diff --git a/.github/FUNDING.yml b/.github/FUNDING.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..52d913562
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/FUNDING.yml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+github: astei
diff --git a/api/build.gradle b/api/build.gradle
index a7e2c2298..db1147901 100644
--- a/api/build.gradle
+++ b/api/build.gradle
@@ -76,13 +76,13 @@ javadoc {
     options.encoding = 'UTF-8'
     options.charSet = 'UTF-8'
     options.source = '8'
-//    options.links(
-//            'https://www.slf4j.org/apidocs/',
-//            'https://guava.dev/releases/30.0-jre/api/docs/',
-//            'https://google.github.io/guice/api-docs/4.2/javadoc/',
-//            'https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/',
-//            'https://jd.adventure.kyori.net/api/4.0.0/'
-//    )
+    options.links(
+            'http://www.slf4j.org/apidocs/',
+            'https://google.github.io/guava/releases/30.0-jre/api/docs/',
+            'https://google.github.io/guice/api-docs/4.2/javadoc/',
+            'https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/',
+            'https://jd.adventure.kyori.net/api/4.7.0/'
+    )
 
     // Disable the crazy super-strict doclint tool in Java 8
     options.addStringOption('Xdoclint:none', '-quiet')
diff --git a/api/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/api/proxy/connection/Player.java b/api/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/api/proxy/connection/Player.java
index b7586c781..9aa7daf70 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/api/proxy/connection/Player.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/api/proxy/connection/Player.java
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@
 package com.velocitypowered.api.proxy.connection;
 
 import com.velocitypowered.api.command.CommandSource;
-import com.velocitypowered.api.event.player.PlayerResourcePackStatusEventImpl;
+import com.velocitypowered.api.event.player.PlayerResourcePackStatusEvent;
+import com.velocitypowered.api.proxy.messages.ChannelIdentifier;
 import com.velocitypowered.api.proxy.messages.ChannelMessageSink;
 import com.velocitypowered.api.proxy.messages.ChannelMessageSource;
 import com.velocitypowered.api.proxy.player.ClientSettings;
@@ -123,7 +124,7 @@ public interface Player extends CommandSource, Identified, InboundConnection,
   /**
    * Sends the specified resource pack from {@code url} to the user. If at all possible, send the
    * resource pack using {@link #sendResourcePack(String, byte[])}. To monitor the status of the
-   * sent resource pack, subscribe to {@link PlayerResourcePackStatusEventImpl}.
+   * sent resource pack, subscribe to {@link PlayerResourcePackStatusEvent}.
    *
    * @param url the URL for the resource pack
    */
@@ -132,10 +133,22 @@ public interface Player extends CommandSource, Identified, InboundConnection,
   /**
    * Sends the specified resource pack from {@code url} to the user, using the specified 20-byte
    * SHA-1 hash. To monitor the status of the sent resource pack, subscribe to
-   * {@link PlayerResourcePackStatusEventImpl}.
+   * {@link PlayerResourcePackStatusEvent}.
    *
    * @param url the URL for the resource pack
    * @param hash the SHA-1 hash value for the resource pack
    */
   void sendResourcePack(String url, byte[] hash);
+
+  /**
+   * <strong>Note that this method does not send a plugin message to the server the player
+   * is connected to.</strong> You should only use this method if you are trying to communicate
+   * with a mod that is installed on the player's client. To send a plugin message to the server
+   * from the player, you should use the equivalent method on the instance returned by
+   * {@link #getCurrentServer()}.
+   *
+   * @inheritDoc
+   */
+  @Override
+  boolean sendPluginMessage(ChannelIdentifier identifier, byte[] data);
 }
diff --git a/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/connection/MinecraftConnection.java b/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/connection/MinecraftConnection.java
index 787992fe0..f988f49e5 100644
--- a/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/connection/MinecraftConnection.java
+++ b/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/connection/MinecraftConnection.java
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ import com.velocitypowered.proxy.network.packet.clientbound.ClientboundSetCompre
 import com.velocitypowered.proxy.network.pipeline.MinecraftCipherDecoder;
 import com.velocitypowered.proxy.network.pipeline.MinecraftCipherEncoder;
 import com.velocitypowered.proxy.network.pipeline.MinecraftCompressDecoder;
-import com.velocitypowered.proxy.network.pipeline.MinecraftCompressEncoder;
+import com.velocitypowered.proxy.network.pipeline.MinecraftCompressorAndLengthEncoder;
 import com.velocitypowered.proxy.network.pipeline.MinecraftDecoder;
 import com.velocitypowered.proxy.network.pipeline.MinecraftEncoder;
 import com.velocitypowered.proxy.util.except.QuietDecoderException;
@@ -408,8 +408,8 @@ public class MinecraftConnection extends ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter {
     } else {
       MinecraftCompressDecoder decoder = (MinecraftCompressDecoder) channel.pipeline()
           .get(COMPRESSION_DECODER);
-      MinecraftCompressEncoder encoder = (MinecraftCompressEncoder) channel.pipeline()
-          .get(COMPRESSION_ENCODER);
+      MinecraftCompressorAndLengthEncoder encoder =
+          (MinecraftCompressorAndLengthEncoder) channel.pipeline().get(COMPRESSION_ENCODER);
       if (decoder != null && encoder != null) {
         decoder.setThreshold(threshold);
         encoder.setThreshold(threshold);
@@ -417,9 +417,10 @@ public class MinecraftConnection extends ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter {
         int level = server.configuration().getCompressionLevel();
         VelocityCompressor compressor = Natives.compress.get().create(level);
 
