Products & Servers

Configure products, pricing models, and server lifecycle in PteroCA.

Overview

Products are the server packages you offer to customers in your PteroCA shop. Each product defines the resources, pricing, and game types available for purchase. This guide covers configuring products and understanding how servers are managed throughout their lifecycle.

Key Concepts:

Product - The template you configure (resources, pricing, nodes, eggs)
Server - The actual game server created when a customer purchases a product
Product Snapshot - An immutable copy of product settings at purchase time (ensures customers keep what they paid for)
Categories - Organize products in your shop for easier browsing

For UI Walkthrough

This guide focuses on configuration concepts and strategies. For step-by-step instructions on using the Admin Panel to create and manage products, see Managing Products.

Creating Products

Product Configuration Tabs

When creating a product, you'll configure four main areas:

1. Details Tab

Product name and description
Category assignment
Active/inactive status
Product image (shown in shop)
Banner image (shown on product page)

2. Server Resources Tab

Disk space (MB)
RAM memory (MB)
CPU allocation (%)
I/O priority
Database count
Backup slots
Port allocations
Scheduled tasks limit

3. Pricing Tab

Choose pricing model (Static, Slot-based, or On-Demand)
Configure prices for different billing periods
Set discount pricing for longer commitments

4. Product Connections Tab

Select Pterodactyl nodes where servers can be created
Choose nest (game category)
Select available eggs (game versions)
Configure egg variables and defaults
Set whether customers can change eggs

Quick Setup Example

Let's configure a Minecraft server product:

Step 1: Basic Details

Name: "Minecraft Basic Server"
Category: Minecraft Servers
Active: Yes
Description: "Perfect starter server for small communities"

Step 2: Server Resources

Disk: 10240 MB (10 GB)
RAM: 2048 MB (2 GB)
CPU: 100% (1 core)
Databases: 1
Backups: 2
Ports: 1

Step 3: Pricing (covered in next section)

Step 4: Product Connections

Nodes: Select your Minecraft-capable nodes
Nest: Minecraft
Eggs: Vanilla Minecraft, Paper, Spigot
Allow egg changes: Yes

Configuring Egg Variables

Each egg has default configuration options and variables. You can customize these for your product:

Default Configuration:

Startup Command - Sets how the server starts (e.g., Java memory allocation)
Docker Image - The container image used

Variables:

Version - Game version to install (e.g., SpongeVanilla version)
Server Jar File - Main executable file name

You can control which settings customers can view or edit after purchase.

If you set RAM limits in the startup command, ensure they don't exceed the RAM allocated in Server Resources tab.

Configuration options vary by egg. Different game types have different variables and requirements.

Pricing Models

PteroCA supports three pricing models. Choose the one that best fits your product:

Static Pricing (Recommended)

How it works: Fixed price per billing period

Best for: Traditional hosting plans with predictable costs

Configuration:

Monthly (30 days): $5.00
Quarterly (90 days): $13.50 (10% discount)
Semi-annually (180 days): $24.00 (20% discount)
Annually (365 days): $48.00 (20% discount)

Advantages:

Simple for customers to understand
Predictable revenue
Most common model in hosting industry

Renewal: Customers pay the same amount at each renewal

Slot-Based Pricing

How it works: Base price + additional cost per player slot

Best for: Games where player count matters (Minecraft, ARK, Rust)

Configuration:

Base price: $3.00/month
Price per slot: $0.50/month
Example: 20 slots = $3.00 + (20 × $0.50) = $13.00/month

Advantages:

Flexible pricing based on server size
Customers can choose their capacity
Fair pricing (pay for what you use)

Note: Requires proper slot variable configuration in the egg

On-Demand Pricing (Experimental)

How it works: Pay only when server is running (per hour/day)

Best for: Testing environments, rarely-used servers

Configuration:

Price per hour/day
Charges only accumulate when server is online
Automatic billing based on usage

Experimental Feature

On-demand pricing is experimental and may not work correctly in all scenarios. Use static pricing for production environments.

Advantages:

Cost-effective for intermittent use
Customers pay for actual usage

Disadvantages:

Unpredictable costs for customers
More complex billing
Not fully tested

Pricing Strategy Tips

Encourage longer commitments:

Offer 10-15% discount for quarterly
Offer 20-25% discount for annual
Makes pricing attractive while ensuring customer retention

Keep it simple:

Round to clean numbers ($5.00, not $4.87)
Make discounts obvious (show savings)
Don't offer too many period options

Competitive pricing:

Research competitor pricing
Consider your actual costs (resources, overhead)
Balance profitability with market rates

Server Lifecycle

Purchase and Creation

When a customer purchases a product:

Customer selects product and billing period - Chooses from available pricing options
Payment processed - Balance deducted or payment gateway charged
Product snapshot created - Exact configuration saved (immutable)
Server provisioned - Created on selected Pterodactyl node
Expiration date set - Based on billing period (e.g., 30 days)

Important: The server keeps the exact resources and pricing from purchase time, even if you later change the product configuration.

