# MySQL Connector\/J for Minecraft<\/p>\n
Oracle’s official MySQL Connector\/J repackaged as a Bukkit\/Spigot\/Paper plugin and a Fabric\/Forge\/NeoForge mod.<\/p>\n
> **Heads up:** CraftBukkit\/Spigot\/Paper have shipped MySQL Connector\/J on the server’s parent classloader since 1.4 (the “ebeans” era). For the **default JDBC path** (`Class.forName(“com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver”)` \/ `DriverManager.getConnection`) the bundled driver wins \u2014 installing this mod doesn’t change that. This mod is primarily useful on **Fabric**, **NeoForge**, and Bukkit forks that strip the bundled driver. If you specifically want this mod’s connector instead of the bundled one (e.g. for a newer connector version), use the public API \u2014 see [Using this mod’s connector via the public API](#using-this-mods-connector-via-the-public-api) below.<\/p>\n
## What’s in the jar<\/p>\n
`com.mysql:mysql-connector-j:9.1.0` plus minimal loader stubs for Spigot, Forge 1.12, Forge 1.13\u20131.16, Forge 1.17\u20131.20, NeoForge 1.21+, and Fabric. No relocation \u2014 `com.mysql.cj.*` classes stay at canonical paths so `Class.forName(“com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver”)` finds them. `META-INF\/services\/java.sql.Driver` is preserved so the driver auto-registers with `DriverManager`.<\/p>\n
The `mysql:mysql-connector-java` \u2192 `com.mysql:mysql-connector-j` rename happened in connector-j 8.x. The class name `com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver` works across both old and new artifact coords, so the runtime probe is stable.<\/p>\n
## Compatibility<\/p>\n
| Loader | MC versions | Notes |
\n|—|—|—|
\n| Bukkit \/ Spigot \/ Paper \/ Folia \/ Purpur | 1.8 \u2192 current | usually unnecessary \u2014 driver is server-bundled |
\n| Fabric | 1.16.1 \u2192 current | needs Fabric Loader 0.14+ |
\n| Forge | 1.12 \u2192 1.20 | universal jar, no Mixins |
\n| NeoForge | 1.21 \u2192 current | drop into `mods\/` |<\/p>\n
Java 8+ required.<\/p>\n
## Connection-string gotchas worth knowing<\/p>\n
The 5.1.x and 8+ drivers default to behaviours that almost always need overriding for real deployments:<\/p>\n
– `useSSL=true` is the default \u2014 fails against any MySQL server without a public CA-signed cert. Set `useSSL=false` for plaintext, or add `verifyServerCertificate=false` if you have a self-signed cert.
\n– `caching_sha2_password` (MySQL 8 default) needs `allowPublicKeyRetrieval=true` for unencrypted-channel auth, otherwise the handshake fails with `Public Key Retrieval is not allowed`.
\n– `rewriteBatchedStatements=true` folds JDBC batch INSERTs into multi-row form on the wire. Without it, batch operations are still N round-trips.<\/p>\n
Typical URL:
\n“`
\njdbc:mysql:\/\/host:3306\/db?useSSL=false&allowPublicKeyRetrieval=true&rewriteBatchedStatements=true
\n“`<\/p>\n
MariaDB speaks the MySQL protocol on the wire, so this driver works against MariaDB too. If you want the MariaDB-native connector instead, it’s a separate driver and not in scope here.<\/p>\n
## Versioning<\/p>\n
The jar version tracks connector-j one-to-one. `9.1.0+2026-04-25` ships connector-j 9.1.0; the suffix is the build date. A scheduled GitHub Action checks Maven Central daily and bumps automatically.<\/p>\n
## Using this mod’s connector via the public API<\/p>\n
If you specifically want this mod’s connector instead of the bundled one \u2014 to upgrade past a stale fork’s bundled driver, or to test a newer connector version \u2014 your plugin softdepends on this holder and calls `MinecraftMysqlJdbc.connect(url, props)`:<\/p>\n
“`yaml
\n# in your plugin.yml
\nsoftdepend: [mysql-jdbc]
\n“`<\/p>\n
“`java
\nProperties props = new Properties();
\nprops.setProperty(“user”, “grim”);
\nprops.setProperty(“password”, “…”);
\nConnection c;
\ntry {
\n c = MinecraftMysqlJdbc.connect(“jdbc:mysql:\/\/host:3306\/db?useSSL=false”, props);
\n} catch (NoClassDefFoundError | ClassNotFoundException notInstalled) {
\n c = DriverManager.getConnection(“jdbc:mysql:\/\/host:3306\/db?useSSL=false”, props);
\n}
\n“`<\/p>\n
`MinecraftMysqlJdbc` wraps a child-first `URLClassLoader` pointing at this jar, parented to the platform classloader so `com.mysql.cj.*` must come from this jar (not the bundled chain). The returned `Connection` is a standard `java.sql.Connection` \u2014 keep your casts to `java.sql.*` interfaces; the impl class lives in the child-first classloader and won’t down-cast across the boundary.<\/p>\n
