Velocity Auto Start:

AutoStart is a Velocity proxy plugin that starts your backend Minecraft server on demand and shuts it down automatically when nobody's online — saving resources without keeping the server running 24/7.

How it works:

When a player tries to connect through the proxy and the backend is offline, the plugin automatically fires a configurable start command (e.g. a screen + shell script), kicks the player with a friendly "starting up" message, and updates the server list MOTD to show a "STARTING… PLEASE WAIT" status. Once the server is up, players can join normally. When the last player leaves, a configurable idle timer (default: 20 minutes) counts down and gracefully stops the server.

Features:

⚡ On-demand startup — backend server starts the moment a player tries to connect 💤 Idle shutdown — automatically stops the server after a configurable period of inactivity 📋 Dynamic MOTD — shows different status messages depending on server state (offline, starting, online) 🔧 Fully configurable — backend host/port, start/stop commands, idle timeout, and all messages are set via config.toml 💬 MiniMessage support — MOTD and kick messages use the MiniMessage format for rich formatting

Requirements:

Velocity proxy