FadeHost Bridge
Let friends join the server on your own PC, with no port forwarding
FadeHost Bridge gives a game server running on your own computer a public address, name.play.fadehost.net, so friends can join it from anywhere. The program on your machine opens one connection out to a FadeHost relay in Canada, France or Singapore, and the relay carries the game traffic both ways. There is no port forwarding, no router change and no inbound firewall rule, and your home IP address is never shown to players. It works with any Minecraft server you can start on your PC: vanilla, Forge, NeoForge, Fabric, Paper, Spigot, Purpur and Bedrock Dedicated Server, and with every other game that listens on a port. Minecraft Java players join by the name alone, Bedrock players by the name and the port the panel shows. One address is free, with no card.
The bridge program is the way that covers all of it, with nothing installed inside the server. The plugin saves the login step on a Bukkit, Spigot, Paper or Purpur server, and the mods do the same on a Fabric, NeoForge or Forge server and for a single player world opened to LAN. Bridge Pro is $3 a month, and comes with every paid FadeHost subscription.
Windows
Download the program, then run .\bridge.exe login and approve the code it prints. It keeps the address up while it runs.
Windows 10 and 11, 64 bit, version 0.3.1. SmartScreen may ask once: More info, then Run anyway.
macOS and Linux
One line in a terminal installs it for your user and checks the download. Then bridge login once, and bridge to run it.
curl -fsSL https://fadehost.com/bridge/install.sh | shIntel and ARM. Prefer to look first? Read the script, or download a binary: macOS ARM, macOS Intel, Linux x64, Linux ARM.
Running a Bukkit, Spigot, Paper or Purpur server, a modded server, or opening a world to LAN? The plugin and the mod builds are further down the page. Everything else, vanilla, a proxy or another game, uses the program above, and your address lives under Bridge in the panel either way.
Which one do I need
The bridge program covers every case, and it installs nothing inside your server: it carries the ports from outside, Java on 25565 and Bedrock on 19132 to start with. The plugin and the mods are shortcuts for a few particular cases: a Bukkit, Spigot, Paper or Purpur server, a Fabric, NeoForge or Forge server on a Minecraft line that has a mod build, and a world opened to LAN. All of them end in the same place: an address under Bridge in the panel, and a program holding it up.
| What you are running | Use | Where it runs | What you install |
|---|---|---|---|
| A vanilla server.jar on my PC | The bridge program | Next to the server, on the machine that runs it | bridge 0.3.1 |
| A Fabric server on my PC, Minecraft 26.1 and up, 1.21.1 or 1.20.1 | The Fabric mod, or the bridge program | In the server, as a mod | The Fabric mod for that version, 0.1.0 |
| A NeoForge server on my PC, Minecraft 26.1 and up, or 1.21.1 | The NeoForge mod, or the bridge program | In the server, as a mod | The NeoForge mod for that version, 0.1.0 |
| A Forge server on my PC, Minecraft 1.21.1 or 1.20.1 | The Forge mod, or the bridge program | In the server, as a mod | The Forge mod for that version, 0.1.0 |
| Another Forge version, a Quilt server, a modded server on any other Minecraft version, or a world opened to LAN on Forge | The bridge program | Next to the server, on the machine that runs it | bridge 0.3.1 |
| A Velocity or BungeeCord proxy, or Bedrock Dedicated Server | The bridge program | Next to the server, on the machine that runs it | bridge 0.3.1 |
| Another game: Valheim, Terraria, Palworld, Factorio, voice chat | The bridge program | Next to the server, on the machine that runs it | bridge 0.3.1 |
| A Bukkit, Spigot, Paper or Purpur server I start myself | The Minecraft server plugin, which saves the login step | In the server, as a plugin | FadeHostBridge-0.1.0.jar |
| A single player world I open to LAN, with no server at all | The Fabric or NeoForge mod | In the Minecraft client | The Fabric or NeoForge mod for your version, 0.1.0 |
The bridge program
Any game, any server software, any operating system
- 1On macOS and Linux run curl -fsSL https://fadehost.com/bridge/install.sh | sh. On Windows download bridge.exe from this page.
- 2Run bridge login, or .\bridge.exe login on Windows. It prints a short code, and you approve that code in the panel.
