playit.gg

If you’re unable to configure your router or your ISP has a strict NAT/CGNAT policy, auto-mcs integrates playit.gg to allow connections through tunneling without conventional port forwarding.

A playit tunnel forwards traffic between your local server’s port and a public playit.gg address (like example.tun.ply.gg) which allows people across the internet to join.

Learn more about playit.gg

Note

If you’ve already configured the host/network and are having connection issues, follow Troubleshooting playit.gg

How it works

When enabling playit.gg integration for a server, auto-mcs installs and starts the playit agent using your linked account. It creates or reuses a tunnel for the server’s active port, and displays the public tunnel address in the Server Manager after launch. For instance, if you change the server’s port, auto-mcs will create and use a new tunnel for that port automatically.

The agent and its configuration are stored in the app data directory, separately from your server files. The same agent can manage tunnels for multiple servers, and stops after the last server using it shuts down. Each server gets its own connection address; see Running multiple servers for how auto-mcs handles port conflicts.

Note

The playit agent runs on the same computer as your Minecraft server. It forwards connections from the public tunnel address (example.tun.ply.gg) to the server’s local listener (usually 127.0.0.1:25565). Minecraft still needs to be running and listening on that local port for this tunnel to work.

The local Minecraft port and the public tunnel port are different settings. For example, your server may listen on 25565 even if playit.gg assigns another public port, or vice versa. Always share the public address displayed by auto-mcs

Agent setup

You can enable the proxy while creating a server, or later in the server’s Network Settings. For convenience, instant templates enable playit tunneling by default. You can turn it off if you don’t need it.

Link account

Linking your playit.gg account allows auto-mcs to download the playit agent and tunnels automatically on your behalf. If your account isn’t linked yet, click Set up playit.gg and follow the wizard to set it up:

1. Select Yes to the Set up playit.gg pop-up. The setup page will open in your browser
   
   

2. Sign in to playit.gg if prompted, and copy the Setup Code
   
   

3. Paste the code into auto-mcs and it will automatically authorize your account
   
   

4. Once authorized, the proxy is enabled for this server. Future launches will use this linked account
   
   

Management

Use enable proxy (playit) to enable or disable playit tunneling. This setting is saved per server independently, and auto-mcs will automatically create and manage tunnels for all servers with this setting enabled.

When enabled, auto-mcs clears the server’s bound IP address in server.properties. You can still change its port, but manual IP binding is unavailable while using this setting.

To manage the local agent, click the settings button beside the proxy switch to open its drop-down menu:

Open panel	Open the linked agent’s page on playit.gg in your browser; you may need to sign in again
Unlink account	Remove the local account link from auto-mcs; this requires confirmation

Note

While enabling playit is per-server, the settings and linked account are global; regardless of which server you open the settings on. For instance, unlinking an account on one server will unlink it from auto-mcs, and every server. However, this won’t remove the setting that tunneling was enabled

Additionally, unlinking locally does not remove the agent from your playit.gg account. If you no longer need it, remove the agent separately through the web panel. It’s recommended to click Open panel first before unlinking your account for a handy shortcut

Proxy protocol

When using playit, Minecraft may see the tunnel’s local/proxy IP instead of a player’s real address. This can affect IP bans, geolocation, and the details shown in Access Control.

Caution

When Paper requires Proxy Protocol, ordinary direct Minecraft clients won’t be able to join that listener without sending the protocol header. This can also affect localhost and LAN connections. Don’t enable it as a general connection fix; follow the setup guide and verify the playit connection before relying on it

Proxy Protocol forwards the original client’s IP address to a server that supports it. It isn’t required just to let players connect; it must be configured on both the playit tunnel and the receiving server.

On Paper, for example, the setting is proxies.proxy-protocol in config/paper-global.yml. Enable the matching setting on your playit tunnel and select a compatible Proxy Protocol version (playit recommends v2). The Paper guide covers this process.

For Bedrock connections, Geyser has separate bedrock.enable-proxy-protocol and remote.use-proxy-protocol settings. Follow playit’s Geyser instructions so Geyser, Paper, and the tunnel agree on the protocol.

Tip

In the server’s Settings, use Edit Configuration Files to edit both the Paper and Geyser settings from the configuration editor

Troubleshooting playit.gg

When having connectivity issues, always start with verifying local connectivity before changing anything with playit. If playit is the culprit, the server will work over LAN, but not over the internet. Below are some common issues and methodologies for working through this process. Keep in mind that for most of these tests, the server you are testing needs to be running.

