auto-mcs

auto‑mcs is a cross‑platform, self‑hosted server manager that abstracts the complexities of Minecraft server administration behind a lightweight desktop application. From a technical standpoint, it bundles a Java runtime, an HTTP/REST API layer, and a set of background workers that orchestrate server lifecycle events—installation, updates, backups, and remote control. The core engine is written in Go, chosen for its static binaries, minimal runtime footprint, and native concurrency support. This allows auto‑mcs to run on Windows, macOS, and Linux with a single downloadable binary, simplifying deployment for developers who need to ship the tool as part of a larger ecosystem.

• Language & Runtime: Go 1.22+ for the core daemon; embedded Java (JVM) processes are spawned per server instance.
• API Layer: A lightweight HTTP/JSON API exposes CRUD operations for servers, worlds, mods, and access control. The API is documented via OpenAPI specs hosted on the official website.
• Mod & Plugin Management: The Modrinth SDK is wrapped in Go, enabling search, download, and dependency resolution. For Fabric/Quilt/Forge, the tool pulls from the respective mod loaders’ APIs and handles version compatibility checks.
• Database: SQLite is used for configuration persistence, keeping the footprint small while providing ACID guarantees. All server metadata (paths, versions, mod lists) are stored in a single .db file per instance.
• Containerization: A Docker image (macarooniman/auto-mcs) is provided, exposing ports 8080 (API) and 25565 (proxy). The image mounts a host volume for server data, making it trivial to integrate into CI/CD pipelines or Kubernetes deployments.

• Instant Server Provisioning: Templates for Paper, Purpur, Fabric, Quilt, NeoForge, Forge, Spigot, CraftBukkit, and Vanilla allow a single API call to spin up a fully configured server.
• Remote Management: The Telepath protocol (a WebSocket‑based custom protocol) lets developers embed a lightweight client into web dashboards or mobile apps, exposing console logs and command execution.
• Scripting API: amscript is a domain‑specific language that compiles to Java bytecode, enabling in‑game automation even on vanilla servers. Developers can expose custom functions via the API, allowing integration with external services (e.g., Discord bots).
• Access Control: A firewall‑like UI is backed by a JSON policy engine that maps player UUIDs to permission sets. The API can push these policies directly to the server’s ops.json, banned-players.json, and whitelist files.

auto‑mcs is designed for self‑hosting on commodity hardware. A single 2 GB RAM, 1 CPU instance can run multiple lightweight servers (e.g., a small Paper server plus a Fabric modpack) with negligible overhead. The Docker image supports horizontal scaling by running multiple instances behind a load balancer; each instance manages its own set of servers, isolating workloads. For high‑availability, developers can script health checks that restart the daemon or containers automatically upon failure.

• Plugin System: The application exposes a plugin registry where third‑party Go modules can register new mod loaders or custom commands.
• Webhooks: Developers can subscribe to server events (start, stop, crash) via HTTP callbacks.
• Custom Scripts: The built‑in IDE allows inline editing of amscript files; these can be versioned in Git and deployed via CI pipelines.
• API Hooks: External tools (e.g., Terraform providers, Ansible modules) can interact with auto‑mcs through its REST endpoints, enabling declarative infrastructure management.

Configuration is file‑driven: a single config.yaml per instance controls proxy settings, default templates, and telemetry opt‑outs. The documentation is comprehensive, with example payloads for each endpoint and a sandboxed API explorer on the website. The active Discord community provides quick support, while the open‑source repository encourages pull requests for new loaders or bug fixes. Licensing is permissive (MIT), allowing commercial use without royalties.

• Game Server Hosting Providers: Automate provisioning of custom modpacks for clients, expose a web dashboard via Telepath, and use the scripting API to implement billing hooks.
• Educational Environments: Quickly spin up isolated Minecraft worlds for workshops, with automated backups and version control.
• DevOps Pipelines: Integrate auto‑mcs into CI/CD to test server updates or mod compatibility before release.
• Community Servers: Run a single machine that hosts multiple themed servers (e.g., survival, creative) with minimal manual intervention.

auto‑mcs offers performance (Go’s low overhead), flexibility (support for all major Minecraft server types and mod loaders), and ease of deployment (single binary or Docker image). Its open‑source nature eliminates vendor lock‑in, while the scripting API and webhook support give developers full control over automation. Compared to alternatives that require manual port forwarding or complex Docker orchestration, auto‑mcs delivers a ready‑to‑