diff --git a/api/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/api/event/proxy/ProxyPreShutdownEvent.java b/api/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/api/event/proxy/ProxyPreShutdownEvent.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..893942c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/api/event/proxy/ProxyPreShutdownEvent.java
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2018-2025 Velocity Contributors
+ *
+ * The Velocity API is licensed under the terms of the MIT License. For more details,
+ * reference the LICENSE file in the api top-level directory.
+ */
+
+package com.velocitypowered.api.event.proxy;
+
+import com.google.common.annotations.Beta;
+import com.velocitypowered.api.event.annotation.AwaitingEvent;
+
+/**
+ * This event is fired by the proxy after it has stopped accepting new connections,
+ * but before players are disconnected.
+ * This is the last point at which you can interact with currently connected players,
+ * for example to transfer them to another proxy or perform other cleanup tasks.
+ *
+ * @implNote Velocity will wait for all event listeners to complete before disconnecting players,
+ *     but note that the event will time out after the configured value of the
+ *     <code>velocity.pre-shutdown-timeout</code> system property, default 10 seconds,
+ *     in seconds to prevent shutdown from hanging indefinitely
+ * @since 3.4.0
+ */
+@Beta
+@AwaitingEvent
+public final class ProxyPreShutdownEvent {
+
+  @Override
+  public String toString() {
+    return "ProxyPreShutdownEvent";
+  }
+}
diff --git a/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/VelocityServer.java b/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/VelocityServer.java
index 7d55ae23..ccfc5f14 100644
--- a/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/VelocityServer.java
+++ b/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/VelocityServer.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import com.google.gson.Gson;
 import com.google.gson.GsonBuilder;
 import com.velocitypowered.api.command.BrigadierCommand;
 import com.velocitypowered.api.event.proxy.ProxyInitializeEvent;
+import com.velocitypowered.api.event.proxy.ProxyPreShutdownEvent;
 import com.velocitypowered.api.event.proxy.ProxyReloadEvent;
 import com.velocitypowered.api.event.proxy.ProxyShutdownEvent;
 import com.velocitypowered.api.network.ProtocolVersion;
@@ -150,6 +151,8 @@ public class VelocityServer implements ProxyServer, ForwardingAudience {
       )
       .registerTypeHierarchyAdapter(Favicon.class, FaviconSerializer.INSTANCE)
       .create();
+  private static final int PRE_SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT =
+            Integer.getInteger("velocity.pre-shutdown-timeout", 10);
 
   private final ConnectionManager cm;
   private final ProxyOptions options;
@@ -579,6 +582,20 @@ public class VelocityServer implements ProxyServer, ForwardingAudience {
       // done first to refuse new connections
       cm.shutdown();
 
+      try {
+        eventManager.fire(new ProxyPreShutdownEvent())
+                .toCompletableFuture()
+                .get(PRE_SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+      } catch (TimeoutException ignored) {
+        logger.warn("Your plugins took over {} seconds during pre shutdown.",
+                PRE_SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT);
+      } catch (ExecutionException ee) {
+        logger.error("Exception in ProxyPreShutdownEvent handler; continuing shutdown.", ee);
+      } catch (InterruptedException ignored) {
+        Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
+        logger.warn("Interrupted while waiting for ProxyPreShutdownEvent; continuing shutdown.");
+      }
+
       ImmutableList<ConnectedPlayer> players = ImmutableList.copyOf(connectionsByUuid.values());
       for (ConnectedPlayer player : players) {
         player.disconnect(reason);