Pterodactyl / Pelican Panel

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Manage your game servers through Discord using Pterodactyl or Pelican. Start, stop, restart servers, browse and edit files, send console commands, and monitor resource usage without opening a browser.

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Game Server Control from Discord

Manage your game servers through Discord using Pterodactyl or Pelican. Start, stop, restart servers, browse and edit files, send console commands, and monitor resource usage without opening a browser.

ℹ️
Note
Pelican users: Arkanis supports Pelican panels too — the connection setup is identical to Pterodactyl. When you add a connection in the dashboard, pick Pelican as the provider type. Pelican is API-compatible with Pterodactyl, so every Pterodactyl feature described below works the same way on Pelican; only the panel software you self-host differs. References to “the Pterodactyl panel” below mean “your panel”, whichever you run.

What is this?

Pterodactyl is the open-source panel a lot of game-server hosts already use to run your server. Pelican is its actively-developed fork with the same API surface. Arkanis talks to either panel over its API, so the actions you reach for every day (start, stop, restart, browse files, send a console command, check CPU and memory) show up as buttons in Discord and on the dashboard.

Why you might want it

You don't want every staff member logging into the Pterodactyl panel directly, and you don't want to switch tabs to a panel every time the server hangs. Arkanis lets staff do the routine power and file operations through your existing permission system, without handing out panel logins.

Setup time: under 10 minutes once you have an API keyDifficulty: Easy. Most users get through it first try.
Happy path

What this is for

Letting staff start, stop, restart, browse files, and send console commands on every Pterodactyl- or Pelican-hosted game server from Discord, without anyone holding a panel login.

Before you start

  • ·Your guild is on the Pro tier.
  • ·You can reach a Pterodactyl or Pelican panel URL (typically https://panel.example.com) and you can sign in.
  • ·You have an application API key (full admin access) or a client API key (account-scoped access to servers you own).
  • ·Staff who should use Pterodactyl have the pterodactyl capabilities assigned to their role.

5-minute setup

  1. 1In Pterodactyl, go to Account Settings → API Credentials and create a key. Copy it once, you cannot read it again.
  2. 2Open the dashboard → Infrastructure → Pterodactyl panel, paste the panel URL and the API key, save.
  3. 3Click "Refresh servers". Arkanis imports every server the key can see.
  4. 4Pick any imported server and open Server Info. A CPU / memory readout means the connection works end to end.
  5. 5From Discord, try /pterodactyl panel and run a non-destructive action (Server Info) to confirm the capability gate is happy.

Common failure modes

  • "Authentication failed" on save
    API key wrong, copied with a leading space, or revoked. Mint a fresh key in Pterodactyl and paste it again. The key is shown only once, so paste straight from Pterodactyl.
  • No servers appear after Refresh
    The API key cannot see them. Application keys see every server; client keys only see servers your Pterodactyl account owns. Use an application key, or transfer ownership of the missing servers to the account behind the client key.
  • "Cannot reach panel" or 404 on every call
    Panel URL is wrong. Use the full origin only, with no trailing slash and no path (e.g. https://panel.example.com, not https://panel.example.com/ or https://panel.example.com/api). Arkanis appends the API path internally.
Full setup, multi-server power flows, type-to-confirm gates, file operations, and the per-server result banner are documented below.

What Is Pterodactyl?

Pterodactyl is a popular open-source game server management panel used by thousands of communities to host and manage their game servers. It provides a web interface for server power control, file management, console access, and resource monitoring.

Arkanis connects to your Pterodactyl installation via its API, letting your staff manage servers directly from Discord. No need to share Pterodactyl panel logins with your entire team; Arkanis handles access through its own permission system.

Dashboard Preview
Pterodactyl PanelPRO
Control your game servers through Pterodactyl — power management, file access, and console.
Server Management
Server Info
Status, CPU, RAM, and disk usage
Start Server
Power on the game server
Stop Server
Graceful server shutdown
Restart Server
Stop and start the server
Server Status
StatusRunning
CPU23.4%
Memory4.2 / 8.0 GB
Disk12.8 GB

Which Games Does It Support?

Pterodactyl itself runs just about any game via its “eggs” system — see the community egg catalogue for the full list (hundreds of games). Arkanis's Pterodactyl integration calls the Pterodactyl API directly, which means the core server-management actions work for every game Pterodactyl can host.

✅Works for any Pterodactyl game
  • Power control (start, stop, restart, kill)
  • File browsing, reading, and editing
  • Console command passthrough
  • Resource monitoring (CPU, memory, disk, uptime, network)
🎯Game-specific integrations
  • The Isle (Evrima) — RCON panel with Evrima-specific commands, structured log parsing
  • Path of Titans — RCON commands, structured log parsing
  • Other games — RCON and log parsing can be added per-request
ℹ️
Note
Arkanis detects The Isle and Path of Titans from the Pterodactyl server name (substring match on the_isle or path_of_titans). Other games are still fully manageable through the Pterodactyl panel — they just don't expose the deeper integrations.

Connecting to Pterodactyl

1

Configure Your Panel

Open the dashboard Pterodactyl page (or use /pterodactyl panel and pick the setup action). You'll need to provide:

  • Panel URL — the full URL of your Pterodactyl panel (e.g. https://panel.example.com)
  • API Key — a client or application API key from your Pterodactyl panel settings
2

Discover Your Servers

Use the refresh action in the panel to scan your Pterodactyl installation and import all servers. Arkanis will find every server associated with your API key and make them available for management.