Tip

If you’re trying to join on the same computer or network where auto-mcs is running, use the server’s LAN IP to connect instead of the public playit tunnel address. If it’s the same computer, you can use the localhost address to join the server instead; the tunnel address may not connect locally even if it does for other people. See LAN configuration for more details

Nobody can join

1. Verify the local connection. First, test the server itself, and then test your local network. If the LAN connection doesn’t work, playit won’t either
2. Check the address you shared. On the Launch screen, click to copy the example.tun.ply.gg public address displayed at the top to give to people who are connecting; this address needs to be entered into their Minecraft client. If you only see a private LAN address at the top (such as 192.168.x.x), the tunnel is not starting
3. Check your agent and tunnel. In the server’s Network Settings, click the settings button beside enable proxy (playit), and select Open panel. On playit.gg’s website under Agents, check that the auto-mcs agent is online & connected, and that the tunnel is enabled and points to the correct local port. Compare it with the one used by the server. If the agent is offline, the tunnel is not starting
4. Test from outside your network. Test the public connection with the playit address

If the public test fails for everyone while LAN works: check the tunnel’s local destination and the Console for Initialized playit connection 'example.tun.ply.gg'. If the agent is offline or the initialization failed, the tunnel did not start.

Some people can’t join

First, ensure everyone’s Minecraft client is compatible with the server; confirm that a compatible game version is used, and that any required client-side mods are installed. Additionally, a Java tunnel doesn’t convert a Java server into Bedrock; Bedrock connections require Geyser and its UDP setup.

If someone sees Unknown host or can’t resolve the example.tun.ply.gg hostname while other people can connect, their DNS resolver may be the problem. A DNS server translates the server name into an IP address, and the playit hostname may not be resolving an IP address for them at all.

Note

The following testing needs to be done on the computer of the person with this issue, not the computer that auto-mcs is running on. Before changing DNS settings, take a screenshot of the current settings first so you can have the opportunity to restore any changes if needed

You can use a terminal to compare the normal DNS lookup with Cloudflare’s:

nslookup example.tun.ply.gg
nslookup example.tun.ply.gg 1.1.1.1

Have them replace example.tun.ply.gg with your server’s hostname without its :port. If the usual lookup fails but Cloudflare returns an address, have them change their DNS settings. Visit 1.1.1.1/help, scroll down to the Setup guides, and select their operating system. The page provides step-by-step instructions and videos for changing DNS settings, and can also help verify that they’re using Cloudflare. After setting this up, have them try connecting again.

If DNS starts resolving but Minecraft still times out, return to the public connection test. If this change doesn’t help, restore your previous DNS settings or use the Automatic configuration.

The tunnel doesn’t start

If the example.tun.ply.gg address doesn’t appear after launch, start small and you can usually find out why:

1. Check that the playit integration is enabled. Open the server’s Network Settings and confirm enable proxy (playit) is enabled
2. Check the Console for startup warnings. A successful tunnel initialization will display: Initialized playit connection 'example.tun.ply.gg'. If the integration is enabled and initialization fails, auto-mcs will display a warning: The internal playit service is currently unavailable. This means the tunnel did not start. To find out why, open the application log and search for “error starting playit service” or “PlayitManager” to see the underlying error.
3. Check playit’s network itself. Open the playit.gg status page. If its network or your region is experiencing an outage, leave the local agent alone and check again after service is restored.

You can also run !info network after launch to confirm which address auto-mcs is currently using. A successfully initialized playit tunnel will use its tunnel hostname as the active address

Still not working? Try relinking the account:

• First, stop the server. In the playit settings drop-down, choose Unlink account and confirm. Then, repeat the steps to link your account. After this, launch the server again and check whether the tunnel starts successfully

As a last resort, you can reset the local agent files:

1. Completely exit auto-mcs, and stop any running servers
2. Open the app data directory and find Tools/playit. Only delete this folder. This removes the local agent, account configuration, and tunnel cache
3. Restart auto-mcs, go to your server’s Network Settings, and repeat the steps to link your account. After this, launch the server again and check whether the tunnel starts successfully

Caution

The installed playit agent and linked account are shared by all servers on this auto-mcs instance. Unlinking or deleting its local folder affects every server using it. Deleting the local folder does not remove the agent or tunnels from your playit.gg account; you’ll need to remove those separately from the web panel

The address keeps changing

If you have several tunnels on your account for the same port, auto-mcs may pick one that you don’t wish to use. From Open panel, navigate to the Tunnels tab on playit.gg’s website to view the configured tunnels, or remove any of the ones you don’t wish to use.

Otherwise, check the Console for Networking conflict detected. When another process occupies its configured port, auto-mcs temporarily assigns a free port, then creates or reuses a playit tunnel for that active port. The public address can change as a result. See Running multiple servers for more information.

If you’ve deleted or modified a tunnel in the playit web panel, it may also be recreated with another public address. Always copy the current address from the Server Manager before sharing it as this can change.