DNS and ports

Players connect to the Smart Proxy (port 25565 by default), which reads the address they typed and sends them to the matching server. For that to work from the internet you need DNS records and, at home, a port forward.

Your domain

The easiest setup: add a domain you own, such as example.com, during first-run setup or later in Settings › Domains (you can add several). Then create one DNS record for it:

Record	Name	Points at
A (and AAAA for IPv6)	*.example.com	your public IP address

That one wildcard record covers every server: when you create a server, you choose its name on the domain (by default the server’s own name), so players join with smp.example.com, creative.example.com, and so on, with nothing more to set up. Use Check DNS next to the domain to see where it points. To use the domain itself (example.com) for a server, add an A record for example.com too.

Other names and ports

When creating a server you can also give it:

• a different hostname, any full name you control, such as play.example.org, which needs its own A record;
• a port of its own, such as 25566, for players without a domain, who join with <your IP>:25566;
• no address yet, adding one later on Proxy & routes.

The Proxy & routes page lists every record your domains and routes need, under DNS records to create, including an SRV record when the proxy isn’t on port 25565, so players don’t have to type the port. Wildcard names can’t have SRV records, so players joining through one type the port.

Cloudflare

Minecraft records must be DNS only (grey cloud). Cloudflare’s proxy carries web traffic, not Minecraft.

Ports

• Forward TCP 25565 on your router to the NetherNode machine, plus any port you gave a server of its own. Servers’ internal ports stay on loopback and never need forwarding.
• Don’t forward the panel’s port (8080). Reach it on your network, over a VPN, or through a Cloudflare Tunnel.
• If your provider uses CGNAT (no public IPv4), port forwarding won’t work; use IPv6 or a TCP tunnelling service.

Checking it works

From outside your network, add the server in Minecraft’s multiplayer menu with the hostname. If the server is asleep, the list says so (“join to wake”); joining wakes it, and you can join about 30 seconds later.