Operations Guide¶

Common tasks for running the server.

Connecting¶

ssh -i ~/.ssh/do_minecraft_claude root@<droplet-ip>

do_minecraft_claude is the passphrase-free key. id_ed25519 is the passphrase-protected one.

Backups¶

Manual backup¶

/opt/mc-tools/backup.sh

List snapshots¶

source /etc/mc-backup/backup.env
export RESTIC_REPOSITORY RESTIC_PASSWORD_FILE
restic snapshots

Restore a snapshot¶

source /etc/mc-backup/backup.env
export RESTIC_REPOSITORY RESTIC_PASSWORD_FILE

# 1. Stop the server first via panel (or API)

# 2. Restore to a staging directory
restic restore <snapshot-id> --target /tmp/restored

# 3. Replace world folders
SERVER_DIR=/var/lib/pterodactyl/volumes/<your-server-uuid>
rm -rf $SERVER_DIR/world $SERVER_DIR/world_nether $SERVER_DIR/world_the_end
cp -r /tmp/restored/var/lib/pterodactyl/volumes/.../world $SERVER_DIR/
chown -R 988:988 $SERVER_DIR/world*

# 4. Start the server

Check backup logs¶

/var/log/mc-backup.log — backup script output
/var/log/mc-backup-cron.log — cron wrapper output
/var/log/mc-idle-monitor.log — idle monitor decisions

Server control¶

Restart manually¶

Via panel button, or:

curl -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PTERO_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"signal":"restart"}' \
  https://panel.yourdomain.com/api/client/servers/<server-id>/power

Send a command via API¶

curl -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PTERO_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"say Hello"}' \
  https://panel.yourdomain.com/api/client/servers/<server-id>/command

Whitelist¶

In server console:

/whitelist add <name>
/whitelist on

Plugins¶

Add a plugin¶

Find a Paper-compatible jar (modrinth.com, hangar.papermc.io)
SCP or download into /var/lib/pterodactyl/volumes/<your-server-uuid>/plugins/
chown 988:988 <file>.jar so Docker can read it
Restart the server

Remove¶

Delete the jar from plugins/ and restart.

Updating Minecraft version¶

The egg uses an old Paper API and won't auto-find 26.x. Workflow:

Stop the server in panel
Find new jar URL from https://fill.papermc.io/v3/projects/paper/versions//builds/latest

SSH in:

cd /var/lib/pterodactyl/volumes/<your-server-uuid>
curl -L -o server.jar <new-jar-url>
chown 988:988 server.jar

Do NOT click "Reinstall" — that re-runs the egg's install script and re-downloads the old API's version
Start the server
If new MC version needs newer Java: add the matching ghcr.io/pterodactyl/yolks:java_NN Docker image in admin → egg → Docker Images, then select it in server's Startup tab

Backup retention / cleanup¶

Restic auto-prunes per its policy. To force a manual clean:

source /etc/mc-backup/backup.env
export RESTIC_REPOSITORY RESTIC_PASSWORD_FILE
restic forget --keep-last 1 --keep-daily 30 --keep-weekly 12 --prune

To check repo integrity:

restic check

SSL / certificate renewal¶

Panel SSL: Cloudflare Origin Cert (15-year validity, no renewal needed) at /etc/ssl/cloudflare/yourdomain.{crt,key}
Wings SSL: Let's Encrypt at /etc/letsencrypt/live/play.yourdomain.com/. Auto-renews via certbot's systemd timer. A deploy hook (/etc/letsencrypt/renewal-hooks/deploy/restart-wings.sh) restarts Wings after renewal.

To force-renew Let's Encrypt:

certbot renew --force-renewal

Logs to check when things break¶

Issue	Logs
Server won't start	Pterodactyl console, `/var/lib/pterodactyl/volumes/<uuid>/logs/latest.log`
Panel UI broken	`/var/log/nginx/pterodactyl.app-error.log`, `journalctl -u pteroq`
Console won't load	`journalctl -u wings -n 50`
Backup failed	`/var/log/mc-backup.log`
Idle monitor not firing	`/var/log/mc-idle-monitor.log`, `journalctl -u idle-monitor`
Restart script	`/var/log/mc-restart.log`, `/var/log/mc-restart-cron.log`

Common in-game admin commands¶

/op <player>            # grant admin
/deop <player>          # revoke admin
/whitelist add <name>
/whitelist on / off
/gamemode survival|creative|spectator <player>
/difficulty peaceful|easy|normal|hard
/worldborder set <radius>     # caps explorable area
/save-all                     # force flush to disk
/spark profiler --timeout 60  # 60s perf profile (Spark is disabled — re-enable in paper-global.yml first)

Adding a Cloudflare Origin Cert (if regenerating)¶

Cloudflare → yourdomain.com → SSL/TLS → Origin Server → Create Certificate
Save cert + key to /etc/ssl/cloudflare/yourdomain.crt and /etc/ssl/cloudflare/yourdomain.key
Strip BOM and convert CRLF if pasted from Windows: dos2unix /etc/ssl/cloudflare/*
chmod 600 on the key
systemctl restart nginx