Getting started with your Minecraft server

Official panel guide

From zero to playing with your friends in a few minutes, with no technical work. Every step comes with the real panel screen.

9 steps ~10 min real panel screenshots

Which guide do you need? Pick the product you have and we will show you only your steps.

Go to my services No server yet? Try the demo servers

STEP 01

Log in to the panel with no extra passwords

Sign in and go straight to your services: astrolnodes.net/services.
Open your server and click "Auto Login to Panel".
You land directly on gamedash.astrolnodes.net, your control panel. No need to register again.

Everything else happens in the panel: starting, changing version, installing mods, backups… Bookmark it.

Auto Login to Panel button in the Astrol Nodes client area

STEP 02

Start your server from the console

As soon as you log in you will see the Console: the live log, the Start / Restart / Stop buttons and the CPU, memory and disk usage.
Click Start. The first time, the panel will ask you to accept the Minecraft EULA: one click on "I Accept" and it carries on by itself.
When the console says Done, your server is online.

Golden rule: if something looks wrong, a Restart solves half of the problems.

Astrol Nodes panel console with the server running

STEP 03

Connect and bring your friends

Your server address is at the top left of the panel (with a copy button) and on the "Address" card.
In Minecraft: Multiplayer → Add Server → paste the address. Your Minecraft version must match the server version.
Your friends only need that same address. No port forwarding, no router changes.

To give yourself admin rights or close the server to strangers, use the console:

Console · useful commands

> op YourName — make yourself an admin

> whitelist on — only the players you allow get in

> whitelist add YourFriendsName

Done. Time to play.

STEP 04

Change version or type whenever you want

In the side menu, open "MC Version".
Choose the Server Type (Paper for plugins, the recommended one to start; Vanilla; Forge or NeoForge for mods; Fabric…) and the exact version.
Leave "Build Number" on Latest if you are not sure, click "Change Server Version" and restart. Done, nothing to upload by hand.

MC Version section of the panel to change the server type and version

STEP 05

Modpacks and mods without the hassle

"ModPacks" section: a search across Modrinth and CurseForge (Cobblemon, Pixelmon, Better MC, Prominence II…). One click on install and the panel sets up the whole pack.
Individual mods? Use the "Mods" section, or switch the server to Forge/NeoForge/Fabric and upload the .jar files to the mods folder from "Files".

If a modpack does not start, open a ticket: sometimes it needs a Java adjustment on our side and we sort it out in minutes.

Panel modpack installer with Modrinth and CurseForge

STEP 06

Plugins in one click

"Plugins" section (with the server on Paper): a search with version and loader filters, and an Install button on each one.
EssentialsX, LuckPerms, WorldEdit, Chunky, voice chat… they work as they are.
You can also upload .jar files to the plugins folder from "Files" and restart.

STEP 07

Your usual world, on your new server

In "Files" you have the full manager: upload, edit and organise the server files from the browser.
To bring your world: stop the server, replace the world folder with yours and start it.
Coming from another host and would rather not do it yourself? Open a ticket with your world and we migrate it for you.

STEP 08

Backups: turn them on and forget about them

In "Backups", click "Enable daily automatic backup": one click, no restarts. A full copy every day (world, configs, plugins) with automatic rotation.
Before a big change (a modpack, a version change), also make a manual copy with Create Backup.
Restoring takes minutes. The number of copies depends on your plan.

Daily automatic backups in the Astrol Nodes panel

STEP 09

Questions? Ask the panel AI

"AI Assistant" section: write to it in plain language ("change my version to 1.20.1", "why won't it start?") and it diagnoses your server and can even run actions for you.
Included free with your server: 3 queries per day, renewed every night.

AI Assistant built into the Astrol Nodes panel

STEP 01

Log in to the panel with no extra passwords

Sign in and go straight to your services: astrolnodes.net/services.
Open your server and click "Auto Login to Panel".
You land directly on gamedash.astrolnodes.net, your control panel. No need to register again.

Everything else happens in the panel: starting, adding your key, uploading resources, backups… Bookmark it.

