Heroku Minecraft Server

Runs a Free Minecraft Server within Heroku.

For the Buildpack, see Here.

Features

• No Server Idling (Uses a Worker Process over Web)
• Supports Paper, Purpur, Spigot & Other Servers
• Compatible with Plugins/Mods (For Mods, a Custom Modded Server JAR is Needed)
• Automatically Updates the Server with new Minecraft Versions
• Creates a Permanent Server Address using Dynu DNS
• World Saving/Loading through Dropbox or Amazon S3

Notes

• Ngrok Addresses are easily Guessable/Bruteforcable: If you don't want Random Griefers joining your server, invest in a Whitelist/Server Security Plugins
• Store your World on Dropbox/Amazon S3 as a Compressed (.tar.gz) file instead of Git, as using Git will dramatically increase your Upload Size to Heroku
• Plugins can't auto-update with the Server: If you use a lot of them, consider setting your MINECRAFT_VERSION to an older Version of Minecraft, until you can Manually Update your Plugins/Server to a newer Version

Setup

Heroku Git Remote

First, clone this Repo

git clone https://github.com/Epicfisher/heroku-minecraft-server

Next, create a Heroku app, and then link your Repo to use Heroku as your Remote using the CLI

heroku git:remote -a <Your-App-Name>

You can now Freely Edit the Server Properties/Server Icon/OPs/Whitelist

Optional Config Variables

Minecraft Optional Config Variables

You can customise your Minecraft Server using Config Variables

(Keep in Mind these Variables are set with Optimised Default Values. Only change these if you know what you're doing)

heroku config:set MINECRAFT_VERSION = "latest" = Change the Minecraft Version your Server will Run. "latest" Downloads Newest Available Version for your Server. Some Servers do not Support Latest Version Downloading
heroku config:set SERVER="purpur" = Change the Server Software used. Vanilla Server not Available due to Poor Heroku Performance. Some Servers may only operate with More RAM. "none" Downloads No Server. Server Options available:
"purpur"
"tuinity"
"paper"
"spigot"
"none"
heroku config:set MEMORY="500m" = Change Memory Allocated to the Java Server, can be in (m)egabytes or (g)igabytes. Free Dyno can support up to 500m

Additional Optional Config Variables

You can also set Additional Optional Config Variables. These are more situational in use

heroku config:set SYNC_SAVE = "false" = Forcefully Disable World Saving through Dropbox/Amazon S3. Useful for Loading a Custom Word without Overwriting it
heroku config:set SYNC_LOAD = "false" = Forcefully Disable World Loading through Dropbox/Amazon S3. Useful for Forcefully Saving over an Old World

Ngrok (Creates a Temporary Joinable IP Address for your Server)

Create a New Free Ngrok Account and copy your Auth Token

Set the NGROK_API_TOKEN Config Variable to your Auth Token

heroku config:set NGROK_API_TOKEN="Your-Auth-Token"

Dynu [OPTIONAL] (Creates a Permanent Joinable Address for your Server)

NOTE: Dynu DNS requires an Ngrok account

Create a New Free Dynu Account

From the Control Panel, navigate to DDNS Services

Create your Domain Name from Option 1: One of Dynu's Free Shared Top Level Domains. This will be the IP others will Connect To to Join your Server

Click DNS Records and Add a New DNS Record with the Following Information set. All other Fields can be Left as Default

Node Name = mcngrok

Click Add DNS Record

Now add another DNS Record and set the Following Information. All other Fields can be Left as Default

Node Name = _minecraft._tcp
Type = SRV
Target = mcngrok.<The-Rest-Of-Your-Domain-Here>

Click Add DNS Record

Copy your OAuth Client ID and Secret

Set the DYNU_CLIENT_ID and DYNU_SECRET Config Variables to your Client ID and Secret

heroku config:set DYNU_CLIENT_ID="Your-Client-ID"
heroku config:set DYNU_SECRET="Your-Secret"

Dropbox [OPTIONAL] (Free way to Permanently Save/Load your World)

Create a New Free Dropbox Account

Download Dropbox-Uploader from Github onto your local Linux / Cygwin Windows Machine:

curl "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/andreafabrizi/Dropbox-Uploader/master/dropbox_uploader.sh" -o dropbox_uploader.sh

Next, Run the Bash File and Follow it's Instructions

chmod +x dropbox_uploader.sh
./dropbox_uploader.sh -f Config.txt

Your Config file Config.txt should Contain the Following

OAUTH_APP_KEY="Your-App-Key"
OAUTH_APP_SECRET="Your-App-Secret"
OAUTH_REFRESH_TOKEN="Your-Refresh-Token"

Set the DROPBOX_APP_KEY, DROPBOX_APP_SECRET and DROPBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN Config Variables to these Values appropriately

heroku config:set DROPBOX_APP_KEY="Your-App-Key"
heroku config:set DROPBOX_APP_SECRET="Your-App-Secret"
heroku config:set DROPBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN="Your-Refresh-Token"

Amazon S3 [OPTIONAL] (Paid Alternative to Permanently Save/Load your World)

Create an AWS Account and an S3 Bucket

Configure the Bucket and set your AWS Keys to the AWS_BUCKET, AWS_ACCESS_KEY and AWS_SECRET_KEY Config Variables

heroku config:set AWS_BUCKET="Your-Bucket-Name"
heroku config:set AWS_ACCESS_KEY="Your-Access-Key"
heroku config:set AWS_SECRET_KEY="Your-Secret-Key"

Upload the Server

Finally, Commit & Push the Repo to Heroku

git add .
git commit -am "Heroku Initial Upload"
git push heroku

Usage

After Enabling your Worker/Web Dyno in the Resources tab, your Server should Start

If using Ngrok, your Server's IP Address will be found at https://dashboard.ngrok.com/endpoints/status

If using Dynu, your Server's IP Address will be your Created Domain Name (May Take up to 5 Minutes to Update)

Connect to your Server Console

The Minecraft Server runs inside of a screen Session. You can use Heroku Exec to Connect to your Server Console

heroku ps:exec
screen -r

WARNING You are now connected to the Minecraft server. Use Ctrl-A Ctrl-D to Suspend the Screen Session. (If you hit Ctrl-C while in the Session, you'll Terminate the Minecraft Server)

Contributors

This project contains work from the following contributors:

• jkutner - For their original Heroku Minecraft Server repo
• onpat and gamer4life1 - For their Implementations of Dropbox Syncing