- 3Start your game server the way you always do, then run bridge. It prints the address your friends type.
It carries a vanilla server.jar, Forge, NeoForge, Fabric, Paper, Spigot, Purpur, a Velocity proxy, Bedrock Dedicated Server and every other game, with nothing installed inside the server. bridge service install registers it with the system, so the address comes back with the machine.
The Minecraft server plugin
A Bukkit, Spigot, Paper or Purpur server
- 1Put FadeHostBridge-0.1.0.jar in your server's plugins folder.
- 2On the first start the plugin fetches the bridge program, checks it against the sha256 we publish, and prints a claim link with a code in the console. Operators who join get the same link in chat.
- 3Approve the code in the panel. Every later start prints Public address up. Players join at name.play.fadehost.net, and /bridge prints it at any time.
Bukkit, Spigot, Paper and Purpur, Minecraft 1.8 to 26.x, Java 8 or newer. All it saves you is the login step. A modded server cannot load a Bukkit plugin: a Fabric, NeoForge or Forge server on a Minecraft line that has a build takes the mod for its loader instead, and another Forge version, a Quilt server, any other Minecraft version or a vanilla server.jar runs the program. It passes the server's own port, and Geyser's port for Bedrock. On a server hosted here it does nothing.
The Fabric, NeoForge and Forge mods
Seven builds: a world opened to LAN, or a modded server
- 1Put the build for your loader and your Minecraft version in a mods folder: your game's for a world you open to LAN, your server's for a Fabric, NeoForge or Forge server.
- 2Start the server, or start the game, open a world, press Esc, choose Open to LAN, then Start LAN World.
- 3A claim code appears in the console or in chat the first time. Approve it in the panel and the address is printed, ready to share.
The latest jar, by loader and Minecraft version:
One jar per loader and Minecraft line. Fabric and NeoForge work on a client and on a server; the Forge builds are a server only. The address belongs to that game or server folder, so later starts get the same one. Another Forge version, a Quilt server, any other Minecraft version or a world opened to LAN on Forge runs the program instead.
The full steps, with the things that go wrong, are in the docs: Bridge, addresses and ports, troubleshooting.
Downloads
The program for every operating system is at the top of this page. The Minecraft plugin and the seven mod builds come from our builds pages: each page lists every build, and the latest link always serves the newest successful one. There is one mod jar per loader and Minecraft line. A Fabric or NeoForge jar is the same file for a client and for a server, and the Fabric builds need no Fabric API; a Forge jar is for a server.
| What | File | Works with | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Server plugin | FadeHostBridge-0.1.0.jar | Bukkit, Spigot, Paper and Purpur. Minecraft 1.8 to 26.x, Java 8 or newer. | Latest jar · All builds |
| Fabric mod, Minecraft 26.1 up to 27 | fadehost-bridge-fabric-mc26-0.1.0.jar | A client for a LAN world, or a Fabric server. Built against 26.2, tested on Fabric Loader 0.19.5. Java 25. | Latest jar · All builds |
| Fabric mod, Minecraft 1.21.1 | fadehost-bridge-fabric-mc1.21.1-0.1.0.jar | A client for a LAN world, or a Fabric server. Minecraft 1.21.1 only, tested on Fabric Loader 0.16.14. Java 21. | Latest jar · All builds |
| Fabric mod, Minecraft 1.20.1 | fadehost-bridge-fabric-mc1.20.1-0.1.0.jar | A client for a LAN world, or a Fabric server. Minecraft 1.20.1 only, tested on Fabric Loader 0.16.14. Java 17. | Latest jar · All builds |
| NeoForge mod, Minecraft 26.1 up to 27 | fadehost-bridge-neoforge-mc26-0.1.0.jar | A client for a LAN world, or a NeoForge server. Built against 26.2, tested on NeoForge 26.2.0.88. Java 25. | Latest jar · All builds |
| NeoForge mod, Minecraft 1.21.1 | fadehost-bridge-neoforge-mc1.21.1-0.1.0.jar | A client for a LAN world, or a NeoForge server. Minecraft 1.21.1 only, NeoForge 21.1, tested on 21.1.256. Java 21. | Latest jar · All builds |
| Forge mod, Minecraft 1.21.1 | fadehost-bridge-forge-mc1.21.1-0.1.0.jar | A Forge server, Minecraft 1.21.1 only. Forge 52 or newer, tested on 1.21.1-52.1.16. Java 21. Not for a world opened to LAN. | Latest jar · All builds |
| Forge mod, Minecraft 1.20.1 | fadehost-bridge-forge-mc1.20.1-0.1.0.jar | A Forge server, Minecraft 1.20.1 only. Forge 47 or newer, tested on 1.20.1-47.4.26. Java 17. Not for a world opened to LAN. | Latest jar · All builds |
Neither the plugin nor the mods ask you to install the program first: both fetch the newest bridge before every start and check it against the sha256 we publish. They are not on Modrinth, CurseForge or Hangar.
