Minecraft - Authentication Servers

As of the time of writing, Minecraft has had a few issues with their authentication servers. This post will cover what that means, as there seems to be some confusion.

It's Not an Issue with Kinetic

Before we dive in, we first want to state that this isn't an error with Kinetic Hosting. If the authentication servers are down, then it's an issue on Mojang's end, and there isn't anything we can do on our side to solve it.

What Are Authentication Servers?

Authentication servers are servers responsible for verifying the identity of players. When you log into Minecraft, the game checks with Mojang's authentication servers to make sure you are who you say you are. If the authentication servers are down, you won't be able to log into the game.

If It's Not an Issue with Kinetic, Why Do Some Servers Work?

Some servers will remain working as they run a plugin that saves the authentication info of their players. So when the servers go offline, players are still able to join. This is also something you can do on your server, and we'll cover that in a moment.

Another reason is due to how the authentication servers work. While we don't know the ins and outs of the systems, with a game as big as Minecraft, it's safe to assume they have more than one authentication server. This is why sometimes some players can join fine, and others can't.

What Can I Do to Prevent This?

You can prevent this by adding a plugin like this: AlwaysOnline. Simply install, join the server while the authentication servers are working. Then if they ever go down, you'll still be able to join your server.

Conclusion

We know it can be a pain that you can't access your server, but as said before, there isn't anything Kinetic Hosting can do if the servers go offline. This is a system managed by Mojang, and they need to fix it on their end.

Mojang used to have a simple stats page to let users know if the servers are down for maintenance or just to update people on their status. Sadly, this seems to have gone, and the servers now go offline without warning.

We hope Mojang puts something better in place or updates the error message to inform users more about the error.