PufferPanel is a free and open-source game server management panel designed for both individuals and game server providers. It serves as a FOSS alternative to proprietary game server panels like Pterodactyl (with paid features), TCAdmin, GameCP, or AMP (Application Management Panel). PufferPanel provides a web-based interface for managing game servers including Minecraft, CS:GO, Team Fortress 2, and many more, with features for user management, server templates, and Docker integration.

CPU: 2+ cores (4+ recommended for multiple servers)

RAM: 2GB minimum (4GB+ recommended)

Storage: 20GB+ for panel and game servers

Network: Static IP recommended for game hosting

Web Server: Built-in or nginx/Apache for reverse proxy

Database: MariaDB/MySQL 5.7+ or SQLite

Docker: Optional but recommended for isolation

systemd: For service management

Ports:

8080: Web interface (default)

5657: SFTP server (default)

Game ports: Varies by game (25565 for Minecraft, 27015 for Source games)

PufferPanel officially supports:

RHEL 8/9 and derivatives (CentOS Stream, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux)

Debian 11/12

Ubuntu 20.04 LTS / 22.04 LTS / 24.04 LTS

Arch Linux

Alpine Linux 3.18+

openSUSE Leap 15.5+ / Tumbleweed

Fedora 38+

Windows Server 2019/2022 (limited support)

#### RHEL/CentOS/Rocky Linux/AlmaLinux

bash

# Install dependencies
sudo dnf install -y curl

# Download and run installer
curl -s https://packagecloud.io/install/repositories/pufferpanel/pufferpanel/script.rpm.sh | sudo bash

# Install PufferPanel
sudo dnf install -y pufferpanel

# Install MariaDB (if not using SQLite)
sudo dnf install -y mariadb mariadb-server
sudo systemctl enable --now mariadb
sudo mysql_secure_installation

# Create database
sudo mysql -e "CREATE DATABASE pufferpanel;"
sudo mysql -e "CREATE USER 'pufferpanel'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_secure_password';"
sudo mysql -e "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON pufferpanel.* TO 'pufferpanel'@'localhost';"
sudo mysql -e "FLUSH PRIVILEGES;"

# Enable and start PufferPanel
sudo systemctl enable --now pufferpanel

# Add first user
sudo pufferpanel user add

#### Debian/Ubuntu

bash

# Add PufferPanel repository
curl -s https://packagecloud.io/install/repositories/pufferpanel/pufferpanel/script.deb.sh | sudo bash

# Update and install
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y pufferpanel

# Install MariaDB
sudo apt install -y mariadb-server
sudo systemctl enable --now mariadb
sudo mysql_secure_installation

# Create database
sudo mysql -e "CREATE DATABASE pufferpanel;"
sudo mysql -e "CREATE USER 'pufferpanel'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_secure_password';"
sudo mysql -e "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON pufferpanel.* TO 'pufferpanel'@'localhost';"
sudo mysql -e "FLUSH PRIVILEGES;"

# Configure PufferPanel
sudo systemctl enable --now pufferpanel

# Create admin user
sudo pufferpanel user add --admin

#### Arch Linux

bash

# Install from AUR
yay -S pufferpanel

# Or manual installation
# Download latest release
PUFFERPANEL_VERSION=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/pufferpanel/pufferpanel/releases/latest | grep tag_name | cut -d '"' -f 4)
wget "https://github.com/pufferpanel/pufferpanel/releases/download/${PUFFERPANEL_VERSION}/pufferpanel_${PUFFERPANEL_VERSION}_linux_amd64.deb"

# Extract binary
ar x pufferpanel_*.deb
tar -xf data.tar.xz
sudo cp -r usr/* /usr/
sudo cp -r etc/* /etc/

# Install dependencies
sudo pacman -S mariadb

# Initialize MariaDB
sudo mysql_install_db --user=mysql --basedir=/usr --datadir=/var/lib/mysql
sudo systemctl enable --now mariadb

# Continue with database setup as above

#### Alpine Linux

bash

# Install dependencies
apk add --no-cache curl mariadb mariadb-client

# Download PufferPanel
PUFFERPANEL_VERSION=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/pufferpanel/pufferpanel/releases/latest | grep tag_name | cut -d '"' -f 4)
wget "https://github.com/pufferpanel/pufferpanel/releases/download/${PUFFERPANEL_VERSION}/pufferpanel_${PUFFERPANEL_VERSION}_linux_amd64.tar.gz"