-        encoder = new MinecraftCompressEncoder(threshold, compressor);
+        encoder = new MinecraftCompressorAndLengthEncoder(threshold, compressor);
         decoder = new MinecraftCompressDecoder(threshold, compressor);
 
+        channel.pipeline().remove(FRAME_ENCODER);
         channel.pipeline().addBefore(MINECRAFT_DECODER, COMPRESSION_DECODER, decoder);
         channel.pipeline().addBefore(MINECRAFT_ENCODER, COMPRESSION_ENCODER, encoder);
       }
diff --git a/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/connection/backend/BackendPlaySessionHandler.java b/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/connection/backend/BackendPlaySessionHandler.java
index dc3184832..944500e5f 100644
--- a/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/connection/backend/BackendPlaySessionHandler.java
+++ b/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/connection/backend/BackendPlaySessionHandler.java
@@ -59,12 +59,16 @@ public class BackendPlaySessionHandler implements MinecraftSessionHandler {
   private static final Logger logger = LogManager.getLogger(BackendPlaySessionHandler.class);
   private static final boolean BACKPRESSURE_LOG = Boolean
       .getBoolean("velocity.log-server-backpressure");
+  private static final int MAXIMUM_PACKETS_TO_FLUSH = Integer
+      .getInteger("velocity.max-packets-per-flush", 8192);
+
   private final VelocityServer server;
   private final VelocityServerConnection serverConn;
   private final ClientPlaySessionHandler playerSessionHandler;
   private final MinecraftConnection playerConnection;
   private final BungeeCordMessageResponder bungeecordMessageResponder;
   private boolean exceptionTriggered = false;
+  private int packetsFlushed;
 
   BackendPlaySessionHandler(VelocityServer server, VelocityServerConnection serverConn) {
     this.server = server;
@@ -274,16 +278,25 @@ public class BackendPlaySessionHandler implements MinecraftSessionHandler {
       ((AbstractPluginMessagePacket<?>) packet).retain();
     }
     playerConnection.delayedWrite(packet);
+    if (++packetsFlushed >= MAXIMUM_PACKETS_TO_FLUSH) {
+      playerConnection.flush();
+      packetsFlushed = 0;
+    }
   }
 
   @Override
   public void handleUnknown(ByteBuf buf) {
     playerConnection.delayedWrite(buf.retain());
+    if (++packetsFlushed >= MAXIMUM_PACKETS_TO_FLUSH) {
+      playerConnection.flush();
+      packetsFlushed = 0;
+    }
   }
 