Server Renewals

Automatic Renewals:

Customers can enable auto-renewal on their servers
System checks expiring servers periodically
If auto-renewal enabled and balance sufficient, server automatically renews
Balance deducted, expiration date extended

Manual Renewals:

Customers can manually renew before expiration
Choose same or different billing period
Payment processed immediately

Renewal Notifications:

Configure in Settings → Email
Enable renewal notifications
Set how many hours before expiration to notify
Customers receive email reminder

Server Suspension

What happens when server expires without renewal:

Grace period ends - Expiration date passes
Auto-renewal attempted - If enabled and balance available
Server suspended - If renewal fails or not enabled
Customer notified - Email sent about suspension
Server stopped - No longer accessible in Pterodactyl

While suspended:

Server data preserved
Customer can view server but not start it
Can renew to restore access

Automatic Deletion

Configure in Settings → General:

Enable automatic deletion - Delete suspended servers after X days
Days after suspension - How long to wait (e.g., 30 days)

Deletion process:

Server suspended for configured period
System checks daily for eligible servers
Server permanently deleted (including all data)
Customer notified of deletion

Permanent Data Loss

Deleted servers cannot be recovered. Ensure customers are aware of deletion policies in your Terms of Service.

Best Practices:

Set reasonable grace period (30-60 days)
Send multiple reminders before deletion
Clearly communicate policy to customers
Consider offering backup downloads before deletion

Vouchers

Vouchers provide discounts or credits to customers. You can create vouchers for promotions, referrals, or customer retention.

Voucher Types

Server Discount:

Percentage or fixed amount off server purchases
Applied at checkout
Example: "LAUNCH25" for 25% off first month

Payment Discount:

Discount when adding balance
Example: "TOPUP10" for 10% extra balance

Balance Top-up:

Free credits added to balance
Example: "WELCOME5" for $5 free credit

Using Vouchers with Products

Set minimum order amounts
Limit to new accounts only
Set expiration dates
Control global usage limits
One-time or reusable per user

For detailed voucher configuration, see Vouchers.

Best Practices

Product Naming

Good examples:

"Minecraft Basic" - Clear and specific
"ARK 20-Slot Server" - Includes key info
"Premium Rust Server" - Indicates tier

Avoid:

"Server 1" - Not descriptive
"Best plan ever" - Vague
Internal node names

Resource Planning

Balance your allocations:

RAM is most critical for server performance
Disk space for mods, maps, and worlds
CPU for tick rate and world generation
Backups for data protection

Don't oversell:

Check node capacity before creating products
Leave headroom for system overhead
Monitor actual resource usage
Adjust products based on real data

Product Organization

Keep shop clean:

Mark outdated products as inactive instead of deleting
Use categories effectively
Update egg selections when new versions release
Regular health checks on all products

Active vs Inactive:

Active: Visible and purchasable
Inactive: Hidden but preserved
Inactive better than deletion (keeps historical data)

Testing

Before activating new products:

Test purchase flow
Verify server creation works
Check all egg options
Test renewal process
Validate pricing calculations

Troubleshooting

Product Shows as Unhealthy

Symptoms: Red warning icon, cannot be purchased

Common causes:

Selected eggs don't exist on all nodes
Node is offline or deleted
Nest or egg removed from Pterodactyl
No pricing configured

Solutions:

Check which eggs are missing: Review error message
Add missing eggs to nodes in Pterodactyl
Remove unavailable nodes from product
Verify at least one price is configured
Check node connectivity

Cannot Purchase Product

If customers report they can't buy your product:

Check these settings:

Product is marked as Active
Product shows as Healthy (green)
At least one node selected
At least one egg selected
Pricing configured for at least one period
Category exists and is accessible

Server Not Renewing

If auto-renewal isn't working:

Verify:

Auto-renewal enabled on the server
Customer has sufficient balance
No errors in renewal logs
Cron jobs are running correctly
Email notifications configured

Common issues:

Insufficient balance (most common)
Server already suspended
Payment gateway issues

Wrong Resources After Purchase

If server has different resources than expected:

Remember: Servers use a snapshot of product configuration at purchase time. Editing the product doesn't affect existing servers.

To check:

View server details, not product details
Check purchase date vs product edit date
Servers keep their purchased resources forever

To update existing servers:

Manual upgrade (resource modification)
Customer must repurchase

Pricing Not Displaying Correctly

If prices show wrong amounts:

Check:

Correct pricing model selected (Static/Slot/On-Demand)
All price fields filled correctly
For slot pricing: base price + slot multiplier configured
Currency settings in Settings → Payment

Egg Variables Not Applying

If custom egg settings don't work:

Troubleshoot:

Variable names must match Pterodactyl egg exactly
Check JSON structure is valid
Test by creating a server manually
Verify visibility/editable settings
Compare with egg export from Pterodactyl

Configuration Guides:

System Configuration - Core system settings
Payment Settings - Stripe, currencies
Email Settings - Renewal notifications

Admin Panel Guides:

Managing Products - Detailed UI walkthrough
Vouchers - Complete voucher guide
Managing Servers - Server administration

Advanced Topics:

Pterodactyl Integration - API setup, nodes, eggs
Access Control - Permissions for product management

Need Help?

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Last updated 1 day ago

Products & Servers

Overview