# Extract and install
tar -xzf pufferpanel_*.tar.gz
mv pufferpanel /usr/local/bin/
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/pufferpanel

# Create directories
mkdir -p /etc/pufferpanel /var/lib/pufferpanel /var/log/pufferpanel

bash

# Create docker-compose.yml
cat > docker-compose.yml << 'EOF'
version: '3.8'

services:
  pufferpanel:
    image: pufferpanel/pufferpanel:latest
    container_name: pufferpanel
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
      - "5657:5657"
    environment:
      PUFFER_PANEL_DATABASE_DIALECT: "sqlite3"
      PUFFER_PANEL_DATABASE_URL: "file:/var/lib/pufferpanel/pufferpanel.db?cache=shared"
      PUFFER_PANEL_TOKEN_PRIVATE: "your_secret_key_here"
      PUFFER_WEB_HOST: "0.0.0.0:8080"
    volumes:
      - pufferpanel_config:/etc/pufferpanel
      - pufferpanel_data:/var/lib/pufferpanel
      - pufferpanel_servers:/var/lib/pufferpanel/servers
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock

volumes:
  pufferpanel_config:
  pufferpanel_data:
  pufferpanel_servers:
EOF

# Start PufferPanel
docker-compose up -d

# Create admin user
docker-compose exec pufferpanel /pufferpanel user add --admin

bash

# Download binary
PUFFERPANEL_VERSION="2.6.3"  # Check latest version
wget "https://github.com/pufferpanel/pufferpanel/releases/download/v${PUFFERPANEL_VERSION}/pufferpanel_${PUFFERPANEL_VERSION}_linux_amd64.tar.gz"

# Extract files
tar -xzf pufferpanel_*.tar.gz

# Install binary
sudo mv pufferpanel /usr/local/bin/
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/pufferpanel

# Create user and directories
sudo useradd -r -s /bin/false -d /var/lib/pufferpanel pufferpanel
sudo mkdir -p /etc/pufferpanel /var/lib/pufferpanel/servers /var/log/pufferpanel
sudo chown -R pufferpanel:pufferpanel /etc/pufferpanel /var/lib/pufferpanel /var/log/pufferpanel

# Generate config
sudo -u pufferpanel pufferpanel config init

Edit /etc/pufferpanel/config.json:

json

{
  "logs": {
    "level": "info",
    "path": "/var/log/pufferpanel",
    "deleteAfter": 7
  },
  "panel": {
    "database": {
      "dialect": "mysql",
      "host": "localhost",
      "port": 3306,
      "name": "pufferpanel",
      "username": "pufferpanel",
      "password": "your_secure_password"
    },
    "web": {
      "host": "0.0.0.0:8080",
      "ssl": {
        "enabled": false,
        "cert": "/path/to/cert.pem",
        "key": "/path/to/key.pem"
      }
    },
    "sftp": {
      "host": "0.0.0.0:5657",
      "generate": true,
      "key": "/etc/pufferpanel/sftp_host_key"
    },
    "email": {
      "enabled": false,
      "from": "noreply@example.com",
      "host": "smtp.example.com",
      "port": 587,
      "username": "smtp_user",
      "password": "smtp_pass"
    },
    "settings": {
      "defaultTheme": "PufferPanel",
      "registrationEnabled": false,
      "requireEmailVerification": false
    },
    "token": {
      "private": "your_random_secret_key_here"
    }
  },
  "daemon": {
    "data": {
      "root": "/var/lib/pufferpanel/servers"
    },
    "sftp": {
      "enabled": true
    },
    "docker": {
      "enabled": true,
      "socket": "/var/run/docker.sock"
    }
  }
}

#### MariaDB/MySQL

sql

-- Create database and user
CREATE DATABASE pufferpanel CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'pufferpanel'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'secure_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON pufferpanel.* TO 'pufferpanel'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

#### PostgreSQL

sql

-- Create database and user
CREATE DATABASE pufferpanel;
CREATE USER pufferpanel WITH ENCRYPTED PASSWORD 'secure_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE pufferpanel TO pufferpanel;

bash

# Database configuration
export PUFFER_PANEL_DATABASE_DIALECT="mysql"
export PUFFER_PANEL_DATABASE_HOST="localhost"
export PUFFER_PANEL_DATABASE_NAME="pufferpanel"
export PUFFER_PANEL_DATABASE_USERNAME="pufferpanel"
export PUFFER_PANEL_DATABASE_PASSWORD="secure_password"

