Install Pterodactyl Panel — Without the Headache

This is the friendly, no-pain Meowlix guide to install Pterodactyl Panel + Wings on a fresh VPS — using Cloudflare Tunnel so you never have to touch firewall ports. Every command below has a one-click Copy button.

What You Need First

• A Meowlix VPS with Ubuntu 20.04+ or Debian 11+ (1–2 GB RAM is enough to start).
• A free Cloudflare account at cloudflare.com.
• A domain proxied through Cloudflare (a free subdomain works too).
• Root SSH access to your VPS.

Step 1 — Pterodactyl Panel Installation

1. SSH into your server

Connect to your Meowlix VPS as root. Run all installer commands as root — the script handles privilege escalation automatically.

2. Run the Pterodactyl installer

Download and execute the official install script:

3. Installer prompts — answer like this

• Select "0" to install the Panel (the default option).
• Enter your FQDN (e.g. panel.yourdomain.com) — the domain you'll access the panel from.
• Leave the timezone as-is or set it to your region.
• Pick MySQL and press Enter to skip the custom config.
• Create your admin email and password — you'll log in with these.
• Firewall prompt: select "N" (No). Cloudflare Tunnel handles all traffic.
• Select "Y" for all remaining prompts (HTTPS and Cloudflare requests).

4. Cloudflare Tunnel — expose the panel

• Go to cloudflare.com → Zero Trust → Networks → Tunnels.
• Click Create a Tunnel → choose Cloudflared as the connector.
• Name it something like "pterodactyl" and save.
• On your VPS, install cloudflared (if not already), then run the connection command shown in the Cloudflare dashboard.
• Add a Public Hostname: panel.yourdomain.com.
• Set Service Type to HTTPS and URL to localhost:443.
• Under Additional Application Settings, enable "No TLS Verify".

Step 2 — Wings (Node) Installation

Wings is the daemon that runs your game servers. Install it on the same or a separate VPS.

1. Run the installer again — select Wings

• Select "1" to proceed with Wings installation.
• Firewall, database, and HTTPS prompts: select "N" (No).
• When it asks to continue: select "Y" and wait for installation to finish.

2. Install SSL certificates

Open a new terminal tab (keep the installer running in the first) and generate self-signed certs for Cloudflare Tunnel TLS verification:

3. Configure the panel — Location & Node

• Log into your panel at panel.yourdomain.com.
• Locations → Create New (e.g. "Europe" or "Main").
• Nodes → Create New.
• Set FQDN to your wings subdomain (e.g. wings.yourdomain.com).
• Set RAM and Disk to match your Meowlix VPS specs.
• Set the Daemon Port to 8443.

4. Configure the Cloudflare Tunnel for Wings

• Cloudflare dashboard → your tunnel → Public Hostname.
• Add a new entry: subdomain wings (e.g. wings.yourdomain.com).
• Service Type: HTTPS, URL: localhost:8443.
• Enable "No TLS Verify" in the additional settings.

5. Copy config & start Wings

Copy the configuration token from the Panel's Node settings page. Then create the config file on your VPS:

Paste the configuration from the panel, then modify the certificate paths to match your setup:

Run Wings in debug mode to verify everything works:

Step 3 — Creating Your First Server

1. Add an allocation

• In the Panel: your Node → Allocations.
• Click Add Allocation.
• Set the IP Address to 0.0.0.0.
• Set the Port Range to e.g. 25565-25585 (21 ports available).

2. Deploy the server

• Servers → Create New.
• Select your node.
• Pick your allocation.
• Server type — for Minecraft, choose Vanilla or Paper.
• Startup command is usually pre-filled correctly.
• Allocate RAM and Disk — start small, scale later.
• Click Deploy.

Pterodactyl pulls the Docker image and extracts the server files. This takes 1–3 minutes the first time. Once done, the server status turns green and it's ready to accept connections.