API surface (all static):<\/p>\n
| Method | Returns |
\n|—|—|
\n| `connect(String url)` | open `Connection` through this driver |
\n| `connect(String url, Properties props)` | as above with props |
\n| `driver()` | the `java.sql.Driver` instance |
\n| `driverVersion()` | connector-j version (e.g. `”9.1″`) |
\n| `eagerInit()` | warm the classloader at plugin enable |
\n| `shutdown()` | release file handles on plugin disable |<\/p>\n
Grim Anti-Cheat’s MySQL backend uses this API automatically when this holder is installed.<\/p>\n
## License<\/p>\n
GPL-2.0 with the Universal FOSS Exception 1.0. The exception makes the driver compatible with any FOSS-licensed Minecraft plugin or mod (it’s the same license Oracle ships with the Connector\/J binary). Modrinth’s license tag shows GPL-2.0-only because the SPDX list doesn’t have a single identifier for the GPL-2 + FOSS Exception combo \u2014 full text in `LICENSE`.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
Issues, source: GitHub.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Up-to-date MySQL Connector\/J wrapped as a universal Forge\/Fabric\/Bukkit library for plugins like Grim.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":101972,"template":"","meta":{"_minecraft_slug":"minecraft-mysql-jdbc","_minecraft_project_id":"2UdFEObs","_minecraft_author":"Axionize","_minecraft_license":"GPL-2.0-only","_minecraft_downloads":55,"_minecraft_follows":0,"_minecraft_client_side":"unknown","_minecraft_server_side":"unknown","_minecraft_storage_type":"zip","_minecraft_archive_name":"minecraft-mysql-jdbc.zip","_minecraft_size_bytes":4914299,"_minecraft_version_count":2,"_minecraft_updated_at":"2026-05-15T21:03:15.012887Z","_minecraft_date_created":"2026-05-03T05:21:56.971928Z","_minecraft_date_modified":"2026-05-03T13:05:46.220496Z","_minecraft_project_url":"https:\/\/modrinth.com\/mod\/minecraft-mysql-jdbc","_minecraft_icon_attachment_id":101972,"_minecraft_imported_at":"2026-06-05T20:38:02+00:00","_minecraft_import_hash":"fee79021f7d4258125fb680f9513fe02","_minecraft_versions":"","_minecraft_links":"","_minecraft_gallery":"","_minecraft_api_metadata":""},"mod_category":[124,97,125,104,873,158,127,128,98,129],"mod_loader":[130,99,131,106,160,132,133,100,134],"minecraft_version":[385,438,446,449,110,111,112,113,114,115,116,117,118,119,120,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,36,60,93,94,101,102,62,37,40,41,73,74,38,78,79,80,81,82,83,167,163],"class_list":["post-101971","mod","type-mod","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","mod_category-bukkit","mod_category-fabric","mod_category-folia","mod_category-forge","mod_category-library","mod_category-neoforge","mod_category-paper","mod_category-purpur","mod_category-quilt","mod_category-spigot","mod_loader-bukkit","mod_loader-fabric","mod_loader-folia","mod_loader-forge","mod_loader-neoforge","mod_loader-paper","mod_loader-purpur","mod_loader-quilt","mod_loader-spigot","minecraft_version-1-12-2","minecraft_version-1-13","minecraft_version-1-13-1","minecraft_version-1-13-2","minecraft_version-1-14","minecraft_version-1-14-1","minecraft_version-1-14-2","minecraft_version-1-14-3","minecraft_version-1-14-4","minecraft_version-1-15","minecraft_version-1-15-1","minecraft_version-1-15-2","minecraft_version-1-16","minecraft_version-1-16-1","minecraft_version-1-16-2","minecraft_version-1-16-3","minecraft_version-1-16-4","minecraft_version-1-16-5","minecraft_version-1-17","minecraft_version-1-17-1","minecraft_version-1-18","minecraft_version-1-18-1","minecraft_version-1-18-2","minecraft_version-1-19","minecraft_version-1-19-1","minecraft_version-1-19-2","minecraft_version-1-19-3","minecraft_version-1-19-4","minecraft_version-1-20","minecraft_version-1-20-1","minecraft_version-1-20-2","minecraft_version-1-20-3","minecraft_version-1-20-4","minecraft_version-1-20-5","minecraft_version-1-20-6","minecraft_version-1-21","minecraft_version-1-21-1","minecraft_version-1-21-10","minecraft_version-1-21-11","minecraft_version-1-21-2","minecraft_version-1-21-3","minecraft_version-1-21-4","minecraft_version-1-21-5","minecraft_version-1-21-6","minecraft_version-1-21-7","minecraft_version-1-21-8","minecraft_version-1-21-9","minecraft_version-26-1","minecraft_version-26-1-1","minecraft_version-26-1-2"],"yoast_head":"\n