# Web configuration
export PUFFER_WEB_HOST="0.0.0.0:8080"
export PUFFER_PANEL_REGISTRATION_ENABLED="false"

# Token secret
export PUFFER_PANEL_TOKEN_PRIVATE="your_secret_key_here"

Create /etc/systemd/system/pufferpanel.service:

ini

[Unit]
Description=PufferPanel Game Server Management Panel
After=network.target mariadb.service

[Service]
Type=simple
User=pufferpanel
Group=pufferpanel
WorkingDirectory=/var/lib/pufferpanel
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/pufferpanel run
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal

# Security hardening
NoNewPrivileges=true
PrivateTmp=true
ProtectSystem=strict
ProtectHome=true
ReadWritePaths=/var/lib/pufferpanel /var/log/pufferpanel /etc/pufferpanel

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

bash

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now pufferpanel
sudo systemctl status pufferpanel

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u pufferpanel -f

bash

# Add admin user
sudo pufferpanel user add --email admin@example.com --name admin --admin

# Add regular user
sudo pufferpanel user add --email user@example.com --name user

# Change user password
sudo pufferpanel user password --email user@example.com

# List users
sudo pufferpanel user list

# Delete user
sudo pufferpanel user delete --email user@example.com

bash

# Import official templates
sudo pufferpanel template import

# List available templates
sudo pufferpanel template list

# Create custom template
cat > minecraft.json << 'EOF'
{
  "type": "minecraft",
  "display": "Minecraft Server",
  "install": {
    "commands": [
      {
        "type": "download",
        "files": "https://launcher.mojang.com/v1/objects/server.jar"
      }
    ]
  },
  "run": {
    "stop": "stop",
    "command": "java -Xmx${memory}M -jar server.jar nogui",
    "workingDirectory": "/server"
  }
}
EOF

sudo pufferpanel template import minecraft.json

1. Panel not accessible:

bash

# Check if service is running
sudo systemctl status pufferpanel

# Check ports
sudo netstat -tlnp | grep -E "8080|5657"

# Check firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --list-ports
sudo ufw status

# Test local connection
curl http://localhost:8080

2. Database connection errors:

bash

# Test database connection
mysql -u pufferpanel -p -h localhost pufferpanel

# Check database service
sudo systemctl status mariadb

# Verify credentials in config
sudo cat /etc/pufferpanel/config.json | jq .panel.database

3. Permission issues:

bash

# Fix file permissions
sudo chown -R pufferpanel:pufferpanel /var/lib/pufferpanel
sudo chown -R pufferpanel:pufferpanel /etc/pufferpanel
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/lib/pufferpanel/servers

# Check Docker permissions
sudo usermod -aG docker pufferpanel

4. Server creation fails:

bash

# Check Docker status
sudo systemctl status docker

# Verify Docker socket permissions
ls -la /var/run/docker.sock

# Check available disk space
df -h /var/lib/pufferpanel/servers

# Review daemon logs
sudo journalctl -u pufferpanel --since "10 minutes ago"

bash

# Enable debug logging
sudo pufferpanel config set logs.level debug

# Run in foreground with debug
sudo -u pufferpanel pufferpanel run --debug

# Check detailed logs
tail -f /var/log/pufferpanel/pufferpanel.log

nginx

# Nginx reverse proxy with SSL
server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name panel.example.com;
    
    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/panel.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/private/panel.key;
    
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8080;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    }
}

bash

# firewalld (RHEL/CentOS)
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=8080/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=5657/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=25565/tcp  # Minecraft
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# UFW (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo ufw allow 8080/tcp
sudo ufw allow 5657/tcp
sudo ufw allow 25565/tcp
sudo ufw enable

# iptables
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 8080 -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 5657 -j ACCEPT

json

// Role-based permissions in PufferPanel
{
  "roles": {
    "admin": {
      "permissions": ["*"]
    },
    "moderator": {
      "permissions": [
        "server.view",
        "server.console",
        "server.start",
        "server.stop",
        "server.files.view"
      ]
    },
    "user": {
      "permissions": [
        "server.view",
        "server.console",
        "server.files.view"
      ]
    }
  }
}

bash

# Use Docker rootless mode
dockerd-rootless-setuptool.sh install

# Limit container resources
docker run -d \
  --name minecraft \
  --memory="2g" \
  --cpus="2.0" \
  --security-opt="no-new-privileges:true" \
  --read-only \
  pufferpanel/minecraft

json

// config.json optimizations
{
  "panel": {
    "database": {
      "maxConnections": 100,
      "connectionTimeout": 30,
      "idleTimeout": 600
    },
    "cache": {
      "enabled": true,
      "ttl": 3600
    }
  }
}

bash

# Set resource limits per server
pufferpanel server config minecraft --memory 2048 --cpu 200

# Configure swap limit
echo "vm.swappiness=10" | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
sudo sysctl -p

sql

-- MariaDB optimizations
SET GLOBAL innodb_buffer_pool_size = 256M;
SET GLOBAL max_connections = 200;
SET GLOBAL query_cache_size = 32M;
SET GLOBAL query_cache_type = 1;

