Pterodactyl Ops

Pterodactyl / Pelican Ops

Run and configure Minecraft servers on Pterodactyl Panel and Pelican Panel (a fork by the former Pterodactyl team, mid-2024; still beta as of 2026-06, relicensed AGPLv3). Pelican imports Pterodactyl eggs unmodified and keeps the API backward-compatible, so this skill applies to both — note the few differences in references/panel-footguns.md.

Architecture (one-screen model)

• Panel (web UI) + Wings (daemon, one per node). Each server is an isolated **Docker

container; files live at /home/container** (host bind-mount under /var/lib/pterodactyl/volumes/).

• The STARTUP command substitutes egg variables ({{SERVER_JARFILE}}, {{SERVER_MEMORY}}, …)

from environment variables at boot. Console/stats stream to the panel.

• Allocations: the primary allocation is the game port. Anything else (RCON, query, Geyser,

Dynmap) needs a secondary allocation added in the Network tab.

Tasks

• RCON → references/rcon-setup.md. Key point: add a secondary allocation first, then set

enable-rcon=true / rcon.port= / a strong rcon.password in server.properties. Confirm with the user before enabling RCON, and never expose the port publicly.

• Memory / OOM → if the container dies with "Cannot allocate memory" or the cgroup OOM-kills

it: the JVM heap + -XX:+AlwaysPreTouch is claiming the full container limit at boot. Set Xmx below the panel's allocated memory (leave ~1–1.5 GB / 10–15% headroom for JVM native memory) and/or drop AlwaysPreTouch. The panel {{SERVER_MEMORY}} value is the container limit, not a safe heap size. (See performance-tuning for the full flag discussion.)

• Backups → references/backup-strategies.md. Panel/Wings backups archive the **live

filesystem and are NOT atomic** — quiesce writes (/save-off then /save-all flush via console or the /command API) before taking one, or stop the server.

• Editing config → edit while stopped (a running server can overwrite files on shutdown),

then start. Use SFTP for large/bulk file transfers the web file manager handles poorly.

• Automation → the client API (below) for scripted file edits, commands, and power actions.

Client API (Pterodactyl + Pelican, backward-compatible)

Auth: Authorization: Bearer ptlc_ (Account → API Credentials), Accept: application/json. Rate limit ~240 req/min per key.

| Action | Endpoint | |---|---| | Read file | GET /api/client/servers/{id}/files/contents?file=/path | | Write file | POST /api/client/servers/{id}/files/write?file=/path | | List files | GET /api/client/servers/{id}/files/list | | Send command | POST /api/client/servers/{id}/command — body {"command":"save-all flush"} | | Power signal | POST /api/client/servers/{id}/power — body {"signal":"start|stop|restart|kill"} |

Output

Give exact panel steps (which tab, which field) and exact file/server.properties edits. For any destructive action (deleting server files, wiping a world, exposing RCON), state the risk and confirm first.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: Teddy563
• Source: Teddy563/mcwrench
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://mcwrench.teddy.bar

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.