Messaging

Plugin Messaging Skill — Paper

Purpose

Reference this skill when a Paper backend plugin needs to send or receive data to/from a Velocity or Waterfall proxy using the plugin messaging channel system.

When to Use This Skill

• Sending a player to a different backend server via the proxy
• Getting the IP of the proxy the player connected through
• Notifying the proxy of a game event (e.g., game over, player rank change)
• Receiving instructions from the proxy plugin (e.g., switch server, apply punishment)

API Quick Reference

Code Pattern

package com.yourorg.myplugin.messaging;

import com.google.common.io.ByteArrayDataInput;
import com.google.common.io.ByteArrayDataOutput;
import com.google.common.io.ByteStreams;
import org.bukkit.entity.Player;
import org.bukkit.plugin.java.JavaPlugin;
import org.bukkit.plugin.messaging.PluginMessageListener;
import org.slf4j.Logger;

public class MessagingHandler implements PluginMessageListener {

    private static final String CHANNEL = "BungeeCord";

    private final JavaPlugin plugin;
    private final Logger logger;

    public MessagingHandler(JavaPlugin plugin) {
        this.plugin = plugin;
        this.logger = plugin.getSLF4JLogger();
    }

    public void register() {
        plugin.getServer().getMessenger()
            .registerOutgoingPluginChannel(plugin, CHANNEL);
        plugin.getServer().getMessenger()
            .registerIncomingPluginChannel(plugin, CHANNEL, this);
    }

    public void unregister() {
        plugin.getServer().getMessenger()
            .unregisterOutgoingPluginChannel(plugin, CHANNEL);
        plugin.getServer().getMessenger()
            .unregisterIncomingPluginChannel(plugin, CHANNEL, this);
    }

    // Send player to another backend server
    public void connectToServer(Player player, String serverName) {
        ByteArrayDataOutput out = ByteStreams.newDataOutput();
        out.writeUTF("Connect");
        out.writeUTF(serverName);
        player.sendPluginMessage(plugin, CHANNEL, out.toByteArray());
    }

    // Request the proxy to tell us which server this player is on
    public void requestServerName(Player player) {
        ByteArrayDataOutput out = ByteStreams.newDataOutput();
        out.writeUTF("GetServer");
        player.sendPluginMessage(plugin, CHANNEL, out.toByteArray());
    }

    // Receive and dispatch incoming messages from the proxy
    @Override
    public void onPluginMessageReceived(String channel, Player player, byte[] message) {
        if (!channel.equals(CHANNEL)) return;

        // NOTE: This callback fires on an async thread.
        ByteArrayDataInput in = ByteStreams.newDataInput(message);
        String subChannel = in.readUTF();

        switch (subChannel) {
            case "GetServer" -> {
                String serverName = in.readUTF();
                logger.info("Player {} is on server: {}", player.getName(), serverName);
            }
            case "GetIP" -> {
                String ip = in.readUTF();
                logger.info("Player {} connected from IP: {}", player.getName(), ip);
            }
            default -> logger.warn("Unknown BungeeCord subchannel: {}", subChannel);
        }
    }
}

Register in onEnable, unregister in onDisable:

private MessagingHandler messagingHandler;

@Override
public void onEnable() {
    messagingHandler = new MessagingHandler(this);
    messagingHandler.register();
}

@Override
public void onDisable() {
    messagingHandler.unregister();
}

Common Pitfalls

• Sending plugin messages without a player: Plugin messages must be sent through a player that is currently connected to this server. There is no "serverless" send. If no players are online, queue the message and send when the first player joins.

• Using plugin messaging for large data: The BungeeCord channel has a 32767-byte payload limit. For large data transfers, use a shared database instead.

• Forgetting to register the channel: Calling sendPluginMessage() on an unregistered outgoing channel will throw an exception. Always call registerOutgoingPluginChannel first.

• Reading incoming messages on the main thread: The onPluginMessageReceived callback fires on an async thread. Do not mutate Bukkit objects inside it without scheduling back to the main thread.

• Using BungeeCord channel with Velocity's modern forwarding: Velocity must have bungee-plugin-messaging-channel: true in velocity.toml for BungeeCord channel compatibility.

Version Notes

• 1.21 / 1.21.1: BungeeCord channel API unchanged. Guava's ByteStreams is bundled with Paper.
• For custom namespaced channels (Velocity plugin-to-plugin), use "yourplugin:channel" format and configure both sides. See plugin-channels.md.

Related Skills

• plugin-channels.md — Custom channel names, Velocity plugin messaging
• ../../velocity/messaging/plugin-messages.md — Velocity-side plugin messaging
• ../../waterfall/messaging/bungeecord-channels.md — BungeeCord channel protocol reference