STEP 02

First of all: your FiveM key

Without it the server will not start, and it is free. You generate it yourself on the official Cfx.re portal.

Go to keymaster.fivem.net with your Cfx.re account and create a new key.
When it asks for the IP, enter your server address (top left of the panel, with a copy button).
In the panel, open the "Startup" section → paste the key into FXSERVER LICENSE KEY.
Right there you also have the name shown in the server list (SERVER HOSTNAME) and the player limit (MAX PLAYERS).

Keep it: one key works for one server. If your IP changes, edit it in keymaster instead of creating another.

Startup section of the panel with the FiveM FXSERVER LICENSE KEY variable

STEP 03

Start it and log in to txAdmin

Click Start. In the console you will see CitizenFX update and txAdmin, the FiveM administration panel, start up.
The console gives you the txAdmin address and a one-time PIN. Open it in the browser and register with that PIN: that will be your administrator account.
Shortcut: the "Open txAdmin" button at the top takes you straight there.
From txAdmin you deploy your server (a base template or your own repository), manage admins and see who is connected.

The PIN expires. If you lose it or it expires, restart the server and the console will give you a new one.

Astrol Nodes panel console with txAdmin running and the registration PIN

STEP 04

Join your server and bring your players

Open FiveM, press F8 to open the game console and type connect followed by your server address.
Your players use that same address. No port forwarding, no router changes.
With the key in place and the server running, you will also appear in the public FiveM list under the name you configured.

If you prefer a domain, the panel has a "Subdomains" section to give your IP a proper name.

FiveM · in-game console (F8)

> connect al01.astrolnodes.net:25570

— or with your subdomain —

> connect play.yourserver.com

Connected. Welcome to Los Santos.

STEP 05

Your resources and your server.cfg

In "Files" you have the full manager. Scripts, maps and MLOs go inside the resources folder.
Each resource is enabled with its ensure line in server.cfg. Open it in one click with the panel's "Edit server.cfg" button, without downloading anything.
The txAdmin configuration lives in txData. If you deploy from txAdmin, your server is set up there automatically.
Upload files by dragging them, or connect over SFTP if you prefer to work from your editor.

A resource that does not load is almost always a missing ensure line or one in the wrong order. The console tells you which one fails.

Panel file manager with the FiveM resources and txData folders

STEP 06

Backups: turn them on and forget about them

In "Backups", click "Enable daily automatic backup": one click, no restarts. A full copy every day with automatic rotation.
Before adding a new framework or a large resource pack, also make a manual copy with Create Backup.
Your database lives under "Databases": there you have the credentials to connect with HeidiSQL or similar.

STEP 07

Questions? Ask the panel AI

"AI Assistant" section: write to it in plain language ("why won't it start?", "this resource throws an error") and it diagnoses your server and can even run actions for you.
Included free with your server: 3 queries per day, renewed every night.

STEP 01

Log in to the panel with no extra passwords

Sign in and go straight to your services: astrolnodes.net/services.
Open your server and click "Auto Login to Panel".
You land directly on gamedash.astrolnodes.net. It is the same panel for every game: only each game's settings change.

Bookmark it: from there you start the server, adjust the game, edit files and restore copies.

STEP 02

Start it and let it install

As soon as you log in you will see the Console: the live log, the Start / Restart / Stop buttons and the CPU, memory and disk usage.
Click Start. The first time takes a while: ARK and Rust download in full from Steam and generate the world. It is several GB, do not interrupt it.
You will know it is ready when the console stops scrolling and the status changes to Online; in Rust, when Server startup complete appears.

Golden rule: if something looks wrong, a Restart solves half of the problems.

Astrol Nodes panel console with a Rust server already running

STEP 03

Set up your game from "Startup"

This is the key section: everything that defines your server is here, without touching a single file.

Name shown in the game's server list.
Map: in ARK, The Island, Ragnarok, Aberration, Fjordur…; in Rust, procedural with the size and seed you choose.
Join password, if you only want your own people in, and admin password for commands.
Player limit and the rest of the game's own options.

Change, save and restart. Startup settings apply on start, not live.