3

Verify the Connection

Open /pterodactyl panel and select Server Info from Server Management to confirm your servers were discovered. You should see all your game servers listed with their current status.

💡
Tip
Use an application API key (created in the Pterodactyl admin area) for full access, or a client API key (created in your account settings) for limited access to servers you own.

The Pterodactyl Panel

The Pterodactyl Panel groups every Pterodactyl action into four categories. Launch it with /pterodactyl panel, or open the Pterodactyl Panel page in the dashboard sidebar.

Multi-Server Power Actions on the Dashboard

The dashboard Pterodactyl panel groups power actions and console through a server picker. The picker behaviour matches the RCON panel:

1

0 connected servers

The action button is disabled. Connect Pterodactyl and refresh server discovery before bulk actions become available.

2

1 connected server

Clicking the action runs immediately on that server.

3

2 or more connected servers

The picker opens with checkboxes and an “All servers” toggle. Pick the targets, click Run, and a single per-server result banner is returned.

Bulk-supported Pterodactyl actions:

  • Non-destructive: ptero_start. Runs immediately after the picker resolves.
  • Destructive (require type-to-confirm): ptero_stop (verb STOP), ptero_restart (verb RESTART), ptero_console (verb RUN). The confirm modal lists the affected server names before it accepts the verb.

After the action runs, the per-server result banner shows each server's outcome with a color-coded chip (green success, amber retryable, red hard failure, grey unknown) and a footer with the parent audit ID. The audit trail follows the same parent-plus-children shape as RCON: a parent ptero_bulk_action row with redacted args, plus one ptero_bulk_action_result row per server. For ptero_console, the parent stores only command_name and command_length; the raw command body is never persisted.

Single-server-only actions (ptero_server_info, ptero_browse_files, ptero_read_file, ptero_write_file) keep their existing single-server flow and do not show a picker. The Kill action remains a slash-command-only flow on the Discord panel; it has no bulk variant.

Server Management

Monitor live resource usage and server status. When you have a single server linked, the panel auto-opens its detail view; with multiple servers, you get a selectable card list first.

1

Server Info

  1. Open /pterodactyl panel and choose Server Info from Server Management.
  2. If you have more than one server, pick it from the dropdown.
  3. Arkanis returns an embed with CPU %, Memory %, Disk %, uptime, and network in/out throughput.
  4. Refresh the panel to pull updated values.
2

Server List

From the panel's server selector, choose Show All Servers to see every linked server with its current state (online, starting, stopping, offline). Useful before running bulk power actions.

Power Management

Every power action is gated by capability checks and confirmation dialogs where appropriate.

1

Start

  1. Open /pterodactyl panel and select Start from Power Management (disabled when the server is already running).
  2. Pick the target server.
  3. Confirm. Arkanis streams the state transitions until the server reports running.
2

Stop

  1. Choose Stop from the Power Management dropdown.
  2. Confirm the prompt. Pterodactyl sends the graceful stop signal and the server saves before exiting.
3

Restart

Select Restart from the Power Management dropdown. Arkanis performs a full graceful stop followed by a start and reports progress in the same message.

4

Kill

  1. Choose Kill from the Power Management dropdown.
  2. A red confirmation dialog warns about potential data loss.
  3. Type or click confirm to force-terminate. The server process is killed immediately without saving.
🚨
Important
Kill bypasses graceful shutdown. Use it only when a server is unresponsive and a normal stop or restart has failed. World corruption is possible.

File Operations

Browse, read, and edit server files directly from Discord.

1

Browse Files

  1. Open /pterodactyl panel and select Browse Files from File Operations.
  2. Pick the server.
  3. Navigate using the breadcrumb trail. Each folder click drills deeper; the breadcrumb lets you jump back to any parent.
  4. Select any file to see metadata and the Read File action.
2

Read File

  1. From the browse view, click a file and choose Read File.
  2. Arkanis streams the text content. An Edit button is shown if your role has edit capability.
3

Edit File

  1. From the Read File view, click Edit.
  2. The inline monospace editor opens with the current contents.
  3. Make your changes.
  4. Click Save to write the file, or Cancel to discard without touching the file.
4

Download

Use the Download action in the file-browse view to receive a temporary signed URL for pulling the file locally. The link expires after a short window.

🚨
Important
Edit File writes directly to disk with no undo. Download a backup first when editing anything critical (server config, world saves, or startup scripts).

Console Access

Send console commands to a running server exactly as if you were typing them into the Pterodactyl console tab.

1

Send Console Command

  1. Open /pterodactyl panel and select Send Console Command from Console Access.
  2. Pick the target server.
  3. Enter the command in the modal and submit.
  4. Arkanis forwards the command and captures any output into the command history.
2

Command History

The history view lists recent console commands with actor, server, timestamp, and response. Useful for auditing or reproducing a fix.

⚠️
Warning
Console commands are game-specific and unvalidated. Use the correct syntax for your server; malformed commands may be silently ignored or cause unexpected behaviour.

Opening the Panel

Pterodactyl is accessed through a single slash command. All actions are inside the panel dropdown menu.

  • /pterodactyl panel — Opens the Pterodactyl control panel

Related

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