   @Override
   public void readCompleted() {
     playerConnection.flush();
+    packetsFlushed = 0;
   }
 
   @Override
diff --git a/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/network/ProtocolUtils.java b/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/network/ProtocolUtils.java
index 8be7316fa..32cb1bf34 100644
--- a/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/network/ProtocolUtils.java
+++ b/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/network/ProtocolUtils.java
@@ -59,7 +59,15 @@ public enum ProtocolUtils {
 
   private static final int DEFAULT_MAX_STRING_SIZE = 65536; // 64KiB
   private static final QuietDecoderException BAD_VARINT_CACHED =
-      new QuietDecoderException("Bad varint decoded");
+      new QuietDecoderException("Bad VarInt decoded");
+  private static final int[] VARINT_EXACT_BYTE_LENGTHS = new int[33];
+
+  static {
+    for (int i = 0; i <= 32; ++i) {
+      VARINT_EXACT_BYTE_LENGTHS[i] = (int) Math.ceil((31d - (i - 1)) / 7d);
+    }
+    VARINT_EXACT_BYTE_LENGTHS[32] = 1; // Special case for the number 0.
+  }
 
   /**
    * Reads a Minecraft-style VarInt from the specified {@code buf}.
@@ -69,7 +77,7 @@ public enum ProtocolUtils {
   public static int readVarInt(ByteBuf buf) {
     int read = readVarIntSafely(buf);
     if (read == Integer.MIN_VALUE) {
-      throw MinecraftDecoder.DEBUG ? new CorruptedFrameException("Bad varint decoded")
+      throw MinecraftDecoder.DEBUG ? new CorruptedFrameException("Bad VarInt decoded")
           : BAD_VARINT_CACHED;
     }
     return read;
@@ -95,23 +103,67 @@ public enum ProtocolUtils {
     return Integer.MIN_VALUE;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Returns the exact byte size of {@code value} if it were encoded as a VarInt.
+   * @param value the value to encode
+   * @return the byte size of {@code value} if encoded as a VarInt
+   */
+  public static int varIntBytes(int value) {
+    return VARINT_EXACT_BYTE_LENGTHS[Integer.numberOfLeadingZeros(value)];
+  }
+
   /**
    * Writes a Minecraft-style VarInt to the specified {@code buf}.
    * @param buf the buffer to read from
    * @param value the integer to write
    */
   public static void writeVarInt(ByteBuf buf, int value) {
-    while (true) {
-      if ((value & 0xFFFFFF80) == 0) {
-        buf.writeByte(value);
-        return;
-      }
-
-      buf.writeByte(value & 0x7F | 0x80);
-      value >>>= 7;
+    // Peel the one and two byte count cases explicitly as they are the most common VarInt sizes
+    // that the proxy will write, to improve inlining.
+    if ((value & (0xFFFFFFFF << 7)) == 0) {
+      buf.writeByte(value);
+    } else if ((value & (0xFFFFFFFF << 14)) == 0) {
+      int w = (value & 0x7F | 0x80) << 8 | (value >>> 7);
+      buf.writeShort(w);
+    } else {
+      writeVarIntFull(buf, value);
     }
   }
 
