Install Pterodactyl Panel on Any VPS (2026)

Pterodactyl Panel is the most popular open-source game server management panel. This guide walks you through a complete Docker Compose install — the cleanest and most maintainable setup method in 2026.

1. Prepare Your VPS

Connect via SSH

Log into your VPS as root or a sudo user:

ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IPCopy

Update the system

apt update && apt upgrade -yCopy

Install Docker & Docker Compose

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
systemctl enable --now dockerCopy

2. Set Up the Docker Compose Stack

Create the project directory

mkdir -p /srv/pterodactyl && cd /srv/pterodactylCopy

Create docker-compose.yml

Paste this entire file — it sets up the Panel, MariaDB, and Redis in one shot:

version: '3.8'

services:
  database:
    image: mariadb:10.5
    restart: always
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: rootpassword
      MYSQL_DATABASE: panel
      MYSQL_USER: pterodactyl
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: dbpassword
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/mysql

  cache:
    image: redis:alpine
    restart: always

  panel:
    image: ghcr.io/pterodactyl/panel:v1.11.10
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    depends_on:
      - database
      - cache
    environment:
      APP_URL: "http://YOUR_SERVER_IP"
      APP_TIMEZONE: "UTC"
      APP_SERVICE_AUTHOR: "your@email.com"
      DB_HOST: database
      DB_PORT: 3306
      DB_DATABASE: panel
      DB_USERNAME: pterodactyl
      DB_PASSWORD: dbpassword
      CACHE_DRIVER: redis
      SESSION_DRIVER: redis
      QUEUE_DRIVER: redis
      REDIS_HOST: cache
    volumes:
      - panel_var:/app/var
      - panel_nginx:/etc/nginx/http.d
      - panel_logs:/app/storage/logs
      - panel_certs:/etc/letsencrypt

volumes:
  db_data:
  panel_var:
  panel_nginx:
  panel_logs:
  panel_certs:Copy

3. Start the Panel

docker compose up -dCopy

Wait ~60 seconds for all containers to start and the database to initialize. Then check status:

docker compose psCopy

All three services (database, cache, panel) should show Up or running.

4. Create Your Admin User

docker compose exec panel php artisan p:user:makeCopy

Follow the prompts — enter your email, username, name, and set a password. When asked "Should this user be an administrator?", type yes.

5. Access Your Panel

Open your browser and navigate to:

http://YOUR_SERVER_IP

Log in with the admin account you just created. You should see the Pterodactyl dashboard. 🎉

6. Install Wings (Game Server Daemon)

Wings is the backend that runs your actual game servers. Install it on the same machine (or a separate node):

# Install Wings
mkdir -p /etc/pterodactyl
curl -L -o /usr/local/bin/wings \
  "https://github.com/pterodactyl/wings/releases/latest/download/wings_linux_amd64"
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/wingsCopy

Then in your Pterodactyl Panel:

1. Go to Admin → Nodes → Create New
2. Fill in your server IP, name, and memory/disk limits
3. Click Generate Token and copy the config
4. Paste the config into /etc/pterodactyl/config.yml on your server
5. Start Wings: wings --debug (test first), then set up the systemd service

Create Wings systemd service

cat > /etc/systemd/system/wings.service << 'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=Pterodactyl Wings Daemon
After=docker.service
Requires=docker.service
PartOf=docker.service

[Service]
User=root
WorkingDirectory=/etc/pterodactyl
LimitNOFILE=4096
PIDFile=/var/run/wings/daemon.pid
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/wings
Restart=on-failure
StartLimitInterval=180
StartLimitBurst=30
RestartSec=5s

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

systemctl enable --now wingsCopy

7. Create Your First Game Server

Back in the panel:

1. Go to Admin → Servers → Create New
2. Select the node you just added
3. Choose a game egg (e.g., Minecraft Paper)
4. Set memory and disk limits
5. Hit Create — your server will install automatically

Common Issues

Panel shows 502 Bad Gateway

The PHP-FPM service inside the container is still starting. Wait 30 seconds and refresh. If it persists: docker compose restart panel

Wings can't connect to panel

Check your firewall — port 8080 (Wings API) must be open. On Ubuntu: ufw allow 8080. Also verify the Panel URL in your Node config matches exactly.

Database connection refused

Make sure all three containers are running: docker compose ps. If the DB container exited, check logs: docker compose logs database

Server stuck on "Installing"

Wings may not be connected. Check: systemctl status wings and look at Wings logs: journalctl -u wings -f

What's Next?

• 📖 Set up a domain + HTTPS with Nginx
• 🥚 Download more game eggs
• ⚖️ Pelican vs Pterodactyl — which should you use?