Hosting a game server may not be easy through a terminal, though even experienced cannot handle the game servers through Command Line Interface when hosting a large number of game servers. In this case, using a game control panel provides ease of access to your game servers along with good security measures. While some may not be able to afford premium game control panels, we have prepared a list of free game control panels that are as good as premium, and some of them even provide much better features than premium game control panels. Some game control panels may not provide all the game servers, but they always provide extended functionality to create the desired game template which can be achieved in most control panels.

Pterodactyl
An open-source and one of the most secured game control panel available out there in the market. Every game server instance runs on an isolated docker container, hence providing greater security. Such functionality cannot be seen in any premium game control panel. It is built with PHP, NodeJS and provides a good-looking interface to administrators. This makes it perfect for personal and even for hosting companies that provide game servers. Resource limits can also be placed for each game server.

If you are providing game servers to your customers, then Pterodactyl makes it easier for you! It has a WHMCS and Blesta integration which allows you to automate it completely. However, Pterodactyl may not support all the game servers, but there are many game server configurations available made by their developers but are not official or may not support all the features, which are known as “eggs”. Installation and setup of Pterodactyl is not easier work and requires an experienced system administrator. It is frequently updated and security is on the priority every time, developers are very active in this project. So overall, this is a perfect choice for hosting companies and developers. You can learn more about Pterodactyl on their website.

Easy-wi
Another open-source game control panel, which is user-friendly and provides numerous features along with game servers function. It is not widely used but based on its functionality, it is kept in second place. Game servers can be easily limited by slots, RAM, and disk space. Ports are also assigned automatically during game server creation. Such ease provided by the control panel is rare, as some game servers usually have more than port and sometimes it takes a longer time to determine what is the port that will be used for it, whereas Easy-Wi does it automatically which is a great feature. Along with how user-friendly it is, it also provides a good-looking interface that also consists of many features such as sub-users, fast-downloading, and other addons which can be installed through one click.

It supports a wide range of game servers by default, and game server templates can be also created easily.

Since it is not much used, automation modules cannot be easily found, but the WHMCS module is available so it is good for game server hosting companies. However other billing platforms do not support it yet. It is also not much updated frequently but developers are active on Discord and provide good support to users. You can learn more about Easy-wi on their website.

Open Game Panel
It is an open-source game control panel, supports various game servers so compatibility is great. Open Game Panel has been in the game server industry for a long time and their community forums are also active which means that you can find many good extensions and addons which adds the additional useful features that are required. Documentation is also detailed, and a proper guide is provided on their GitHub page which shows that OGP is user-friendly and easy to install. Easy-installers are also available which can install it in a single command. The user interface for the Open Game Panel is not friendly, and a little hard to navigate. But there are themes available in their community forums.

However, automation is not that greatly provided in Open Game Panel, but it provides WHMCS integration. Placing limits on game servers is an essential part, however, OGP does not do that properly, so we can recommend this for individuals who are looking to host game servers for their usage. You can learn more about Open Game Panel on their website.

Bright Game Panel
Another open-source game panel, which is also user-friendly and provides all the basic functionality which is required to manage the game server. Unfortunately this project is no longer active but we have not found any security flaws. It is also designed using a Bootstrap, which makes it look good. Installation is easy, and so the management is quite simple which makes it perfect for personal usage. We do not recommend using it for companies as it has not been updated for a long time, and also does not have integrations. Other restrictions such as slots and RAM cannot be placed on servers so hosting game servers in a shared environment for game servers can be risky. You can learn more about Bright Game Panel on their website.

Conclusion:

So going to the conclusion of game control panels, based on the features and functionality it provides, Pterodactyl and Easy-Wi are perfect for both game server hosting companies and personal usage, however, they may require some great knowledge of system administrator for management. At the same time, both keep the security at priority. Whereas, Open Game Control Panel and Bright Game Panel is a fine option for personal game server usage.

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Jon Biloh

Owner at LowEndBox

I'm Jon Biloh and I own LowEndBox and LowEndTalk. I've spent my nearly 20 year career in IT building companies and now I'm excited to focus on building and enhancing the LowEndBox and LowEndTalk platform.

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