diff --git a/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/config/VelocityConfiguration.java b/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/config/VelocityConfiguration.java
index dfd007ac..6f0fb61c 100644
--- a/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/config/VelocityConfiguration.java
+++ b/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/config/VelocityConfiguration.java
@@ -515,7 +515,7 @@ public class VelocityConfiguration implements ProxyConfig {
 
       String forwardingSecretString = System.getenv().getOrDefault(
               "VELOCITY_FORWARDING_SECRET", "");
-      if (forwardingSecretString.isEmpty()) {
+      if (forwardingSecretString.isBlank()) {
         final String forwardSecretFile = config.get("forwarding-secret-file");
         final Path secretPath = forwardSecretFile == null
                 ? defaultForwardingSecretPath
@@ -528,7 +528,11 @@ public class VelocityConfiguration implements ProxyConfig {
                     "The file " + forwardSecretFile + " is not a valid file or it is a directory.");
           }
         } else {
-          throw new RuntimeException("The forwarding-secret-file does not exist.");
+          Files.createFile(secretPath);
+          Files.writeString(secretPath, forwardingSecretString = generateRandomString(12),
+              StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+          logger.info("The forwarding-secret-file does not exist. A new file has been created at {}",
+              forwardSecretFile);
         }
       }
       final byte[] forwardingSecret = forwardingSecretString.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);