-- Add indexes
ALTER TABLE servers ADD INDEX idx_user_id (user_id);
ALTER TABLE server_permissions ADD INDEX idx_server_user (server_id, user_id);

bash

# Use separate disk for game servers
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/games
sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/games
sudo ln -s /mnt/games /var/lib/pufferpanel/servers

# Enable compression for backups
pufferpanel config set backup.compression gzip

bash

#!/bin/bash
# backup-pufferpanel.sh

BACKUP_DIR="/var/backups/pufferpanel"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

mkdir -p $BACKUP_DIR

# Stop PufferPanel
sudo systemctl stop pufferpanel

# Backup database
mysqldump -u pufferpanel -p pufferpanel | gzip > $BACKUP_DIR/database_$DATE.sql.gz

# Backup configuration
tar -czf $BACKUP_DIR/config_$DATE.tar.gz /etc/pufferpanel

# Backup templates
tar -czf $BACKUP_DIR/templates_$DATE.tar.gz /var/lib/pufferpanel/templates

# Backup server data (optional, can be large)
tar -czf $BACKUP_DIR/servers_$DATE.tar.gz /var/lib/pufferpanel/servers

# Start PufferPanel
sudo systemctl start pufferpanel

echo "Backup completed: $BACKUP_DIR"

bash

# Backup individual server
pufferpanel server backup minecraft --dest /var/backups/servers/

# Automated server backups
cat > /etc/cron.d/pufferpanel-backup << 'EOF'
0 2 * * * pufferpanel /usr/local/bin/pufferpanel server backup --all --dest /var/backups/servers/
EOF

bash

# Restore database
sudo systemctl stop pufferpanel
gunzip -c database_backup.sql.gz | mysql -u pufferpanel -p pufferpanel

# Restore configuration
sudo tar -xzf config_backup.tar.gz -C /

# Restore templates
sudo tar -xzf templates_backup.tar.gz -C /

# Restore servers
sudo tar -xzf servers_backup.tar.gz -C /

# Fix permissions
sudo chown -R pufferpanel:pufferpanel /var/lib/pufferpanel /etc/pufferpanel

# Start PufferPanel
sudo systemctl start pufferpanel

CPU: 2 cores

RAM: 2GB (plus game server requirements)

Storage: 20GB

Network: 10 Mbps

CPU: 4+ cores

RAM: 8GB+

Storage: 100GB+ SSD

Network: 100 Mbps+

| Game | RAM | CPU | Storage |

|------|-----|-----|---------|

| Minecraft | 1-4GB | 1-2 cores | 10GB |

| CS:GO | 2GB | 2 cores | 30GB |

| Terraria | 1GB | 1 core | 2GB |

| Rust | 4-8GB | 3-4 cores | 25GB |

| ARK | 8-16GB | 4 cores | 60GB |

Website: https://pufferpanel.com

GitHub: https://github.com/pufferpanel/pufferpanel

Documentation: https://docs.pufferpanel.com

Discord: https://discord.gg/pufferpanel

Discord Server: Active community support

GitHub Issues: https://github.com/pufferpanel/pufferpanel/issues

Reddit: r/PufferPanel

Forum: https://community.pufferpanel.com

1. Fork the repository on GitHub

2. Create a feature branch

3. Submit pull request

4. Follow Go coding standards

5. Include tests and documentation

bash

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/pufferpanel/pufferpanel.git
cd pufferpanel

# Install Go
wget https://go.dev/dl/go1.21.linux-amd64.tar.gz
sudo tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.21.linux-amd64.tar.gz
export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin

# Install dependencies
go mod download

# Build PufferPanel
go build -o pufferpanel github.com/pufferpanel/pufferpanel/v2/cmd/pufferpanel

# Run tests
go test ./...

PufferPanel is licensed under the Apache License 2.0.

