NetworkM

NetworkM is a networking library providing RakNet and NetherNet transports for Netty. It was created by merging EduGeyser's Network and NetworkCompatible forks, bringing their transport features and fixes into one codebase.

Since the merge, NetworkM has been modernized with Java 21, Netty 4.2, and updated build tooling and dependencies. Further work has improved transport performance, connection handling, and protocol compatibility, with fixes covered by automated tests.

Usage

NetworkM 1.0.0 is available from Maven Central. Both transports require Java 21 or newer. Add Maven Central to your build.gradle.kts:

repositories {
    mavenCentral()
}

Add the transport you use, or both if your application needs both.

For RakNet:

dependencies {
    implementation("io.github.sendablemetatype.netty:netty-transport-raknet:1.0.0")
}

For NetherNet, also include the WebRTC native library for your runtime platform. This example targets Linux x86-64:

dependencies {
    implementation("io.github.sendablemetatype.netty:netty-transport-nethernet:1.0.0")
    runtimeOnly("io.github.sendablemetatype.webrtc:webrtc-java:0.17.0-sm.1:linux-x86_64")
}

The WebRTC Java API is included transitively. Keep the native version matched to it; NetworkM 1.0.0 uses WebRTC 0.17.0-sm.1. Replace the classifier in the example with the one for your platform, or include each platform your application supports:

Platform	Native classifier
Linux x86-64	linux-x86_64
Linux ARM64	linux-aarch64
Linux ARM32	linux-aarch32
Windows x86-64	windows-x86_64
Windows ARM64	windows-aarch64
macOS x86-64	macos-x86_64
macOS ARM64	macos-aarch64

See RakNet configuration and NetherNet setup for transport configuration.

Compatibility

Module	Java target	Packages
transport-raknet	21	io.github.sendablemetatype.netty
transport-nethernet	21	io.github.sendablemetatype.netty

Both modules use Netty 4.2.17.Final, aligned through its BOM. Applications that provide Netty must use compatible 4.2 modules together. RakNet depends on netty-codec-base rather than the aggregate netty-codec artifact, so it does not pull in unrelated codecs.

NetworkM uses its own Java packages. Consumers migrating from Network or NetworkCompatible must update their imports and rebuild. Libraries that directly reference transport classes, such as Cloudburst Protocol's connection module, also need a build targeting NetworkM.

NetherNet uses the slim webrtc-java fork. Its Java packages use the io.github.sendablemetatype.webrtc namespace.

Building from source

Run ./gradlew build (or gradlew.bat build on Windows) with Java 17 or newer. Gradle provisions JDK 26 for compilation and JDK 21 for tests. Compilation uses --release 21. CI runs the same tests on Java 21, 25, and 26; use -PtestJavaVersion=25 or -PtestJavaVersion=26 to select a newer test runtime locally.

Local builds use the development version declared in gradle.properties. NETWORK_PUBLISH_VERSION overrides it when preparing a release. Forks can change the Maven group with -PnetworkGroup=your.group; Java packages do not change.

Publishing

Release and feature-snapshot publication are manual workflows. The generic Maven deployment workflow remains reusable. Publishing requires the relevant repository credentials and signing keys; ordinary builds do not publish. POM project, source, issue, and CI links use GitHub Actions' GITHUB_REPOSITORY. For local publication, set -PnetworkRepository=owner/repository. Local builds without this setting omit repository links.

codec-query and codec-rcon source trees are retained for reference. They were not included in either active Gradle build and are not included here.