Document the release vs. SNAPSHOT policy since Velocity 4.x
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Description
Requested Feature
A documented versioning and release policy for Velocity 4.x, ideally on the getting-started page, that answers:
- Which line a production server should follow: the latest release only, or the latest build regardless of whether its version has a
-SNAPSHOTsuffix. - Whether support for a new Minecraft version will always be cut as a release (as 26.3 was with 4.2.0), or whether it can land in a SNAPSHOT and stay there for a while before a release follows.
- Whether older release lines (e.g. 4.1.x once 4.2.0 is out) are still supported, or whether it is always "latest only" like Paper.
Why is this needed?
Until Velocity 3.x, SNAPSHOT builds were effectively the production line: 3.1.2-SNAPSHOT, 3.2.0-SNAPSHOT, 3.3.0-SNAPSHOT and 3.6.0-SNAPSHOT never got a release at all, and the docs and download page pointed at whatever the current SNAPSHOT was. Since 4.0.0 the pattern has changed: full releases are now cut regularly, but SNAPSHOT versions keep getting published in between, and nothing I can find explains how the two relate or which one a production server is expected to run.
Concretely, from the Fill API and the dev/4.0.0 history:
| Version | Builds | Dates | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0.0 | 6 | 2026-07-14 | release |
| 4.1.0 | – | 2026-08-24 | release |
| 4.1.1-SNAPSHOT | 23 | 2026-08-26 | one build, released as 4.1.1 the same day |
| 4.1.1 | 24 | 2026-08-26 | release |
| 4.1.2-SNAPSHOT | 25–29 | 2026-09-01 → 2026-09-14 | build 29 already contained Minecraft 26.3 support |
| 4.2.0 | 30 | 2026-09-14 | release, 12 minutes after build 29; 4.1.2 itself was never released |
All of these builds, SNAPSHOT or not, are reported by Fill with channel: STABLE, the downloads page only shows the latest release, and there are no GitHub releases or tags. docs.papermc.io/velocity/getting-started says "We recommend getting the latest stable version" but does not define what "stable" means in this scheme.
I run a proxy in front of Paper servers that always track the latest Paper version, and the Velocity build is pinned in an automated deployment. When a new Minecraft version ships I need to know where to look for the Velocity build that supports it, and whether I can trust a SNAPSHOT build in production the way I could with 3.x.
Alternative Solutions
A short answer in this issue would already help. Ideally the same text would go into the getting-started docs so the "latest stable version" recommendation is unambiguous.
Additional Information
No response
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Review docs.papermc.io/velocity/getting-started and the Fill API/build history cited in the issue. Confirm the maintainers' answers about release versus SNAPSHOT builds and older release support, then document the agreed policy on the getting-started page.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- java
- Domain
- documentation, release
- Issue type
- Documentation
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Active
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 48/100