+  private static void writeVarIntFull(ByteBuf buf, int value) {
+    // See https://steinborn.me/posts/performance/how-fast-can-you-write-a-varint/
+    if ((value & (0xFFFFFFFF << 7)) == 0) {
+      buf.writeByte(value);
+    } else if ((value & (0xFFFFFFFF << 14)) == 0) {
+      int w = (value & 0x7F | 0x80) << 8 | (value >>> 7);
+      buf.writeShort(w);
+    } else if ((value & (0xFFFFFFFF << 21)) == 0) {
+      int w = (value & 0x7F | 0x80) << 16 | ((value >>> 7) & 0x7F | 0x80) << 8 | (value >>> 14);
+      buf.writeMedium(w);
+    } else if ((value & (0xFFFFFFFF << 28)) == 0) {
+      int w = (value & 0x7F | 0x80) << 24 | (((value >>> 7) & 0x7F | 0x80) << 16)
+          | ((value >>> 14) & 0x7F | 0x80) << 8 | (value >>> 21);
+      buf.writeInt(w);
+    } else {
+      int w = (value & 0x7F | 0x80) << 24 | ((value >>> 7) & 0x7F | 0x80) << 16
+          | ((value >>> 14) & 0x7F | 0x80) << 8 | ((value >>> 21) & 0x7F | 0x80);
+      buf.writeInt(w);
+      buf.writeByte(value >>> 28);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Writes the specified {@code value} as a 21-bit Minecraft VarInt to the specified {@code buf}.
+   * The upper 11 bits will be discarded.
+   * @param buf the buffer to read from
+   * @param value the integer to write
+   */
+  public static void write21BitVarInt(ByteBuf buf, int value) {
+    // See https://steinborn.me/posts/performance/how-fast-can-you-write-a-varint/
+    int w = (value & 0x7F | 0x80) << 16 | ((value >>> 7) & 0x7F | 0x80) << 8 | (value >>> 14);
+    buf.writeMedium(w);
+  }
+
   public static String readString(ByteBuf buf) {
     return readString(buf, DEFAULT_MAX_STRING_SIZE);
   }
diff --git a/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/network/pipeline/MinecraftCompressEncoder.java b/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/network/pipeline/MinecraftCompressEncoder.java
deleted file mode 100644
index b482b7320..000000000
--- a/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/network/pipeline/MinecraftCompressEncoder.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,78 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright (C) 2018 Velocity Contributors
- *
- * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
- * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
- * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
- * (at your option) any later version.
- *
- * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
- * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
- * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
- * GNU General Public License for more details.
- *
- * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
- * along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
- */
-
-package com.velocitypowered.proxy.network.pipeline;
-
-import com.velocitypowered.natives.compression.VelocityCompressor;
-import com.velocitypowered.natives.util.MoreByteBufUtils;
-import com.velocitypowered.proxy.network.ProtocolUtils;
-import io.netty.buffer.ByteBuf;
-import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
-import io.netty.handler.codec.MessageToByteEncoder;
-
-public class MinecraftCompressEncoder extends MessageToByteEncoder<ByteBuf> {
-
-  private int threshold;
-  private final VelocityCompressor compressor;
-
-  public MinecraftCompressEncoder(int threshold, VelocityCompressor compressor) {
-    this.threshold = threshold;
-    this.compressor = compressor;
-  }
-
-  @Override
-  protected void encode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf msg, ByteBuf out) throws Exception {
-    int uncompressed = msg.readableBytes();
-    if (uncompressed < threshold) {
-      // Under the threshold, there is nothing to do.
-      ProtocolUtils.writeVarInt(out, 0);
-      out.writeBytes(msg);
-    } else {
-      ProtocolUtils.writeVarInt(out, uncompressed);
-      ByteBuf compatibleIn = MoreByteBufUtils.ensureCompatible(ctx.alloc(), compressor, msg);
-      try {
-        compressor.deflate(compatibleIn, out);
-      } finally {
-        compatibleIn.release();
-      }
-    }
-  }
-
-  @Override
-  protected ByteBuf allocateBuffer(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf msg, boolean preferDirect)
-      throws Exception {
-    // We allocate bytes to be compressed plus 1 byte. This covers two cases:
-    //
-    // - Compression
-    //    According to https://github.com/ebiggers/libdeflate/blob/master/libdeflate.h#L103,
-    //    if the data compresses well (and we do not have some pathological case) then the maximum
-    //    size the compressed size will ever be is the input size minus one.
-    // - Uncompressed
-    //    This is fairly obvious - we will then have one more than the uncompressed size.
-    int initialBufferSize = msg.readableBytes() + 1;
-    return MoreByteBufUtils.preferredBuffer(ctx.alloc(), compressor, initialBufferSize);
-  }
-
-  @Override
-  public void handlerRemoved(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
-    compressor.close();
-  }
-
-  public void setThreshold(int threshold) {
-    this.threshold = threshold;
-  }
-}
diff --git a/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/network/pipeline/MinecraftCompressorAndLengthEncoder.java b/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/network/pipeline/MinecraftCompressorAndLengthEncoder.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..28d005161
--- /dev/null
