Building your own Clash or v2ray node with 3x-ui is easier than it looks. This guide takes you all the way from buying a VPS to importing the node into a proxy client, covering the full 3x-ui panel installation, VLESS + Reality node configuration, and BBR acceleration. It’s aimed at beginners who want to self-host a proxy node without hand-editing Xray config files.

What is the 3x-ui panel? #

3x-ui is an open-source Xray panel that manages Xray-core (a full-featured proxy core) through a web interface. It’s an enhanced fork built on the earlier x-ui project and is currently one of the most actively maintained and feature-complete options in this family.

Its core features are roughly as follows:

Multi-protocol support — mainstream protocols such as VLESS, VMess, Trojan, Shadowsocks, and Wireguard can all be configured, along with newer anti-blocking transports like XTLS/Reality.

Web management panel — no need to hand-write Xray JSON configs; you can add or remove inbounds, generate users, and configure transport-layer parameters directly in the browser.

Multi-user and traffic management — you can set per-user traffic caps, expiry dates, and concurrent IP limits, making it suitable both for personal use and for distributing to multiple people.

Monitoring and operations — the panel shows traffic statistics and system load, supports Telegram bot alerts, and comes with built-in certificate issuance and subscription-link generation.

Simple deployment — a single install script or Docker gets it running, which pairs well with common VPS options like Debian/Ubuntu.

It wraps Xray’s originally low-level, config-file-editing workflow into a visual dashboard, lowering the barrier to building and managing proxy nodes.

Below, step by step, you’ll learn how to build your own VPN node — from buying the server all the way to importing the node into your proxy software!

1. Buy a VPS #

1.1 Using akile as an example (Hong Kong and US servers) #

• akile’s plans are as follows:

• Here we’ll buy the ¥8.88/month plan.
• Note: choose Debian 11 or Debian 12 as the operating system.

1.2 Start the server #

• After a successful payment, wait about 3 minutes for the server to finish provisioning.
• Click the cloud server list and open the server we just created.
• If the server hasn’t started, follow the arrow prompts to start it.

2. Connect to the Server #

2.1 Download the server connection tool: FinalShell #

• Official download page
• Cloud drive download

The software interface is shown below:

2.2 Use the software to connect to the server #

• Click the folder shown in the picture.

• Select the first icon in the top-left corner to create a Linux server connection.

• Once opened, fill in fields 1–4 as shown.

• Field 1: enter a server name — any name you like will do.
• Field 2: enter the host’s IP address. Open the server dashboard we bought earlier, find the IP address, and fill it in.
• After opening the page, click Cloud Server, copy the server address as shown, and paste it into field 2.

• Field 3: enter the server username — the default is usually root.
• Field 4: scroll down the page, find Access Control, click View Password, and enter the password into field 4.
• Finally, click OK to save the server details.

• After saving, you’ll return to the connection window. Click the server to connect.

• On the first connection, a security warning pops up — click Accept and Save.
• Under normal circumstances, you’ll then see the “connection successful” screen.

• If the connection doesn’t succeed, open the server page and check whether the server is powered on.
• If it’s off, click here to power it on, wait 3 minutes, and connect again.

• At this point, our server is successfully connected.
• In the following steps, I’ll show you how to set up 3x-ui.

3. Install the 3x-ui Panel #

3.1 Update the software #

• Copy the command below:

apt update

• Paste it into FinalShell, as shown:

• Then press the Enter key.
• That completes running one command.
• To install 3x-ui, we also need to run another command.
• Copy and run the command below to install curl:

apt install curl -y

3.2 Install 3x-ui #

• Copy and run the command below.
• Here we install version 3.4.2, because it’s currently the most stable release with the fewest bugs.

bash <(curl -Ls https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mhsanaei/3x-ui/master/install.sh) v3.4.2

• In the image below, for the prompt to choose a database, select 1 and press Enter.

• In the image below, for this step, just press Enter.

