A tour of the Torchlite panel: what every page does

Everything you do with your server after it is created happens in the control panel at game.torchlite.host. You log in with the same email and password you use on torchlite.host.

The panel is Pterodactyl with our own theme and a few Torchlite additions, such as the renewal timer and the Minecraft tools. This tour goes through it page by page, so you know where to look before you need something.

The server list and the top bar

After you log in you see the servers you have access to: your own, and any that a friend has shared with you. Click one to manage it.

Every server page has the same bar at the top. It shows:

• the server's name and its status: Online, Offline, Starting or Stopping;
• its address, as an IP and a port. Click it to copy it;
• the number of players online, for games that report it;
• live CPU, memory and disk use against your plan's limits.

On the right are the power buttons. Start boots the server, or puts it in the start queue if the node is full; while it waits, the button shows your place in line. Restart stops and starts it in one go. Stop asks the game to shut down cleanly, and turns into Kill while the server is stopping, for a server that hangs. Killing can corrupt a world, so give a normal stop time to finish first.

The last button is Renew. While the server runs, it shows the time left in the current period, and it unlocks in the last 5 minutes. The renewal guide covers the timer, the queue and the 5-day inactivity rule.

The pages themselves are in the sidebar, in groups. Which ones you see depends on your permissions, so a friend you invited may see fewer.

Dashboard and Console

The Dashboard is an overview: resource graphs, a Server Info box with the status, uptime, server IP, node and server ID, and your SFTP Details.

The Console is where you will spend most of your time. It streams everything the server prints, live, and the box at the bottom, Type a command..., sends a command straight to the game. For Minecraft, type commands without the leading slash, for example op Steve or whitelist add Steve.

The console is also the first place to look when something is wrong. A crash, a plugin that fails to load or a missing setting almost always leaves a message there.

Files

Files opens the File Manager, a browser view of everything in your server's folder. You can:

• open and edit text files such as server.properties and save them;
• Upload files, or drag and drop them onto the page;
• make a New file or Create Directory;
• Rename, Move, Copy, Download or Delete a file;
• Archive a selection into one file, and Unarchive a zip you uploaded.

Deleting is permanent; there is no recycle bin. The file manager takes files up to 100 MB each. For anything bigger, or for hundreds of files at once, use SFTP, which also resumes if your connection drops.

Most changes to config files only take effect after a restart, because the game reads them when it starts.

Databases and Backups

Databases creates a MySQL database for plugins and mods that want one, such as LuckPerms or CoreProtect. Every server gets one, a Max plan server gets two. Most servers never need it; the database guide shows when it is worth it and how to connect a plugin.

Backups makes a copy of your server's files that you can download or restore later. Every server has one backup slot, so think of it as an undo button before a risky change rather than an archive. The backups guide explains making, restoring and keeping your own copies.

Network and Schedules

Network shows the address and port your server uses, which the panel calls an allocation, and lets you add a note to it. It is the same address as in the top bar. Free servers cannot add more ports here; the address you were given is the one players use.

Schedules runs tasks at set times, written like a cron job: a minute, hour, day of month, month and day of week, with a Show Cheatsheet button for examples. Each schedule holds one or more tasks:

• Send command, for example a warning in chat before a restart;
• Send power action, to start, stop, restart or terminate the server;
• Create backup. With one slot, the oldest backup is replaced.

Only When Server Is Online keeps a schedule from running while the server is off. A schedule cannot press Renew for you; renewing is always a person in the panel.

Users, Startup and Settings

Users lets friends help run the server with their own login, instead of you sharing your password. You choose exactly what each one may do. The subusers guide has suggested permission sets.

Startup shows the Startup Command, the Docker Image the server runs in, and the Variables for your game: things like the game version, world name, player limit or a token the game needs. Changes apply the next time the server starts. If a setting is wrong here, the server often fails to start, so the console and this page go together.

Settings holds:

• SFTP Details: your Server Address and Username, plus a Launch SFTP button. The password is your panel password;
• Change Server Details: the Server Name and Server Description shown in your list;
• Debug Information: the node and server ID, useful when you ask for help;
• Reinstall Server, which stops the server and runs the installer again. Some files may be deleted or changed, so take a backup first.

Activity is the server's log of who did what and when: power actions, console commands, file edits, backups. It is the first place to check if something changed and nobody remembers doing it.

The Minecraft tools

On Minecraft servers, a Minecraft group in the sidebar adds tools you would otherwise do by hand:

• Modpacks: browse and install modpacks from Modrinth. Installing one switches the server type and reinstalls the server, with an option to delete the existing files first, so back up your world before you try it.
• Plugin Manager: search and install plugins from SpigotMC, Modrinth and Hangar.
• Mod Manager: search and install mods from Modrinth.
• Datapacks: manage the datapacks in your world.
• Versions: switch the server software or the Minecraft version and build.
• Configs: edit server.properties, bukkit.yml, purpur.yml and similar files through a form instead of raw text.
• Worlds: tools for your world folders.

There is also a server icon changer, for the picture players see next to your server in their list.

These tools save a lot of fiddling, but they do the same things you could do through Files. If one fails, the file manager and the console still let you finish the job manually.

Common problems

Most buttons are disabled and a banner mentions installation

The server is still running its installer, after creation or a reinstall. Wait for it to finish; the console shows the progress.

A page is missing from the sidebar

You are probably a subuser on this server, and the owner has not given you the permission that page needs. Ask them to add it on the Users page.

I changed a setting but nothing happened

Startup variables and most config files are only read when the server starts. Restart it and check the console for errors.