+++ b/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/network/pipeline/MinecraftCompressorAndLengthEncoder.java
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2018 Velocity Contributors
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package com.velocitypowered.proxy.protocol.netty;
+
+import static com.velocitypowered.proxy.protocol.netty.MinecraftVarintLengthEncoder.IS_JAVA_CIPHER;
+
+import com.velocitypowered.natives.compression.VelocityCompressor;
+import com.velocitypowered.natives.util.MoreByteBufUtils;
+import com.velocitypowered.proxy.protocol.ProtocolUtils;
+import io.netty.buffer.ByteBuf;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
+import io.netty.handler.codec.MessageToByteEncoder;
+import java.util.zip.DataFormatException;
+
+public class MinecraftCompressorAndLengthEncoder extends MessageToByteEncoder<ByteBuf> {
+
+  private static final boolean MUST_USE_SAFE_AND_SLOW_COMPRESSION_HANDLING =
+      Boolean.getBoolean("velocity.increased-compression-cap");
+
+  private int threshold;
+  private final VelocityCompressor compressor;
+
+  public MinecraftCompressorAndLengthEncoder(int threshold, VelocityCompressor compressor) {
+    this.threshold = threshold;
+    this.compressor = compressor;
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  protected void encode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf msg, ByteBuf out) throws Exception {
+    int uncompressed = msg.readableBytes();
+    if (uncompressed < threshold) {
+      // Under the threshold, there is nothing to do.
+      ProtocolUtils.writeVarInt(out, uncompressed + 1);
+      ProtocolUtils.writeVarInt(out, 0);
+      out.writeBytes(msg);
+    } else {
+      if (MUST_USE_SAFE_AND_SLOW_COMPRESSION_HANDLING) {
+        handleCompressedSafe(ctx, msg, out);
+      } else {
+        handleCompressedFast(ctx, msg, out);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  private void handleCompressedFast(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf msg, ByteBuf out)
+      throws DataFormatException {
+    int uncompressed = msg.readableBytes();
+
+    ProtocolUtils.write21BitVarInt(out, 0); // Dummy packet length
+    ProtocolUtils.writeVarInt(out, uncompressed);
+    ByteBuf compatibleIn = MoreByteBufUtils.ensureCompatible(ctx.alloc(), compressor, msg);
+
+    int startCompressed = out.writerIndex();
+    try {
+      compressor.deflate(compatibleIn, out);
+    } finally {
+      compatibleIn.release();
+    }
+    int compressedLength = out.writerIndex() - startCompressed;
+    if (compressedLength >= 1 << 21) {
+      throw new DataFormatException("The server sent a very large (over 2MiB compressed) packet. "
+          + "Please restart Velocity with the JVM flag -Dvelocity.increased-compression-cap=true "
+          + "to fix this issue.");
+    }
+
+    int writerIndex = out.writerIndex();
+    int packetLength = out.readableBytes() - 3;
+    out.writerIndex(0);
+    ProtocolUtils.write21BitVarInt(out, packetLength); // Rewrite packet length
+    out.writerIndex(writerIndex);
+  }
+
+  private void handleCompressedSafe(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf msg, ByteBuf out)
+      throws DataFormatException {
+    int uncompressed = msg.readableBytes();
+    ByteBuf tmpBuf = MoreByteBufUtils.preferredBuffer(ctx.alloc(), compressor, uncompressed - 1);
+    try {
+      ProtocolUtils.writeVarInt(tmpBuf, uncompressed);
+      ByteBuf compatibleIn = MoreByteBufUtils.ensureCompatible(ctx.alloc(), compressor, msg);
+      try {
+        compressor.deflate(compatibleIn, tmpBuf);
+      } finally {
+        compatibleIn.release();
+      }
+
+      ProtocolUtils.writeVarInt(out, tmpBuf.readableBytes());
+      out.writeBytes(tmpBuf);
+    } finally {
+      tmpBuf.release();
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  protected ByteBuf allocateBuffer(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf msg, boolean preferDirect)
+      throws Exception {
+    int uncompressed = msg.readableBytes();
+    if (uncompressed < threshold) {
+      int finalBufferSize = uncompressed + 1;
+      finalBufferSize += ProtocolUtils.varIntBytes(finalBufferSize);
+      return IS_JAVA_CIPHER
+          ? ctx.alloc().heapBuffer(finalBufferSize)
+          : ctx.alloc().directBuffer(finalBufferSize);
+    }
+
+    // (maximum data length after compression) + packet length varint + uncompressed data varint
+    int initialBufferSize = (uncompressed - 1) + 3 + ProtocolUtils.varIntBytes(uncompressed);
+    return MoreByteBufUtils.preferredBuffer(ctx.alloc(), compressor, initialBufferSize);
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public void handlerRemoved(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception {
+    compressor.close();
+  }
+
+  public void setThreshold(int threshold) {
+    this.threshold = threshold;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/network/pipeline/MinecraftDecoder.java b/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/network/pipeline/MinecraftDecoder.java
index fc568602b..6ef4df737 100644
--- a/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/network/pipeline/MinecraftDecoder.java
+++ b/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/network/pipeline/MinecraftDecoder.java
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ public class MinecraftDecoder extends ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter {
   }
 