Do I need to port forward
No. Nothing is opened on your router, and no inbound rule is needed anywhere. The program on your machine makes one connection out to a FadeHost relay, and players connect to the relay. A home connection behind carrier-grade NAT, where forwarding a port is not possible at all, works the same way.
How do friends join a world I opened to LAN
Put the Fabric or NeoForge build for your Minecraft version in your mods folder, open the world, press Esc, choose Open to LAN, then Start LAN World. Chat prints a claim code the first time; approve it in the panel and chat prints the address. Friends add that address in their server list. They need the same Minecraft version and the same mods as the world, exactly as they would for any LAN world, and they do not need the Bridge mod. The address belongs to your game folder, so the next world you open to LAN uses the same one with no second claim.
Does it work for Bedrock
Yes. Bedrock rides the same name as Java, on its own UDP port, which the panel shows on the address. Bedrock players put the name in Server Address and that number in Port, because Bedrock clients do not read the SRV record Java uses. On a Java server, Geyser is what lets them in, and the plugin reads Geyser's port by itself.
Is my home IP address exposed
No. Players connect to the relay, never to your machine, so your home address is not in the server list, not in a player's logs and not in anything you paste into a chat. The only connection your machine makes is the outbound one to the relay.
What do players see when my PC is off
A sentence instead of a timeout. A Minecraft Java player who connects while the machine is off, or while the program is stopped, reads "quiet-fox is offline. Ask Frost to start Bridge on their PC." with your own address and first name in it. Every address also has a join page that shows whether the server is up, which is a better thing to send a friend than a hostname.
Is it free
One address is free with no card: two ports, 300 GB of traffic a month, and an address nobody connects to for 30 days is released. Bridge Pro is $3 a month or $30 a year, and gives four addresses, eight ports each, a name you choose, one of our Minecraft domains or your own, login protection and no traffic cap. Every paid FadeHost subscription includes Pro. The program, the plugin and the mods are free on both tiers.
Looking for a playit.gg, e4mc, Hamachi or ngrok alternative
Tunnelling a port is the easy half. The half that decides whether your friends get in is what happens around it.
An address that can move to hosting
We are the host as well as the relay. When your machine stops being enough, the same world runs on a FadeHost server. Keeping the same address through that move is coming; the account, the panel and the bill are already one place.
A page behind every address
Each address gets a join page: online or not, who is playing, the address with a copy button. Send the page to the friend who has never added a server by hand.
The offline screen
Java players who connect while your machine is off read that the server is offline and who to ask, instead of staring at a timeout. The panel counts how often it happened.
Login protection at the door
The same door our hosted servers use, running on the relay: Microsoft logins walk through, friends on other launchers register a password. A world that is not in online mode stops being open to any name. On Pro.
Java and Bedrock on one name
An SRV record means Java players type the name alone. Bedrock rides the same name on its own port, and UDP games and voice chat come along too.
Presets from our own catalogue
Valheim, Terraria, Palworld, Factorio, Mumble and Simple Voice Chat fill in their own ports. The numbers are never typed from memory.