• In the image below, at this step: if you have a domain, choose 1 and press Enter.
• If you don’t have a domain, choose 2 and press Enter — for personal users there’s no difference.
• Here we choose 2 and press Enter; if you buy a domain later, you can add it then.

• In the image below, when asked whether to use IPv6, just press Enter.

• In the image below, when asked about using port 80 to request a certificate, just press Enter.

• In the image below, seeing this information means the certificate request succeeded.
• Left-click to select this text, then right-click to copy and save it.
• This is your password and login URL information, which we’ll need shortly.

4. Configure 3x-ui: Add a VLESS + Reality Node #

4.1 Log in to the 3x-ui web admin panel #

• In the image below, copy the login URL we just saved and open it in a browser.

• The login information we saved earlier contains the username and password.
• Enter them and log in to access the 3x-ui backend.

4.2 Add and configure a VLESS node #

• Click Inbounds in the top-left corner — Add Inbound, which brings up the screen below.

• Remark — enter any name here, e.g. US–vless–001.
• Protocol — select vless.
• Leave the other options unchanged, then click the Transmission tab (shown below).

• Transmission — select xhttp.
• Path — Custom — enter: xhttp1.
• Keep the rest at their defaults, then click the Security tab (shown below).

• Security — select reality.
• Dest — click Search Dest and click the first result.
• Click Create to finish adding the inbound, as shown below.

• Click Clients in the top-left corner — Add Client.
• Click the “Associated Inbound” input box and select the inbound we just created, as shown below.
• Click Create.

• At this point, we’ve finished creating the VLESS node, as shown below.

• Click the QR code in the image — be sure to select the VLESS node info, not the subscription info.
• You’ll then see the VLESS node QR code, as shown below.

• On iPhone, use Shadowrocket or Karing to import the node.
• On Android, use v2rayNG or Karing to import the node.
• On Windows, use v2rayN or Hiddify to import the node.
• On Mac, use Karing to import the node.

5. Connect to the Node #

5.1 Import the node on Android #

• We’ll use Android as the example to demonstrate importing the node.
• If you’re using an Android phone, download and install the software below.
• v2rayNG download: https://pan1.mene.lol/s/JQjC0
• Open the app, tap the plus sign in the top-right corner — Scan QR code.
• Scan the QR code above to import the node.

• Tap the button in the bottom-right corner to connect to the node’s network.
• Tap Test to check whether the connection is working.

5.2 Enable BBR acceleration #

• In FinalShell, type the command x-ui.
• You’ll see the panel management menu, as shown below.

• Select 26 and press Enter, as shown below.
• Then select 1 and press Enter to enable BBR acceleration.

• You can see the download latency dropped to 308 ms.

5.3 Recommended proxy providers (“airports”) #

• If a single IP address isn’t enough for you,
• you can buy cheap “airport” (proxy subscription) nodes.
• Here I recommend the WangJiKuaiChe airport — click to open it.
• Register an account with your own email.

• After logging in, click Store — choose the no-time-limit plan.
• It pairs very conveniently with the node we built ourselves.

• The airports below are pay-per-traffic; each site has software usage and installation tutorials.
• Once you buy traffic, there’s no time limit — it lasts until the traffic runs out.
• If a site is unreachable, it has been blocked; just switch to another one.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) #

Which protocols does 3x-ui support? 3x-ui is built on Xray-core and supports VLESS, VMess, Trojan, Shadowsocks, and Wireguard, along with anti-blocking transports such as XTLS/Reality and XHTTP.

Do I need a domain to set up 3x-ui? No. For personal users, VLESS + Reality delivers strong anti-blocking without a domain; if you buy a domain later, you can add it in the panel at any time.

Why install version 3.4.2? This tutorial uses 3.4.2 because it’s currently a stable release with few known bugs, making it a safe choice for beginners.

What does BBR acceleration do? Enabling BBR optimizes TCP congestion control and usually noticeably lowers latency while improving the download and upload speed of your proxy node.