Once your server is deployed, you manage it entirely from the Witchly Dashboard. The management interface is organized into tabs, each covering a different aspect of server administration. This guide walks through every tab and feature available to you.

To access server management, go to Servers on the dashboard, then click Manage on any of your servers.

Overview Tab

The Overview tab provides an at-a-glance status card for your server, including:

Connection address: The IP and port your players use to connect (displayed with a copy button).
Server status: Online, Offline, Starting, or Stopping — shown with a color-coded badge.
Game type: The server software you selected during deployment (e.g., Paper, Vanilla, Fabric).
Resource limits: Your allocated RAM, CPU, and Disk for this server.
Live resource usage: Real-time CPU, RAM, and Disk usage with sparkline graphs that update every 5 seconds.
Uptime: How long the server has been running since the last start.

Console Tab

The Console tab provides a live terminal with a real-time connection to your server, streaming live server output.

Features

Live output: See server logs, player joins/leaves, chat messages, and errors in real time.
Command input: Type commands directly into the console input field at the bottom and press Enter to send them to your server. For Minecraft, this works with any server command (e.g., say Hello, op PlayerName, whitelist add PlayerName).
Power controls: Four power buttons at the top of the console:
- Start — Boots the server.
- Stop — Sends a graceful shutdown signal.
- Restart — Stops and restarts the server.
- Kill — Force-kills the server process immediately (use only if the server is unresponsive).
Resource metrics: CPU, RAM, and Disk sparkline charts are displayed alongside the console, updating in real time.

Rate Limits

Console commands: 1.5-second cooldown between commands.
Power actions: 3-second cooldown between power actions.

File Manager Tab

The File Manager is a full-featured file browser and editor built into the dashboard. You can manage all your server files without needing external SFTP software.

Browsing

Navigate directories by clicking folder names.
Breadcrumb navigation at the top shows your current path.
Files display their name, size, and last modified date.
File icons are color-coded by type (code, config, image, archive, etc.).

Editing Files

Click any text-based file to open it in the built-in code editor.
Syntax highlighting is automatic based on file extension — supports JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, JSON, YAML, XML, properties files, shell scripts, Markdown, and more.
Save your changes with the Save button or keyboard shortcut.

File Operations

Upload: Drag and drop files onto the file manager or use the upload button. Maximum file size is 100 MB.
Download: Click the download icon on any file to download it to your computer.
Create: Create new files or folders using the create buttons.
Rename: Right-click or use the menu to rename files and folders.
Move: Move files between directories.
Copy: Duplicate files within the server.
Delete: Delete files or folders (with confirmation). Bulk delete is supported by selecting multiple items.
Compress: Select files and compress them into a ZIP archive.
Decompress: Extract archive files (ZIP, TAR, GZ, BZ2, XZ, 7Z, RAR) directly on the server.

Rate Limits

File write/upload operations have a 5-second cooldown per server.

Options Tab (Game Settings)

The Options tab provides a visual configuration editor for game-specific settings. Instead of manually editing config files, you get a clean form interface with typed inputs.

Minecraft Server Properties

For Minecraft servers, this tab parses your server.properties file and presents settings organized into categories:

General: Server name (MOTD), max players, online mode, difficulty, gamemode.
Gameplay: PvP, allow flight, spawn protection, view distance.
World: Level seed, level type, generate structures, world size.

Each setting uses an appropriate input type — toggles for booleans, dropdowns for enums, number inputs with min/max validation, and text fields for strings.

Startup Variables

The Options tab also shows your server’s startup variables (e.g., Minecraft version, server JAR file, JVM flags). Only variables marked as “user editable” can be changed.

Runtime Image

You can select which runtime image your server uses from the available options. This is useful for switching between Java versions on Minecraft servers.

Reinstall Server

At the bottom of the Options tab, there is a Reinstall button that completely reinstalls your server software. This resets all server files to their default state while preserving your server type selection. Use this as a last resort if your server is broken beyond repair. Reinstall has a 2-minute cooldown.

