FlowGate Lite

This update focuses on stability, routing reliability, and overall production readiness while also updating compatibility for the latest Minecraft versions.

New

- Added support for the latest Minecraft versions (1.21+). - Improved compatibility with modern Bungee-compatible proxy software. - Added a dedicated flowgate.command.status permission.

Improvements

- Improved backend routing reliability. - Enhanced automatic failover behavior. - Improved plugin reload handling. - Improved configuration migration and validation. - Improved plugin message security. - Modernized Gradle build configuration and release metadata. - Improved internal routing and session management.

Fixes

- Fixed hub capacity reservation during automatic failover. - Fixed routing edge cases under high player load. - Fixed shutdown callback race conditions. - Fixed invalid configuration reload handling. - Fixed fallback validation when fallback is disabled. - Fixed version metadata inconsistencies. - Improved cleanup of internal routing state. - Fixed multiple minor stability and reliability issues.

Compatibility

- Minecraft 1.21+ - BungeeCord - Waterfall - FlameCord - Java 21+ Recommended update for all users.

This update is a major internal rewrite focused on stability, scalability, routing reliability, and production readiness. Large parts of the plugin architecture were redesigned to improve failover handling, backend monitoring, reconnect behavior, and long-term maintainability. ---

Added

Centralized Health Monitoring

- Added async centralized backend health monitoring - Added cached backend health states - Added backend latency tracking - Added backend quarantine handling - Added automatic backend recovery detection - Added safer ping scheduling system

Sticky Sessions

- Added real sticky-session support - Players now prefer previously connected healthy backends - Added stale session expiration handling - Added safe sticky-session fallback behavior

Weighted Balancing

- Added configurable weighted backend balancing - Routing now properly respects configured server weights - Added improved balancing logic combined with: - backend health - player limits - latency checks - sticky sessions

Routing Improvements

- Added improved fallback routing - Added deterministic routing behavior - Added retry cooldown handling - Added safer reconnect flow - Added backend quarantine protection - Added reconnect spam protection

Metrics & Diagnostics

- Added improved routing diagnostics - Added backend monitoring improvements - Added cleaner debug output - Added better lifecycle logging ---

Improved

Architecture

- Reworked internal plugin architecture - Split large systems into dedicated services - Improved service separation and encapsulation - Improved maintainability across routing systems - Improved lifecycle management - Improved async safety

Performance

- Reduced unnecessary allocations - Reduced repeated routing lookups - Reduced async scheduler overhead - Reduced ping amplification during outages - Improved routing hot-path efficiency - Improved cache usage

Concurrency

- Improved thread safety - Improved session state handling - Improved reconnect synchronization - Improved retry handling under heavy load - Improved async task cleanup

Reliability

- Improved backend outage handling - Improved fallback reliability - Improved retry stability - Improved shutdown handling - Improved startup validation - Improved reconnect handling during backend instability

Security

- Improved plugin messaging validation - Improved malformed packet protection - Improved backend validation - Improved routing safety protections

Codebase

- Cleaned and standardized code formatting - Removed excessive AI-style comments - Removed noisy block comments - Simplified internal structure - Cleaned unused logic and redundant code - Improved readability across the project

Documentation

- Fully rewritten README - Added architecture documentation - Added routing documentation - Added deployment recommendations - Added troubleshooting guidance - Added scaling recommendations - Added configuration explanations ---

Changed

Java Version

- Updated project target from Java 8 to Java 17

Server Version

- Supports only 1.19.x or higher

Plugin Naming

- Standardized plugin naming to: - FlowGate-Lite

Artifact Naming

- Final build artifact is now: - FlowGate-Lite-1.0.5.jar ---

Fixed

- Fixed backend ping amplification - Fixed unsafe plugin messaging behavior - Fixed multiple routing edge cases - Fixed reconnect instability issues - Fixed various async lifecycle problems - Fixed inconsistent plugin naming - Fixed startup validation issues - Fixed shutdown cleanup issues - Fixed several routing race-condition risks - Fixed stale retry/session handling - Fixed inconsistent balancing behavior ---