Startup variables of an ARK server in the panel: map, passwords and name

STEP 04

Connect and bring your players

Your server address is at the top left of the panel, with a copy button. It is the same for every game: what changes is where you paste it, not the value.
Searching for it in the in-game list works, but it is slow and sometimes it does not show up: the fast way is connecting manually from the game console.
Your players use that same address. No port forwarding, no router changes.

In the "Subdomains" section you can swap the IP for a name that is easy to remember.

Game console

ARK · press Tab

> open al01.astrolnodes.net:25577

Rust · press F1

> client.connect al01.astrolnodes.net:25582

Connected. Time to survive.

STEP 05

Fine-tuning and your files

In "Files" you have the full manager: upload, edit and organise everything from the browser, without downloading anything.
That is where the long configuration files live (GameUserSettings.ini and Game.ini in ARK, the cfg folder in Rust), used to tune rates, rules and plugins.
Coming from another host? Upload your save and start it. Would rather not do it yourself? Open a ticket with your world and we migrate it for you.
You can also connect over SFTP if you prefer to work from your editor.

STEP 06

Backups: turn them on and forget about them

In "Backups", click "Enable daily automatic backup": one click, no restarts. A full copy every day with automatic rotation.
Before a big change (switching map, adding mods), also make a manual copy with Create Backup.
Restoring takes minutes. The number of copies depends on your plan.

In progression games like ARK or Rust, a daily backup is the difference between a scare and losing weeks of play.

STEP 07

Questions? Ask the panel AI

"AI Assistant" section: write to it in plain language ("why won't it start?", "I want to raise the gather rate") and it diagnoses your server and can even run actions for you.
Included free with your server: 3 queries per day, renewed every night.

STEP 01

Your VPS is managed from the client area

It is your day-to-day control centre, and there is nowhere else to register: you log in with your Astrol Nodes account.

Sign in and open astrolnodes.net/services.
Click on your VPS. You will see three tabs: Details (what you will use 90% of the time), Networking and Settings.
At the top you have the machine status and the live usage of CPU, RAM, Disk and Traffic.

Just bought it: if the machine is still being created, the page tells you so and refreshes by itself when it finishes. Nothing to do.

VPS Details tab with the three tabs Details, Networking and Settings and live usage

STEP 02

Your login details, under "Credentials"

In the Details tab, the "Login Credentials" block has everything: Username, Password, IP and Port.
The password is not shown by default: click "Show" and it appears for a moment. That is on purpose.
Below it you have the SSH Command ready to go (or the Remote Desktop address if your VPS runs Windows), ready to copy.
The Hardware block shows your cores, RAM, disk and the installed operating system.

The username depends on the system: on Linux it is root and on Windows Administrator. The panel already shows the right one.

Login Credentials block with username, password, IP, port and SSH command of the VPS

STEP 03

Connect to your machine

Linux: open a terminal (PowerShell works on Windows) and paste the SSH command from the panel. The first time it will ask whether you trust the machine: accept.
Windows: open Remote Desktop Connection, paste the IP with port 3389 and log in as Administrator.
You have root access: it is your whole machine. Install whatever you want: Docker, a panel, a bot, a website, your own game.

A freshly installed Windows takes a while. After being created it keeps finishing its setup and restarts several times; if Remote Desktop does not connect on the first try, give it a few minutes.

Your terminal

$ ssh [email protected]

[email protected]'s password:

Welcome to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

root@your-vps:~# all yours.

STEP 04

Power on, shut down and restart

The four buttons in the Details tab, from gentlest to most drastic:

Start: powers the machine on if it is off.
Stop: shuts it down cleanly, like clicking shut down inside the system.
Restart: powers off and back on. It solves half of the problems.
Reset: cuts the power outright. Only when the machine does not respond to anything.

If you upgraded your plan, the new CPU applies immediately, but RAM and disk need a full power off and on; restarting from inside the system is not enough.

Start, Stop, Restart and Reset buttons of the VPS

STEP 05

If you lose the password, you change it yourself

Under Login Credentials, click "Reset password". It asks for confirmation and gives you a new one.
Copy it right then and keep it wherever you keep your important things.
The password applies on the machine's next boot: if you just reset it and cannot log in, restart the VPS and try again.

