Features
Pterodactyl Panel is packed with powerful features designed to make game server management simple, secure, and scalable. Whether you’re running a single server or managing thousands, Pterodactyl has the tools you need.Core Features
Server Management
Multi-Server Support
Manage unlimited servers from a single Panel interface
Real-Time Console
Interactive console with command history and live log streaming
File Manager
Browser-based file editor with syntax highlighting
Resource Monitoring
Live CPU, memory, disk, and network statistics
Container-Based Isolation
- Each server runs in its own Docker container
- Complete resource isolation between servers
- Prevents cross-server interference and security breaches
- Easy cleanup and server removal
Power Management
- Start, stop, restart, and kill servers
- Schedule automated restarts
- Graceful shutdown with configurable timeouts
- Emergency kill switch for unresponsive servers
Resource Controls
- CPU limit enforcement
- Memory allocation and limits
- Disk space quotas
- Network bandwidth throttling
- Database allocation limits
User Management
Pterodactyl supports multiple user types with different permission levels, making it perfect for both personal use and commercial hosting.
Account System
- Administrators: Full system access and configuration
- Server Owners: Users who own and control their servers
- Subusers: Limited access to specific servers with granular permissions
Permission System
- Over 40+ granular permissions
- Control access to console, files, databases, backups, and more
- Per-server permission assignments
- Bulk permission management
Authentication
- Secure password hashing (bcrypt)
- Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) support
- Session management with Redis
- API key authentication for developers
- TOTP-based 2FA using Google Authenticator or similar apps
File Management
Web-Based Editor
- Syntax highlighting for multiple languages
- In-browser file editing
- Create, rename, delete, and move files
- Archive support (zip, tar.gz)
- Bulk file operations
SFTP Access
- Full SFTP server built into Wings
- Per-server SFTP credentials
- Supports all standard SFTP clients (FileZilla, WinSCP, etc.)
- Chrooted to server directory for security
- Uses Panel authentication
File Permissions
- Read/write controls per subuser
- Download/upload restrictions
- File size limits
- Extension filtering
Database Management
- Create and manage MySQL databases
- Multiple database host support
- Per-server database allocation limits
- Remote access configuration
- Password rotation
- Database user management
Backup System
Backup Features
- Scheduled automatic backups
- Manual on-demand backups
- Compressed backup archives
- Backup retention policies
- Download backups to local machine
- Restore servers from backups
Storage Options
- Local filesystem storage
- AWS S3 compatible storage
- Custom S3-compatible endpoints
- Backup size limits
- Backup count limits per server
Network Management
Allocation System
- Port and IP allocation management
- Multiple allocations per server
- Primary and additional allocations
- Automatic port assignment
- IPv4 and IPv6 support
Security
- Firewall-friendly allocation system
- Port range management
- DDoS protection support (when configured)
- Rate limiting on API endpoints
Advanced Features
RESTful API
Full API Documentation
Comprehensive API for automation and integration
Client API
- Manage your own servers programmatically
- Access server console and logs
- File operations via API
- Server power controls
- Database management
- Backup creation and restoration
Application API
- Administrative operations
- User creation and management
- Server provisioning
- Node management
- Nest and egg configuration
- System-wide operations
API Features
- RESTful architecture
- JSON request/response format
- API key authentication
- Rate limiting
- Comprehensive error messages
- Pagination support
- Filtering and sorting
Multi-Node Support
- Single Panel controls multiple Wings nodes
- Geographically distributed nodes
- Load balancing across nodes
- Per-node resource tracking
- Automatic node selection
- Node maintenance mode
Server Eggs & Nests
Nest System
- Organize games by category (Minecraft, Source Engine, etc.)
- Support for any game or application
- Custom nest creation
- Import/export nests
Egg System
- Pre-configured server templates
- Custom startup parameters
- Environment variable configuration
- Docker image specification
- Installation script system
- Update scripts
- File parsing and configuration
Egg Features
- Import eggs from JSON
- Export eggs for sharing
- Community egg repository
- Custom Docker images
- Multi-stage installations
- Version management
Scheduling System
Scheduled Tasks
- Server power actions (start, stop, restart)
- Send console commands
- Create backups
- Chain multiple tasks together
- Task execution delays
- Conditional task execution
Schedule Options
- Cron expression support
- Minute, hour, day, month scheduling
- Day of week selection
- Multiple schedules per server
- Active/inactive toggles
Server Variables
- Environment variable management
- Per-server configuration
- Validation and rules
- User-editable variables
- Admin-only variables
- Default values and descriptions
Activity Logging
All administrative and user actions are logged for audit purposes.
- Comprehensive activity logs
- User action tracking
- Server event logging
- IP address logging
- Searchable log interface
- Export logs for compliance
Administrative Features
Panel Administration
Dashboard
- System overview statistics
- Recent server activity
- User registration stats
- Resource usage graphs
- Quick access to common tasks
User Management
- Create, edit, and delete users
- Password reset functionality
- Email verification
- Account suspension
- Bulk user operations
- User impersonation for support
Server Management
- Create servers with custom configurations
- Modify server resources
- Transfer servers between users
- Suspend/unsuspend servers
- Server deletion and cleanup
- Bulk server operations
Node Management
- Add and configure Wings nodes
- Resource allocation tracking
- Node status monitoring
- Allocation management
- Maintenance mode
- Node deletion with server migration
Configuration Options
Email Configuration
- SMTP support
- Mailgun integration
- Postmark integration
- AWS SES support
- Email templates
- Custom mail from address
Localization
- Multiple language support via i18next
- Community translations
- Date and time formatting
- Timezone configuration
- Currency formatting (for integrations)
Themes
- Default Pterodactyl theme
- Custom theme support
- CSS/JavaScript modifications
- Logo customization
- Color scheme changes
Security Settings
- Require 2FA for administrators
- Session timeout configuration
- Password requirements
- reCAPTCHA support
- API rate limiting
- IP allowlisting/blocklisting
Integration Features
OAuth & SSO
- OAuth2 provider support (planned)
- Discord integration
- LDAP authentication support (via plugins)
- Custom authentication adapters
Webhooks
- Server event webhooks
- User action webhooks
- Custom webhook endpoints
- JSON payload delivery
Third-Party Integrations
- Billing system integration (WHMCS, Blesta, etc.)
- Monitoring tools (Grafana, Prometheus)
- Discord bots
- Analytics platforms
- Backup solutions
Performance Features
Caching
- Redis caching layer
- Query result caching
- Session storage in Redis
- API response caching
- Static asset optimization
Queue System
- Background job processing
- Email queuing
- Server installation queuing
- Backup creation queuing
- Failed job retry logic
Optimization
- Lazy loading of resources
- Database query optimization
- Asset minification and hashing
- CDN support
- HTTP/2 support
Developer Features
Modern Tech Stack
- Laravel 11: Latest PHP framework features
- React + TypeScript: Type-safe frontend development
- TailwindCSS: Utility-first CSS framework
- Webpack: Modern asset bundling
Development Tools
- Hot module replacement for frontend
- Local development environment support
- Comprehensive test suite
- Code formatting (PHP CS Fixer, ESLint)
- Static analysis (PHPStan, TypeScript)
- Docker-based development environment
Extensibility
- Event system for custom logic
- Service provider architecture
- Custom middleware support
- Database migrations for upgrades
- Plugin system (community)
Next Steps
System Requirements
Check if your server meets the requirements to run Pterodactyl
Installation
Get started with installing Pterodactyl Panel
