Minecraft Server Website Local API

This program is designed for Linux

The Minecraft Server Website Toolset

This is part of a three-part system designed to automate a minecraft server using a website. Also see:

• The Website Backend

• The Website Frontend

This was developed for my own personal use. The system I’ve designed is very unique to my scenario, so it may not be easy to directly replicate. I also have no intention of implementing features that I will never actaully use. That said, it may still be worth asking for features, as I may find use in them.

Otherwise, feel free to edit this project however you need to for it to suit your needs. If you would like pointers to help you do so, feel free to ask.

Features

The purpose of this package is to provide interaction with the host system, as well as the Minecraft servers.

Run node src/app.js [command] where [command] is one of:

• help - displays help info; does not output JSON

• clear - reset’s the host state to default; does not stop running monitors.

• pause - pauses the monitor for debugging

• resume - unpauses the monitor

• ping - checks if a monitor is running and starts one if necessary

• incClockRaw - increments the clock if not paused; does not output JSON

• getFullState - prints a JSON object containing all servers and host state

• shutdown - shuts down the host

• getServers - prints a JSON object containing all servers

• startServer [id] - starts server with id [id]

• rconServer [id] [mcCommand] - runs [mcCommand] using rcon on server with id [id]

Install Instructions

1. Your host system will need Node.JS and Java installed.

2. Download and place this project onto the host machine.

3. Install the rcon-client

   1. The rcon-client will allow us to send data to and from the Minecraft server. Each server should have rcon enabled, but the rcon port should NOT be public-facing. Only the local machine should be able to access rcon for security.

   2. Go to this GitHub page. Under "Using the command-line application", follow the instructions to download the jar. (I have verified v1.0.0 only)

   3. Rename the jar file to rcon.jar and place it inside res/.

4. Place or install your server(s) into res/servers

   1. Each server needs to be of the form res/servers/[Server Name]/, with world, server.jar, server.properties, etc. placed in that directory.

   2. Each server needs my Idle Timeout Datapack installed, which keeps track of how many players are online, and shuts down the server automatically when no one is online for 30 minutes. (You can customize the time until shutdown)

   3. Each server needs a unique server-port, a unqiue rcon-port, function-pemission-level=4, enable-rcon=true. I recommend setting a strong rcon.password and setting broadcast-rcon-to-ops=false.

   4. Each server needs their server-port publically exposed using portforwarding. This is risky without proper security measures. If you are only using this for your friends, it is still a risk, but relatively safe so long as you are careful with passing out your IP address. Check out this guide for setting up port forwarding.

5. You may need to modify certain permissions on your system for the shutdown command to work properly without a sudo password. Check out this guide.

6. Test the res/shutdown.bash file to make sure your host shuts off when it is ran. You can do this by running node src/app.js shutdown. You should not need to enter a password.

7. Set up the website backend.

Adding Servers to the Program

Create or edit res/servers.json. The format is an array of objects, where each object represents a server. For example:

[
    {
        "public": { // All public-facing static info
            "id": 0, // Must be a unique integer for each server
            "name": "My Server",
            "description": "Creative-mode city project",
            "edition": "Java", // Java or Bedrock
            "version": "1.19.2",
            "port": 25565 // Must match server-port server.properties
        },
        "local": { // All local-only info
            "rcon": 35565, // Must match rcon-port in server.properties
            "rconPass": "thisIsNotSecure", // Must match rcon.password in server.properties
            "path": "./res/servers/My Server/", // Path to server relative to base project
            "javaArgs": "-Xms2G -Xmx5G" // Java arguments for running the server
        },
        "state": { // All public-facing current-state info
            "isOn": false,
            "loading": false,
            "playerCount": 0,
            "minutesLeft": 0
        }
    },
    {
        // Second server
    }
]

By filling creating an object in this file for your server, it will be recognized by the system.

Settings

Inside of res/settings.json, you can change a few options:

{
    "defaultState": {
        "totalMinutes": 15, // The number of minutes the host will stay on without activity
        "delaySeconds": 30, // The amount of seconds between clock ticks,
        "clock": 0, // The current number of clock ticks
        "monitor": null, // The monitor PID string
        "paused": false // Whether the monitor is paused or not
    }
}

You likely only would need to change totalMinutes, so the system will stay on more or less than 15 minutes without activity.