Serious advice: as soon as you get in, set up an SSH key and disable password login. VPS with a public IP receive login attempts from minute one.

Modal with the newly generated root password, ready to copy

STEP 06

And behind it, the full panel

The client area covers the day-to-day. For the heavy tasks you have dash.astrolnodes.net, your full VPS panel, and you do not need another password.

Click "SSO Login" at the top of your service and you go straight in, already signed in. The "Go to Panel" button takes you to the front page.
VNC (under Options): the machine's screen as if you were in front of it. It is what saves you when SSH no longer lets you in.
Rescue: boots into rescue mode to work on the disk when the system will not come up.
SSH Keys, Backups, Storage and Media (mount an ISO), each in its own tab.
Sharing: give someone else access to the machine without handing over your account.

If you are locked out, start here. Between VNC and Rescue almost everything can be fixed without opening a ticket; if you get stuck, open one and we will look into it.

Full VPS panel at dash.astrolnodes.net with the Overview, Media, Options, Network, Storage, Backups and Sharing tabs

STEP 07

Start from scratch whenever you want

Settings tab → "Reinstall OS": choose a template and the machine is rebuilt from scratch.
You have Ubuntu, Debian, Rocky, AlmaLinux, Fedora, FreeBSD and Windows Server, among others.
Right there you can also change the machine's hostname.
In the Networking tab you have your IP addresses with their gateway and rDNS.

Reinstalling wipes the whole disk. Download whatever you want to keep first: there is no undo button here.

Reinstall OS section with the available VPS templates

STEP 01

Order your app

Each app has its own page with four plans. Every plan is a VPS from our range, at the same price as the VPS with the same memory: the installation costs nothing extra.

Open the app page: n8n, OpenClaw, Hermes Agent, Dokploy.
Choose the plan by memory: 2, 4, 8 or 16 GB. Dokploy goes from 4 to 32 GB, because it needs at least 30 GB of disk.
Choose the location, Frankfurt or Miami, and complete the payment.
There is no operating system to choose: the server is built with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and the app installs itself in a few minutes.

The installation finishes on its own. The server is delivered first and the app takes a few more minutes to be ready. There is nothing to do in the meantime.

The four apps

n8n /products/n8n · 2 to 16 GB

OpenClaw /products/openclaw · 2 to 16 GB

Hermes Agent /products/hermes-agent · 2 to 16 GB

Dokploy /products/dokploy · 4 to 32 GB

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS · HTTPS · root

STEP 02

Two emails with your details

First, "Your VPS access details": the root user, its password and the server IP. They are for SSH, not for the app.
A few minutes later, when the installation finishes, "Your n8n is ready" (with the name of your app): the address, username and password. OpenClaw sends a token instead of a username and password.
The address is your VPS IP with dashes, for example https://203-0-113-10.astrolnodes.app, and it works over HTTPS from the start.

These are two different sets of credentials. Root manages the server; the second email gives access to the app. For security, neither is ever sent by ticket.

"Your n8n is ready" email with the address, username and password of the app

STEP 03

Your details in the panel

In astrolnodes.net/services open your VPS. The Details tab has the "Your application" block, with the address and the "Open" button.
The password is hidden: click "Show" to reveal it. One click on any value copies it.
If you change the details on the server, "Read the details again" refreshes them (once per minute). While the installation is still running, the block says it is installing.

If the panel cannot show the details, for example because you changed the root password, log in over SSH as root and run cat /root/astrol-app.txt. The file holds the address, the credentials and the first steps. More detail: Where to find your application login details.

Your application block in the client area with the address, username and hidden password

STEP 04

First login to n8n and Dokploy

Both arrive with the admin account already created, so nobody can sign up before you. Log in with the username and password from the email, then:

n8n: in Settings → Personal, set your email and a new password. The initial username is an email such as [email protected].
n8n: keep a copy of the N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY, found in /opt/n8n/.env. Without it, the credentials stored in n8n cannot be recovered.
Dokploy: change the email and password in your profile.
In both, turn on two-factor authentication.