Three regions
Relays in Canada, France and Singapore. Pick the one nearest your machine and your players reach it over our network instead of your upload.
| FadeHost Bridge | playit.gg | e4mc | Hamachi | ngrok | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A page your friends can open | A join page per address: online or not, who is playing, the address with a copy button | No page, an address | No | No | No |
| When your machine is off | A Minecraft screen naming the server and who to ask, and a count of who tried | A connection error | A connection error | Nothing to connect to | The endpoint is gone |
| A Minecraft login check in front of the server | Login protection on Pro: Microsoft logins walk through, other launchers register a password | Firewall rules by address, no account check | No | A network password, no account check | No |
| Ways to set it up | A program for any server, a Minecraft server plugin, or one of seven mod builds for a Fabric, NeoForge or Forge server and for a world opened to LAN | An agent on your machine | A client mod for a LAN world | A VPN client on every player's machine | A developer gateway, no Minecraft plugin or mod |
| Hosting on the same account when the PC is not enough | From a free 2 GB server up to always on from $2.50 a month | Not a host | Not a host | Not a host | Not a host |
The other services as their own sites describe them. Each one has a page of its own: Bridge vs playit.gg, vs e4mc, vs Hamachi, vs ngrok.
Free and Pro
Bridge Pro is $3 a month or $30 a year. Every paid FadeHost subscription includes it, down to a $2.50 server slot, so most customers never buy it separately.
| Bridge | Bridge Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Addresses | 1 | 4 |
| Ports per address | 2 | 8 |
| The name | A word pair we pick, kept while you use it | One you choose, on one of our Minecraft domains or your own |
| Join page | Yes | Yes |
| Offline screen | Yes | Yes, with a Discord ping to you |
| Login protection | No | Yes |
| Relays | The nearest one | The nearest one, with priority |
| Traffic | 300 GB a month fair use | No cap, fair use |
| An unused address | Released after 30 days | Kept |
| Price | Free, no card | $3 a month, $30 a year, or included |
The counted details are in the docs: limits and Bridge Pro.
What it does not do
Worth knowing before you build a weekend around it.
- Your machine has to be on and the server running. The address answers while the program holds the tunnel; the rest of the time players get the offline screen.
- Every player's traffic crosses your home upload, and the relay adds a few milliseconds. A relay near you keeps that small, and a hosted server removes it.
- The free tier is one address, two ports and 300 GB a month. An address nobody connects to for 30 days is released.
- The Windows program is not signed yet, so SmartScreen warns the first time: More info, then Run anyway.
- Mail, web and remote desktop ports are not carried. Bridge is for game servers and the services around them.
- The mods are one jar per loader and Minecraft line: Fabric on 26.1 up to 27, 1.21.1 and 1.20.1, NeoForge on 26.1 up to 27 and 1.21.1, both on a client and on a server, and Forge on 1.21.1 and 1.20.1 for a server only. For anything else, use the program or the server plugin, which do not care what the server runs.
- The plugin and the mods are not on Modrinth, CurseForge or Hangar yet. They come from our builds pages, linked above.
- Moving a bridged world to a hosted server while keeping the same address is coming. Today you upload the world and share the new address once.
Host it here when the PC is not enough
Bridge does not change the two things your machine decides: it is online while the machine is, and every player's traffic crosses your home upload. A server on our hardware changes both, and the cheapest one costs nothing.
For a world played in the evenings: it sleeps between sessions and keeps everything.
Pricing1 GB and a slot, $1 for each extra gigabyte, moved any day. Bridge Pro included.
Minecraft hostingBringing the world across is a zip and an upload: upload a world, or let the importer pull it from another host. Doing it without changing the address is coming.
Bridged with FadeHost
Running a plugin, a modpack or a server people read about on GitHub? Paste this in the README so the people trying it know how to get an address of their own.
[](https://fadehost.com/bridge/)For a README that is not Markdown, link the same SVG:
<a href="https://fadehost.com/bridge/"><img src="https://fadehost.com/bridged-with-fadehost.svg" alt="Bridged with FadeHost" height="20"></a>Frequently asked questions
Do my friends need to install anything?
No. They type the address in the Minecraft server list, or open the join page. Only the machine running the server runs the program. Friends joining a world you opened to LAN need the same Minecraft version and the same mods as the world, which is true of any LAN world, and they still do not need the Bridge mod.
Does my computer have to stay on?
Yes. The server runs on your machine, so the address answers while the machine and the server are up. Players who turn up while it is off get a screen telling them to ask you, and the panel counts how many tried. If you want the world online around the clock, a hosted server does that and the free one costs nothing.
