PufferPanel provides a comprehensive web interface for managing game servers, including Minecraft, Source engine games, and other popular multiplayer games.

Deployment Information

Host Location

Host: Seattle VM (homelab_vm)
Container: pufferpanel-seattle
Status: ✅ Active
Access: https://games.vish.gg

Container Configuration

services:
  pufferpanel:
    image: pufferpanel/pufferpanel:latest
    container_name: pufferpanel-seattle
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
    volumes:
      - pufferpanel-config:/etc/pufferpanel
      - pufferpanel-data:/var/lib/pufferpanel
      - game-servers:/var/lib/pufferpanel/servers
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
      - "25565:25565"  # Minecraft
      - "27015:27015"  # Source games
    networks:
      - game-network

Managed Game Servers

Minecraft Servers

Vanilla Minecraft: Latest release version
Paper Minecraft: Performance-optimized server
Modded Minecraft: Forge/Fabric mod support
Bedrock Edition: Cross-platform compatibility

Source Engine Games

Garry's Mod: PropHunt and sandbox modes
Left 4 Dead 2: Co-op survival campaigns
Counter-Strike: Classic competitive gameplay
Team Fortress 2: Team-based multiplayer

Other Games

Satisfactory: Factory building dedicated server
Valheim: Viking survival multiplayer
Terraria: 2D adventure and building
Don't Starve Together: Survival multiplayer

Server Management

Web Interface

URL: https://games.vish.gg
Authentication: Local user accounts
Features: Start/stop, console access, file management
Monitoring: Real-time server status and logs

User Management

# Create admin user
docker exec pufferpanel-seattle pufferpanel user add --admin admin

# Create regular user
docker exec pufferpanel-seattle pufferpanel user add player

# Set user permissions
docker exec pufferpanel-seattle pufferpanel user perms player server.minecraft.view

Server Templates

Pre-configured: Common game server templates
Custom templates: Tailored server configurations
Auto-updates: Automatic game updates
Backup integration: Scheduled server backups

Network Configuration

Port Management

# Port mappings for different games
ports:
  - "25565:25565"    # Minecraft Java
  - "19132:19132/udp" # Minecraft Bedrock
  - "27015:27015"    # Source games
  - "7777:7777/udp"  # Satisfactory
  - "2456-2458:2456-2458/udp" # Valheim

Firewall Rules

# Allow game server ports
sudo ufw allow 25565/tcp comment "Minecraft Java"
sudo ufw allow 19132/udp comment "Minecraft Bedrock"
sudo ufw allow 27015/tcp comment "Source games"
sudo ufw allow 7777/udp comment "Satisfactory"

Storage Management

Server Data

/var/lib/pufferpanel/servers/
├── minecraft-vanilla/
│   ├── world/
│   ├── plugins/
│   └── server.properties
├── gmod-prophunt/
│   ├── garrysmod/
│   └── srcds_run
└── satisfactory/
    ├── FactoryGame/
    └── Engine/

Backup Strategy

Automated backups: Daily world/save backups
Retention policy: 7 daily, 4 weekly, 12 monthly
Storage location: /mnt/backups/game-servers/
Compression: Gzip compression for space efficiency

Performance Optimization

Resource Allocation

# Per-server resource limits
deploy:
  resources:
    limits:
      memory: 4G      # Minecraft servers
      cpus: '2.0'
    reservations:
      memory: 2G
      cpus: '1.0'

Java Optimization (Minecraft)

# JVM arguments for Minecraft servers
-Xms2G -Xmx4G
-XX:+UseG1GC
-XX:+ParallelRefProcEnabled
-XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=200
-XX:+UnlockExperimentalVMOptions
-XX:+DisableExplicitGC
-XX:G1NewSizePercent=30
-XX:G1MaxNewSizePercent=40

Network Optimization

TCP optimization: Tuned for game traffic
Buffer sizes: Optimized for low latency
Connection limits: Prevent resource exhaustion
Rate limiting: Anti-DDoS protection

Monitoring and Alerts

Server Monitoring

Resource usage: CPU, memory, disk I/O
Player count: Active players per server
Performance metrics: TPS, latency, crashes
Uptime tracking: Server availability statistics

Alert Configuration

# Prometheus alerts for game servers
- alert: GameServerDown
  expr: up{job="pufferpanel"} == 0
  for: 5m
  labels:
    severity: critical
  annotations:
    summary: "Game server {{ $labels.instance }} is down"

- alert: HighMemoryUsage
  expr: container_memory_usage_bytes{name="minecraft-server"} / container_spec_memory_limit_bytes > 0.9
  for: 10m
  labels:
    severity: warning
  annotations:
    summary: "High memory usage on {{ $labels.name }}"

Security Configuration

Access Control

User authentication: Local user database
Role-based permissions: Admin, moderator, player roles
Server isolation: Containerized server environments
Network segmentation: Isolated game network

Security Hardening

# Disable unnecessary services
systemctl disable --now telnet
systemctl disable --now rsh

# Configure fail2ban for SSH
sudo fail2ban-client set sshd bantime 3600

# Regular security updates
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Backup Security

Encrypted backups: AES-256 encryption
Access controls: Restricted backup access
Integrity checks: Backup verification
Offsite storage: Cloud backup copies

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Server Won't Start

# Check server logs
docker exec pufferpanel-seattle pufferpanel logs minecraft-server

# Verify port availability
netstat -tulpn | grep :25565

# Check resource limits
docker stats pufferpanel-seattle

Connection Issues

# Test network connectivity
telnet games.vish.gg 25565

# Check firewall rules
sudo ufw status numbered

# Verify DNS resolution
nslookup games.vish.gg

Performance Problems

# Monitor resource usage
htop

# Check disk I/O
iotop

# Analyze network traffic
nethogs

Log Analysis

# View PufferPanel logs
docker logs pufferpanel-seattle

# View specific server logs
docker exec pufferpanel-seattle tail -f /var/lib/pufferpanel/servers/minecraft/logs/latest.log

# Check system logs
journalctl -u docker -f

Maintenance Procedures

Regular Maintenance

Weekly: Server restarts and updates
Monthly: Backup verification and cleanup
Quarterly: Security audit and updates
Annually: Hardware assessment and upgrades

Update Procedures

# Update PufferPanel
docker pull pufferpanel/pufferpanel:latest
docker-compose up -d pufferpanel

# Update game servers
# Use PufferPanel web interface for game updates

Backup Procedures

# Manual backup
docker exec pufferpanel-seattle pufferpanel backup create minecraft-server

# Restore from backup
docker exec pufferpanel-seattle pufferpanel backup restore minecraft-server backup-name

Integration with Homelab

Monitoring Integration

Prometheus: Server metrics collection
Grafana: Performance dashboards
NTFY: Alert notifications
Uptime Kuma: Service availability monitoring

Authentication Integration

Authentik SSO: Single sign-on integration (planned)
LDAP: Centralized user management (planned)
Discord: Player authentication via Discord (planned)

Backup Integration

Automated backups: Integration with homelab backup system
Cloud storage: Backup to cloud storage
Monitoring: Backup success/failure notifications

Status: ✅ PufferPanel managing multiple game servers with automated backups and monitoring