   private void tryDecode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf buf) throws Exception {
-    if (!ctx.channel().isActive()) {
+    if (!ctx.channel().isActive() || !buf.isReadable()) {
       buf.release();
       return;
     }
diff --git a/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/network/pipeline/MinecraftVarintLengthEncoder.java b/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/network/pipeline/MinecraftVarintLengthEncoder.java
index cfd66f505..91645e9ea 100644
--- a/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/network/pipeline/MinecraftVarintLengthEncoder.java
+++ b/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/network/pipeline/MinecraftVarintLengthEncoder.java
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ import io.netty.handler.codec.MessageToByteEncoder;
 public class MinecraftVarintLengthEncoder extends MessageToByteEncoder<ByteBuf> {
 
   public static final MinecraftVarintLengthEncoder INSTANCE = new MinecraftVarintLengthEncoder();
-  private static final boolean IS_JAVA_CIPHER = Natives.cipher.get() == JavaVelocityCipher.FACTORY;
+  public static final boolean IS_JAVA_CIPHER = Natives.cipher.get() == JavaVelocityCipher.FACTORY;
 
   private MinecraftVarintLengthEncoder() {
   }
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@ public class MinecraftVarintLengthEncoder extends MessageToByteEncoder<ByteBuf>
   @Override
   protected ByteBuf allocateBuffer(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ByteBuf msg, boolean preferDirect)
       throws Exception {
-    int anticipatedRequiredCapacity = 5 + msg.readableBytes();
+    int anticipatedRequiredCapacity = ProtocolUtils.varIntBytes(msg.readableBytes())
+        + msg.readableBytes();
     return IS_JAVA_CIPHER
         ? ctx.alloc().heapBuffer(anticipatedRequiredCapacity)
         : ctx.alloc().directBuffer(anticipatedRequiredCapacity);
diff --git a/proxy/src/test/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/protocol/ProtocolUtilsTest.java b/proxy/src/test/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/protocol/ProtocolUtilsTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..04b2f3193
--- /dev/null
+++ b/proxy/src/test/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/protocol/ProtocolUtilsTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2018 Velocity Contributors
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package com.velocitypowered.proxy.protocol;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertArrayEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+
+import io.netty.buffer.ByteBuf;
+import io.netty.buffer.ByteBufUtil;
+import io.netty.buffer.Unpooled;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+public class ProtocolUtilsTest {
+
+  @Test
+  void negativeVarIntBytes() {
+    assertEquals(5, ProtocolUtils.varIntBytes(-1));
+    assertEquals(5, ProtocolUtils.varIntBytes(Integer.MIN_VALUE));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void zeroVarIntBytes() {
+    assertEquals(1, ProtocolUtils.varIntBytes(0));
+    assertEquals(1, ProtocolUtils.varIntBytes(1));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void ensureConsistencyAcrossNumberBits() {
+    for (int i = 0; i <= 31; i++) {
+      int number = (1 << i) - 1;
+      assertEquals(conventionalWrittenBytes(number), ProtocolUtils.varIntBytes(number),
