Fresh Installation

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

Prerequisites

• Linux system with root access
• Docker and Docker Compose installed
• Experience with Docker and basic system administration skills
• Avoid using Snap-based Docker installations on Ubuntu
• Enable Docker auto-start on boot

Panel Installation

1. 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)

2. Create a new folder (e.g. hydrodactyl-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.

3. In terminal, cd into the directory, and run the following command to start the panel:

   docker compose up -d

4. Run the command below, and go through its prompts to create an admin user:

   docker compose exec panel php artisan p:user:make

5. Check that the panel is accessible using the IP address or domain of your server.

Panel Configuration

1. Access the panel via your server's IP/domain and login to your previously created user

2. Navigate to admin panel (three dots menu → Admin)

3. Navigate to Locations, make a new location. It can have any name

4. 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

5. On the new node, go to the:

   • Configuration tab: Copy the contents to /etc/elytra/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

Elytra Installation

Post-Installation Steps

Email Configuration

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

• Resend
• Mailersend
• Maddy

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:

• Cloudflare Tunnels
• TCPShield

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

Troubleshooting

If issues arise:

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

Additional Resources

• Docker Documentation
• Hydrodactyl GitHub
• Pterodactyl Documentation
• Hydrodactyl Discord