Key points:

Free to use, modify, and distribute

Commercial use allowed

Patent grant included

Must include license notice

PufferPanel Team: Core development team

Community Contributors: Template creators and testers

Game Developers: For server software

Docker: Container technology

15. Version History

v2.6.x: Current stable with improved Docker support

v2.5.x: Enhanced template system

v2.4.x: Improved security features

v2.6: Better Docker integration, improved UI

v2.5: Template marketplace, OAuth support

v2.4: Multi-node support

#### Minecraft Template

json

{
  "name": "Minecraft Java",
  "type": "minecraft-java",
  "install": {
    "commands": [
      {
        "type": "download",
        "files": "https://launcher.mojang.com/v1/objects/server.jar"
      },
      {
        "type": "writefile",
        "target": "eula.txt",
        "text": "eula=true"
      }
    ]
  },
  "run": {
    "stop": "stop",
    "pre": [],
    "post": [],
    "arguments": [
      "-Xmx${memory}M",
      "-jar",
      "server.jar",
      "nogui"
    ],
    "program": "java"
  },
  "environment": {
    "type": "standard"
  },
  "data": {
    "memory": {
      "value": "1024",
      "required": true,
      "desc": "Memory in MB",
      "display": "Memory (MB)",
      "type": "integer"
    }
  }
}

bash

# Authenticate
TOKEN=$(curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/auth/login \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email":"admin@example.com","password":"password"}' | jq -r .token)

# List servers
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  http://localhost:8080/api/servers

# Create server
curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/servers \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "My Minecraft Server",
    "type": "minecraft-java",
    "users": ["admin@example.com"],
    "node": "local",
    "data": {
      "memory": "2048"
    }
  }'

# Server control
curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/servers/{id}/start \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"

yaml

# Multi-server setup
version: '3.8'

services:
  panel:
    image: pufferpanel/pufferpanel:latest
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    volumes:
      - ./data:/var/lib/pufferpanel
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
    environment:
      PUFFER_PANEL_DATABASE_DIALECT: mysql
      PUFFER_PANEL_DATABASE_HOST: db
      PUFFER_PANEL_DATABASE_NAME: pufferpanel
      PUFFER_PANEL_DATABASE_USERNAME: pufferpanel
      PUFFER_PANEL_DATABASE_PASSWORD: secure_password
    depends_on:
      - db

  db:
    image: mariadb:latest
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: root_password
      MYSQL_DATABASE: pufferpanel
      MYSQL_USER: pufferpanel
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: secure_password
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/mysql

volumes:
  db_data:

bash

#!/bin/bash
# harden-pufferpanel.sh

# Disable root login
pufferpanel config set security.disableRoot true

# Enable 2FA requirement
pufferpanel config set security.require2FA true

# Set session timeout
pufferpanel config set security.sessionTimeout 3600

# Enable brute force protection
pufferpanel config set security.maxLoginAttempts 5
pufferpanel config set security.lockoutDuration 900

# Restrict file uploads
pufferpanel config set security.maxUploadSize 104857600
pufferpanel config set security.allowedExtensions ".txt,.properties,.yml,.json"

# Enable audit logging
pufferpanel config set logs.auditEnabled true
pufferpanel config set logs.auditFile "/var/log/pufferpanel/audit.log"

echo "Security hardening complete"

---

For more information and updates, visit https://github.com/howtomgr/pufferpanel

1. Prerequisites

Hardware Requirements

Software Requirements

Network Requirements

2. Supported Operating Systems

3. Installation

Method 1: Official Installer (Recommended)

Method 2: Docker Installation

Method 3: Manual Installation

4. Configuration

Configuration File

Database Configuration

Environment Variables

5. Service Management

systemd Service

User Management

Template Management

6. Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Debug Mode

7. Security Considerations

Web Interface Security

Firewall Configuration

User Permissions

Docker Security

8. Performance Tuning

Panel Optimization

Server Resource Limits

Database Optimization

Storage Performance

9. Backup and Restore

Panel Backup

Server Backup

Restore Procedures

10. System Requirements

Minimum Requirements

Recommended Requirements

Per Game Server Requirements

11. Support

Official Resources

Community Support

12. Contributing

How to Contribute

Development Setup

13. License

14. Acknowledgments

Credits

15. Version History

Recent Releases

Major Features by Version

16. Appendices

A. Game Server Templates

B. API Usage Examples

C. Docker Compose Examples

D. Security Hardening Script

Gaming

PufferPanel Installation Guide