifactId>
  <version>VERSION</version>
</dependency>

Replace VERSION with the latest version from Maven Central.

Implement `ServerRegistrar`

ServerRegistrar is called by the API whenever backend servers appear, update, or disappear in the snapshot. Use server.name() as the stable key in your proxy’s server registry.

import dev.minefleet.api.gateway.networking.ManagedServer;
import dev.minefleet.api.gateway.networking.ServerRegistrar;
import dev.minefleet.api.gateway.networking.ServerRegistrarException;

import java.net.InetSocketAddress;
import java.util.Optional;
import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;

public class MyServerRegistrar implements ServerRegistrar {

    private final MyProxy proxy;
    private final ConcurrentHashMap<String, ManagedServer> servers = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();

    public MyServerRegistrar(MyProxy proxy) {
        this.proxy = proxy;
    }

    @Override
    public void registerOrUpdate(ManagedServer server) throws ServerRegistrarException {
        try {
            var address = new InetSocketAddress(server.ipAddress(), server.port());
            if (!proxy.hasServer(server.name())) {
                proxy.registerServer(server.name(), address);
            }
            servers.put(server.name(), server);
        } catch (Exception e) {
            throw new ServerRegistrarException(server, e);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void unregister(ManagedServer server) throws ServerRegistrarException {
        try {
            proxy.unregisterServer(server.name());
            servers.remove(server.name());
        } catch (Exception e) {
            throw new ServerRegistrarException(server, e);
        }
    }

    // Used by NetworkPlayer to resolve the player's current server
    public Optional<ManagedServer> findByName(String name) {
        return Optional.ofNullable(servers.get(name));
    }
}

Throw ServerRegistrarException to signal a failure for a single server. The library retries failed servers up to retries times (default: 3), once per poll interval.

Implement `NetworkPlayer`

NetworkPlayer is a per-event wrapper. Create a new instance for each routing call.

import dev.minefleet.api.gateway.networking.ManagedServer;
import dev.minefleet.api.gateway.networking.player.KickReason;
import dev.minefleet.api.gateway.networking.player.NetworkPlayer;

import java.util.Optional;

public class MyNetworkPlayer implements NetworkPlayer {

    private final MyPlayer player;
    private final MyServerRegistrar registrar;

    public MyNetworkPlayer(MyPlayer player, MyServerRegistrar registrar) {
        this.player = player;
        this.registrar = registrar;
    }

    @Override
    public String connectedDomain() {
        // The virtual hostname from the Minecraft handshake
        return player.getVirtualHost().getHostString();
    }

    @Override
    public Optional<ManagedServer> connectedServer() {
        // Must resolve via the registrar's map so the returned ManagedServer
        // has the correct parentNamespacedName for fallback rule matching
        return player.getCurrentServer()
            .flatMap(s -> registrar.findByName(s.getName()));
    }

    @Override
    public boolean hasPermission(String permission) {
        return player.hasPermission(permission);
    }

    @Override
    public void connectToServer(ManagedServer server) {
        proxy.getServer(server.name())
            .ifPresent(s -> player.connect(s));
    }

    @Override
    public void kick(KickReason reason) {
        String message = switch (reason) {
            case NO_JOIN -> "No server is available.";
            case NO_FALLBACK -> "No fallback server is available.";
        };
        player.disconnect(message);
    }
}

connectedServer() must look up the player’s current server through your registrar’s internal map. The fallback routing rules match on parentNamespacedName, which is only available on ManagedServer objects tracked by the registrar — not raw proxy server objects.

Build and start `NetworkGateway`

Build one NetworkGateway at proxy startup. The builder reads the injected environment variables automatically.

import dev.minefleet.api.gateway.networking.NetworkGateway;

public class MyProxyPlugin {

    private NetworkGateway gateway;
    private MyServerRegistrar registrar;

    public void onEnable() {
        // Remove statically configured servers — the gateway is the sole source of truth
        proxy.getServers().forEach(s -> proxy.unregisterServer(s.getName()));

        registrar = new MyServerRegistrar(proxy);
        gateway = NetworkGateway.builder()
            .registrar(registrar)
            // Optional overrides (all have env-var defaults):
            // .intervalSeconds(5)
            // .retries(3)
            // .context(NetworkSnapshotContext.fromEnv())
            // .channel(myChannel)
            .build();
        gateway.start();
    }

    public void onDisable() {
        gateway.stop();
    }
}

Wire routing events

// Player connects for the first time
public void onPlayerJoin(PlayerJoinEvent event) {
    gateway.routeJoin(new MyNetworkPlayer(event.getPlayer(), registrar));
}

// Player was kicked from a server and needs a fallback
public void onPlayerKicked(PlayerKickedEvent event) {
    gateway.routeFallback(new MyNetworkPlayer(event.getPlayer(), registrar));
}

routeJoin evaluates MinecraftJoinRoute rules in priority order and calls player.connectToServer() on the first match. routeFallback evaluates MinecraftFallbackRoute rules. Both call player.kick() if no matching service is found.

`ManagedServer` field reference

Method	Type	Description
`name()`	`String`	Stable server name — use as the key in your proxy registry
`ipAddress()`	`String`	IP address to connect to
`port()`	`int`	Port to connect to
`uniqueId()`	`String`	Globally unique identifier for this server instance
`parentNamespacedName()`	`String`	`"namespace/service-name"` of the Kubernetes Service
`numericalId()`	`OptionalInt`	Optional numerical slot ID
`maxPlayers()`	`OptionalInt`	Configured player capacity
`currentPlayers()`	`OptionalInt`	Current player count (used by `least-players` distribution strategy)

`NetworkGateway.Builder` options

Method	Default	Description
`registrar(ServerRegistrar)`	— (required)	Your `ServerRegistrar` implementation
`intervalSeconds(int)`	`5`	How often to poll the xDS server for snapshot updates
`retries(int)`	`3`	Retry attempts for failed `registerOrUpdate`/`unregister` calls
`context(NetworkSnapshotContext)`	from env	Which gateway/listener to subscribe to
`channel(Channel)`	from env	gRPC channel to the xDS server

Getting Started

Concepts

Guides

Reference

Prerequisites

How it works

Environment variables

The NetworkXDS API

The Snapshot message

ManagedService

ManagedServer

Route

Routing algorithm

Deploying your proxy

Using the Java integration-api

Add the dependency

Implement `ServerRegistrar`

Implement `NetworkPlayer`

Build and start `NetworkGateway`

Wire routing events

`ManagedServer` field reference

`NetworkGateway.Builder` options

Getting Started

Concepts

Guides

Reference

​Prerequisites

​How it works

​Environment variables

​The NetworkXDS API

​The Snapshot message

​ManagedService

​ManagedServer

​Route

​Routing algorithm

​Deploying your proxy

​Using the Java integration-api

​Add the dependency

​Implement ServerRegistrar

​Implement NetworkPlayer

​Build and start NetworkGateway

​Wire routing events

​ManagedServer field reference

​NetworkGateway.Builder options

Prerequisites

How it works

Environment variables

The NetworkXDS API

The Snapshot message

ManagedService

ManagedServer

Route

Routing algorithm

Deploying your proxy

Using the Java integration-api

Add the dependency

Implement `ServerRegistrar`

Implement `NetworkPlayer`

Build and start `NetworkGateway`

Wire routing events

`ManagedServer` field reference

`NetworkGateway.Builder` options