Is FadeHost Bridge a VPN?
No. Nobody joins a network of yours and nothing is routed into your LAN. The program opens one connection out to a relay, and the relay carries only the ports on your address.
Which games does it carry?
Anything that listens on a TCP or UDP port. Minecraft Java and Bedrock are set up from the start, and presets cover Valheim, Terraria, Palworld, Factorio, Mumble and Simple Voice Chat. Other ports go on the address in the panel.
Does it work with a Forge, NeoForge or Fabric server?
Yes. There is a mod build for each loader and Minecraft line: Fabric on 26.1 up to 27, 1.21.1 and 1.20.1, NeoForge on 26.1 up to 27 and 1.21.1, and Forge on 1.21.1 with Forge 52 or newer and on 1.20.1 with Forge 47 or newer. Drop the build for your loader and your version in the server's mods folder, start the server, and the console prints a link and a code to claim the address on the first start. On another Forge version, a Quilt server, or a modded server on any other Minecraft version, run the bridge program next to the server instead, with nothing installed inside the server. The address and everything around it are the same either way.
Does it work with a plain vanilla server.jar?
Yes, the same way. A vanilla server loads no plugins at all, so the bridge program sits next to it: install, bridge login once, start the server, run bridge. Java is carried on 25565 and Bedrock on 19132 to start with, and other ports go on the address in the panel.
Do I need the plugin?
No. The plugin only saves you the login step, and only on Bukkit, Spigot, Paper and Purpur servers, which are the ones that can load it. A Fabric, NeoForge or Forge server on a Minecraft line that has a build takes the mod for its loader instead, and everything else, vanilla, another Forge version, a proxy or Bedrock Dedicated Server, runs the bridge program next to it. All three end at the same address with the same features.
Which Minecraft versions does the server plugin support?
FadeHostBridge-0.1.0.jar runs on Bukkit, Spigot, Paper and Purpur servers from Minecraft 1.8 to 26.x, on Java 8 or newer.
Which Minecraft versions do the Fabric, NeoForge and Forge mods support?
There are seven builds, one jar per loader and Minecraft line. Fabric covers 26.1 up to 27, 1.21.1 and 1.20.1, and NeoForge covers 26.1 up to 27 and 1.21.1, both in the client for a world opened to LAN and in a server. Forge covers 1.21.1 with Forge 52 or newer and 1.20.1 with Forge 47 or newer, and serves a dedicated server rather than a world opened to LAN. The 1.21.1 and 1.20.1 builds load on that one version and nothing else, each on the Java its line needs anyway: Java 25 on 26.1 and up, Java 21 on 1.21.1, Java 17 on 1.20.1. The 26 builds are built against 26.2. Tested on Fabric Loader 0.16.14 and 0.19.5, NeoForge 21.1.256 and 26.2.0.88, and Forge 1.21.1-52.1.16 and 1.20.1-47.4.26. The Fabric builds need no Fabric API. For anything else, use the bridge program or the server plugin instead.
Do the plugin and the mods need the bridge program installed first?
No. Both fetch the newest bridge program from our release feed before every start and check it against the sha256 we publish, so a fix reaches them the next time the server or the game starts.
Where do I download the plugin and the mods?
From our builds pages, linked on this page. Each one has a page listing every build and a latest link that always serves the newest successful build. They are not on Modrinth, CurseForge or Hangar.
Windows says it protected my PC. What now?
The program is new and not yet signed with a certificate Windows knows, so SmartScreen warns the first time. Choose More info, then Run anyway. The installer and the program's own updates check every download against the sha256 the release feed publishes.
How do I keep the address up after a reboot?
Run bridge service install once. It registers the program with the system, a Windows service, launchd on macOS or systemd on Linux, and the address comes back with the machine.
Can I use the plugin on a server hosted at FadeHost?
You can install it, and it will do nothing, by design. A hosted server already has a public address, so the plugin stays out of the way.
What happens to the address if I move to a hosted server?
You create the hosted server, upload the world and share its address once. Bridge and the hosting live in one account, so the server, the bill and the panel are all in the same place.
Give your server a name
One address is free, and the program takes a minute. Support is a ticket away if the first run looks odd.