Fresh Installation

This comprehensive guide walks you through setting up Pyrodactyl using Docker, from scratch to a fully functional system.

The guide for migration has moved to a new page.

For Pyrodactyl-specific issues, please use Pyrodactyl GitHub Discussions or join our Discord community at discord.gg/FGWKZT5dxv for support.

Windows is currently only supported for development purposes.

Prerequisites

Linux system with root access
Docker Engine and Docker Compose installed
Docker expertise and basic system administration skills
Consider Portainer for easier Docker management
Avoid using Snap-based Docker installations on Ubuntu
Enable Docker auto-start on boot

Panel Installation

Download and configure the docker-compose file (template).
- Modify all placeholder variables under x-common
- Adjust exposed ports if needed (add 443 if you want to use HTTPS)
Create a new folder (e.g. pyrodactyl-panel) on your server in a safe location, and move or upload your edited compose file into it. Rename the file to docker-compose.yml.
In terminal, cd into the directory, and run the following command to start the panel:
```
docker compose up -d
```
Run the command below, and go through its prompts to create an admin user:
```
docker compose exec panel php artisan p:user:make
```
Check that the panel is accessible using the IP address or domain of your server.

Panel Configuration

Access the panel via your server's IP/domain and login to your previously created user
Navigate to admin panel (three dots menu → Admin)
Navigate to Locations, make a new location. It can have any name
Navigate to Nodes, create a new node
- FQDN is the domain or IP address (if you're not using HTTPS) of the server you're going to use as a backend
- You should make sure the daemon ports are free on your backend server
On the new node, go to the:
- Configuration tab: Copy the contents to /etc/pterodactyl/config.yml on your backend server
- Allocation tab: Add some allocations to use for your servers. The IP should be 0.0.0.0. If you want to show a different IP in the UI (e.g. a subdomain), add an alias. You can input a range of ports like 25565-26000

In addition to the Pyrodactyl panel, you'll need Pterodactyl Wings as a backend for your servers, which we will also use Docker for. You can have multiple Wings instances on different servers, but for now, we're setting up just one.

Run the commands below to setup the compose for Wings:

mkdir pyrodactyl-wings && cd pyrodactyl-wings
wget https://github.com/pterodactyl/wings/raw/develop/docker-compose.example.yml -O docker-compose.yml

Run the following command to start Wings:
```
docker compose up -d
```
Verify Wings status:
```
docker ps | grep wings
```

If applicable, allow wings in your firewall:

If using ufw:
```
ufw allow 2022
ufw allow 8080
```

If using iptables:

iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 8080 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 2022 -j ACCEPT

Post-Installation Steps

Email Configuration

For user password reset emails, etc, you'll need an SMTP server. For this, you can use:

You can configure SFTP settings in Admin Panel → Settings.

DDoS protection

If you're planning to have your server publicly accessible, your server could be vulnerable to DDoS attacks. Although not covered here due to its complexity, consider using:

The goal is to not have your server's IP address on any of your known domains.

Troubleshooting

If issues arise:

Test with vanilla Pterodactyl by changing panel image to ghcr.io/pterodactyl/panel:latest
Debug issues
Switch back to Pyrodactyl image when resolved