+          "mismatch with " + i + "-bit number");
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void testPositiveOld() {
+    ByteBuf buf = Unpooled.buffer(5);
+    for (int i = 0; i >= 0; i += 127) {
+      writeReadTestOld(buf, i);
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void testNegativeOld() {
+    ByteBuf buf = Unpooled.buffer(5);
+    for (int i = 0; i <= 0; i -= 127) {
+      writeReadTestOld(buf, i);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private void writeReadTestOld(ByteBuf buf, int test) {
+    buf.clear();
+    writeVarIntOld(buf, test);
+    assertEquals(test, ProtocolUtils.readVarIntSafely(buf));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void test3Bytes() {
+    ByteBuf buf = Unpooled.buffer(5);
+    for (int i = 0; i < 2097152; i += 31) {
+      writeReadTest3Bytes(buf, i);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private void writeReadTest3Bytes(ByteBuf buf, int test) {
+    buf.clear();
+    ProtocolUtils.write21BitVarInt(buf, test);
+    assertEquals(test, ProtocolUtils.readVarInt(buf));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void testBytesWrittenAtBitBoundaries() {
+    ByteBuf varintNew = Unpooled.buffer(5);
+    ByteBuf varintOld = Unpooled.buffer(5);
+
+    long bytesNew = 0;
+    long bytesOld = 0;
+    for (int bit = 0; bit <= 31; bit++) {
+      int i = (1 << bit) - 1;
+
+      writeVarIntOld(varintOld, i);
+      ProtocolUtils.writeVarInt(varintNew, i);
+      assertArrayEquals(ByteBufUtil.getBytes(varintOld), ByteBufUtil.getBytes(varintNew),
+          "Encoding of " + i + " was invalid");
+
+      assertEquals(i, oldReadVarIntSafely(varintNew));
+      assertEquals(i, ProtocolUtils.readVarIntSafely(varintOld));
+
+      varintNew.clear();
+      varintOld.clear();
+    }
+    assertEquals(bytesNew, bytesOld, "byte sizes differ");
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void testBytesWritten() {
+    ByteBuf varintNew = Unpooled.buffer(5);
+    ByteBuf varintOld = Unpooled.buffer(5);
+
+    long bytesNew = 0;
+    long bytesOld = 0;
+    for (int i = 0; i <= 1_000_000; i++) {
+      ProtocolUtils.writeVarInt(varintNew, i);
+      writeVarIntOld(varintOld, i);
+      bytesNew += varintNew.readableBytes();
+      bytesOld += varintOld.readableBytes();
+      varintNew.clear();
+      varintOld.clear();
+    }
+    assertEquals(bytesNew, bytesOld, "byte sizes differ");
+  }
+
+  private static int oldReadVarIntSafely(ByteBuf buf) {
+    int i = 0;
+    int maxRead = Math.min(5, buf.readableBytes());
+    for (int j = 0; j < maxRead; j++) {
+      int k = buf.readByte();
+      i |= (k & 0x7F) << j * 7;
+      if ((k & 0x80) != 128) {
+        return i;
+      }
+    }
+    return Integer.MIN_VALUE;
+  }
+
+  private void writeVarIntOld(ByteBuf buf, int value) {
+    while (true) {
+      if ((value & 0xFFFFFF80) == 0) {
+        buf.writeByte(value);
+        return;
+      }
+
+      buf.writeByte(value & 0x7F | 0x80);
+      value >>>= 7;
+    }
+  }
+
+  private int conventionalWrittenBytes(int value) {
+    int wouldBeWritten = 0;
+    while (true) {
+      if ((value & ~0x7FL) == 0) {
+        wouldBeWritten++;
+        return wouldBeWritten;
+      } else {
+        wouldBeWritten++;
+        value >>>= 7;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}