Step by step in the Help Center: n8n, OpenClaw, Hermes Agent, Dokploy.

n8n workflow editor on an Astrol Nodes VPS

STEP 05

Set up OpenClaw and Hermes

OpenClaw: open the address and paste the token into the "Gateway secret" field. The first time, the browser waits for approval: log in over SSH, run openclaw-admin devices list and then openclaw-admin devices approve <id>. It is done once per browser.
Hermes Agent: log in with the user admin and the password from the email.
Connect your AI provider with your own API key: in OpenClaw under Settings → Models; in Hermes Agent under Keys and then Models. No AI keys or credits are included: usage is billed by your provider.
Link the channels you will use, such as Telegram or WhatsApp. On Telegram, the first message returns a pairing code that is approved on the server.

The agent runs under its own user, without admin rights. It is worth keeping it that way: it limits what it can do on the server.

OpenClaw panel right after installation, waiting for an AI provider

STEP 06

Use your own domain

The astrolnodes.app address works from day one, and you can switch to your own domain whenever you like.

At your domain provider, create an A record pointing to your VPS IP. On Cloudflare, keep it DNS only (grey cloud) until the certificate is issued.
n8n: run astrol-n8n-domain n8n.yourdomain.com. The command checks DNS, requests the certificate and restarts n8n. Your webhook URLs change: update them in the services that call them.
Dokploy: in Settings → Web Server → Domain, with Let's Encrypt and HTTPS.
OpenClaw and Hermes Agent: change the name in /etc/caddy/Caddyfile and the public address of the app. The exact commands are in the article for each one.

Step by step in the Help Center: n8n, OpenClaw, Hermes Agent, Dokploy.

Your domain on n8n

# check that the domain already points to the VPS

$ getent ahostsv4 n8n.yourdomain.com

# switch the address and request the certificate

$ astrol-n8n-domain n8n.yourdomain.com

https://n8n.yourdomain.com

STEP 07

Updates and backups

The instance is yours and you decide when to update. Take a backup before updating and read the release notes when the major version changes.

System: apt update && apt upgrade -y. On Dokploy, do not update Docker by hand: it is pinned to the version Dokploy requires.
n8n: astrol-n8n-update installs the latest stable version and backs up the database first.
Dokploy: from Settings → Web Server. OpenClaw and Hermes Agent: openclaw update and hermes update, each under its own user (su - openclaw, su - hermes).
Backups: your VPS includes daily backups, in the Backups tab of dash.astrolnodes.net. To keep the app data separately: workflow export in n8n, hermes backup in Hermes Agent, the /home/openclaw/.openclaw folder in OpenClaw and the database backups in Dokploy.

Updating: n8n, OpenClaw, Hermes Agent, Dokploy. Backups: n8n, OpenClaw, Hermes Agent, Dokploy.

Maintenance commands

# n8n · update with a prior backup

$ astrol-n8n-update

# Hermes Agent · back up the configuration

$ su - hermes

$ hermes backup

# OpenClaw · update

$ su - openclaw

$ openclaw update

STEP 08

Free trial and changing app

24-hour trial: you can request a 24-hour trial by opening a ticket. The trial runs on the smallest plan of the app.
Changing app: if you prefer another app of the same size or a VPS without an app, open a ticket and we switch it at no cost.
Reinstalling the same app: Settings tab → "Reinstall <your app>" (for example, "Reinstall n8n"). When it finishes you receive both emails again with new credentials; the address stays the same.
More memory: the "Upgrade" button on your service moves you to a larger plan of the same app and keeps everything installed.

Reinstalling or changing app wipes the whole disk. Back up what you want to keep first: it cannot be undone. More detail: 24-hour free trial of a VPS with an application, Reinstall or change the application on your VPS.

If you get stuck, we are on the other side

Do not spend an hour on something we can fix in five minutes. Open a ticket from your client area (at night too) or drop by our Discord.

Open a ticket Join the Discord

Have something else with us? Minecraft FiveM ARK · Rust · Hytale VPS VPS with an app