Recommended

Before deploying to production: - stress-test reconnect behavior - test backend outage scenarios - test proxy restart behavior - verify failover routing under load - monitor memory usage during extended runtime ---

Compatibility

- Java 17+ - Waterfall - BungeeCord-compatible proxy environments

FlowGate-Lite v1.0.4

Hub Routing Overhaul

This update fully rewrites and stabilizes the hub routing and fallback system. Focus: reliability, smooth player flow, and clean messaging. ---

Improvements

Smart Hub Selection

* Added intelligent hub selection based on player count Automatically routes players to the best available hub* * Supports soft/hard limits for load balancing ---

Reliable Fallback System

Players are now correctly routed when any server goes down* * Behavior: * → Sends to available hub if one exists * → Sends to fallback only if no hubs are online * Works globally across all servers ---

Continuous Hub Detection

* Fallback server now continuously searches for available hubs * Players are automatically moved when a hub becomes available * No manual reconnect needed ---

Connection Throttling

* Added randomized delays (100–500ms) for reconnect attempts * Added staggered delays (200–1000ms) when many players are waiting * Prevents hub flooding during mass reconnects ---

Messaging System

* All routing messages now come from messages.yml * Clean and consistent user experience

Added messages:

* routing.searching → shown when player enters fallback * routing.found → shown when a hub is found * Removed redundant message spam from scheduler ---

Internal Changes

* Reworked LimboRouterListener for better tracking and cleanup * Improved FallbackListener routing logic * Added HubUtil#getBestAvailableHub() for smart selection * Added HubUtil#isHub() helper method * Fixed initial join handling via ServerConnectBlockerListener * Made sendMessage() accessible across components ---

Fixes

* Fixed players not being routed correctly when servers go down * Fixed fallback not connecting when hubs are unavailable * Fixed hub detection inconsistencies * Fixed message duplication issues * Fixed improper routing during initial join ---

Result

* Stable server switching * Correct fallback behavior * Smooth recovery from server downtime * Clean, controlled messaging * Scalable for large player counts ---

Update Notes

* No config changes required * Fully backward compatible * Restart proxy after update (no reload) --- Version: 1.0.4 Author: Terona / FlowGate

Minor Update

- Fixed and cleaned up information inside configuration YML files - Removed leftover personal branding - No functional or behavioral changes

FlowGate Lite — v1.0.2 (Stable Release)

Fully Operational • Production-Ready • Battle-Tested

FlowGate Lite v1.0.2 marks the first fully stable and complete release of the Lite branch. All core systems are finalized, hardened, and verified in real network conditions. ---

What’s New in v1.0.2

Reliable Hub Recovery

- Players are automatically routed back to a hub the moment one becomes available - No reconnect required, no manual commands

Zero Disconnects During Hub Outages

- If all hubs go offline, players are safely moved to the fallback server - Eliminates “Could not connect to a default or fallback server” kicks

Smart Fallback Waiting System

- Animated waiting titles while players are in fallback - Starts and stops automatically, no duplication, no flicker

Improved Hub Commands

- /hub now: - Tries all hubs intelligently - Sends players to fallback if no hub is available - Never kicks players out of the network

Hardened Event Handling

- Proper handling of: - Server crashes - Mass restarts - Runtime disconnects - Native Bungee logic respected — no forced overrides

Clean & Optimized Core

- Removed duplicated messages - No ping spam - Minimal schedulers - Predictable, readable routing logic ---

Stability Philosophy

FlowGate Lite does not guess and does not rush connections. It guarantees: - No random kicks - No reconnect loops - No broken join flow - No unnecessary background load ---

Version Info

- Plugin: FlowGate Lite - Version: 1.0.2 - Status: Stable / Production Ready - Proxy: BungeeCord / Waterfall ---

Recommendation

This version is safe to deploy on live networks. If you want: - predictable player flow - clean fallback handling - zero chaos during outages This is the version to use. ---

Developed by Terona Studios

Built with stability, clarity, and long-term maintainability in mind.

First public release of the FlowGate Lite plugin. This is an early alpha version, meaning some bugs are expected. Despite this, the plugin is usable and functional in its current state and suitable for testing and limited production use.