What Is Waterfall and Is It Still Maintained According to PaperMC Docs?

Updated

Waterfall is a discontinued BungeeCord proxy fork that aimed to improve performance and stability. According to PaperMC Docs, it is no longer maintained, so new deployments should use Velocity instead. The documentation remains available for reference, but it should not be treated as a supported option for new servers.

What Waterfall Was

Waterfall was built on BungeeCord, the long-standing Minecraft server proxy, with changes intended to improve performance and stability. A proxy sits in front of backend servers and routes player connections, which is useful for networks with multiple servers.

PaperMC Docs lists Waterfall alongside its other projects but explicitly labels it as discontinued. That label is the key fact for anyone deciding whether to use it.

Is Waterfall Still Maintained?

No. PaperMC Docs describes Waterfall as a discontinued BungeeCord proxy fork. The documentation is still hosted on the site, but hosting documentation is not the same as active maintenance. The project should be treated as legacy software.

Question Answer from PaperMC Docs
What is Waterfall? A BungeeCord proxy fork
What was its goal? Improve performance and stability
Is it maintained? No, it is discontinued
Is documentation available? Yes, still hosted on PaperMC Docs
What should new setups use? Velocity, the modern proxy listed on the same site

Why the Distinction Matters

Using a discontinued proxy means you are relying on software that is not receiving ongoing fixes or updates. For a public Minecraft network, that is a meaningful operational risk. The documentation page is useful for understanding existing setups, but it is not a signal that Waterfall is a current choice.

What to Use Instead

PaperMC Docs presents Velocity as the modern, next-generation Minecraft server proxy. For a new proxy deployment, Velocity is the project the documentation positions as current. If you are migrating from Waterfall or BungeeCord, review the Velocity documentation on the same site before changing your setup, since proxy configuration and plugin compatibility are the usual sticking points.

Quick Checklist

  • Confirm whether your current setup already uses Waterfall; if so, plan a migration path.
  • Read the Velocity documentation on PaperMC Docs before starting a new proxy build.
  • Treat the Waterfall pages as historical reference, not as a setup guide for new servers.
  • Check plugin compatibility against Velocity rather than assuming BungeeCord-era plugins will carry over unchanged.