Pterodactyl Panel Hosting on a VPS

Tutorial · 7 min read

Pterodactyl is the go-to open-source panel for Minecraft, Rust, and other game servers. Running the panel and game nodes on LayerOne gives you full control over allocations, eggs, and Pterodactyl's own backup jobs.

Split panel and nodes

Small operators can run panel + one node on a single VPS. Larger communities should put the panel on LayerOne Pro ($15/mo) and dedicate separate instances per node for isolation.

Resource guidance

• Panel only: LayerOne Starter ($5/mo) with MariaDB and Redis.
• Panel + light Minecraft: LayerOne Pro ($15/mo, 4 vCPU / 8 GB).
• Modded or multi-game: LayerOne Enterprise ($45/mo, 8 vCPU / 32 GB).

See game server hosting for DDoS and plan context.

Network requirements

Wings communicates with the panel over HTTPS and exposes game ports from the node. Every plan includes a dedicated IPv4 and always-on L3/L4 DDoS mitigation, which is critical for public game servers.

Installation outline

Follow the official Pterodactyl documentation: install the panel with Composer on Debian or Ubuntu, configure MariaDB, then install Wings on the same or child VPS. Use Let's Encrypt for the panel hostname.

Storage and backups

World files grow quickly. Monitor disk usage in the client dashboard and copy world data off the server before major mod pack upgrades. The platform does not take snapshots or backups yet.

Order a VPS

Pick your OS on the pricing page, deploy in under a minute, and open a support ticket if you want a second opinion on node sizing. Recommended starting plan: LayerOne Pro.