Backups Tab

The Backups tab lets you create, manage, and restore full server backups.

Creating Backups

Click Create Backup to start a new backup. You can give it a custom name.
Backups capture your entire server directory including worlds, configs, and plugins.
The number of backups you can store depends on your server plan (default: 1 for free tier).

Managing Backups

Download: Download any completed backup as an archive file.
Restore: Restore a backup to revert your server to that point in time. You can choose to truncate (delete all current files before restoring) or merge (overlay backup files onto existing ones).
Lock/Unlock: Lock a backup to prevent accidental deletion.
Delete: Delete a backup to free up backup slots (locked backups must be unlocked first).

Backup Tips

Create a backup before making major changes (installing mods, updating versions, editing world data).
Download important backups to your local computer for offline safekeeping.
Remember that backups count against your backup limit, so delete old ones you no longer need.

Databases Tab

The Databases tab lets you create and manage MySQL databases for your server. These are useful for plugins that require database storage (e.g., economy plugins, permissions plugins).

Creating a Database

Click Create Database and provide a name.
The system creates a MySQL database and displays the connection details: host, port, database name, username, and password.

Connection Details

Each database shows:

Host: The database server address.
Port: The MySQL port.
Username: Auto-generated username.
Password: Auto-generated password (hidden by default, click to reveal).

All fields have copy buttons for easy use in plugin configs.

Managing Databases

Rotate Password: Generate a new password for the database. Update your plugin configs after rotating.
Delete: Permanently delete the database and all its data.

SFTP Tab

The SFTP tab provides connection credentials for accessing your server files via any SFTP client (FileZilla, WinSCP, Cyberduck, etc.).

Connection Details

The tab displays:

Host: The SFTP server address.
Port: The SFTP port (usually 2022).
Username: Your SFTP username (auto-generated, tied to your server).
Password: An auto-generated SFTP password. This is separate from your Witchly account password.

All fields include copy buttons and the password is masked by default with a reveal toggle.

Resetting Your Password

If you need a new SFTP password, click the Reset Password button. A confirmation dialog will appear since this invalidates any active SFTP sessions. After resetting, update the password in your SFTP client.

When to Use SFTP

SFTP is ideal for:

Uploading large files (world backups, modpacks) that exceed the web file manager’s 100 MB limit.
Bulk file operations that are faster with a desktop client.
Automated file syncing with tools like rsync.

Schedules Tab

The Schedules tab lets you create automated tasks that run on a cron schedule.

Creating a Schedule

Click Create Schedule.
Give it a name (e.g., “Daily Restart”, “Hourly Backup”).
Set the cron timing using either preset options or custom cron fields:
- Presets: Every hour, Every 6 hours, Daily at 4 AM, Weekly.
- Custom: Set minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week fields individually.
Optionally enable “Only when online” to skip the schedule if the server is offline.

Adding Tasks to a Schedule

Each schedule can contain multiple ordered tasks:

Command: Sends a console command to the server (e.g., say Server restarting in 5 minutes).
Power: Sends a power action (start, stop, restart, kill).
Backup: Creates a server backup.

Tasks run in sequence with configurable time offsets between them. You can also set each task to continue or stop on failure.

Example: Daily Auto-Restart

Create schedule: “Daily Restart” at 0 4 * * * (4:00 AM daily).
Task 1 (Command, 0s offset): say Server restarting in 60 seconds!
Task 2 (Power: restart, 60s offset): Restarts the server.

Network Tab

The Network tab displays your server’s port allocations — the IP addresses and ports assigned to your server.

Primary allocation: Your main server port that players connect to.
Additional allocations: Extra ports for query, RCON, or plugin use.
Set primary: Change which allocation is the main connection port.
Notes: Add notes to allocations to remember what each port is used for.

Players Tab (Minecraft)

For Minecraft servers, the Players tab provides management tools for:

Online players: See who is currently connected to your server.
Whitelist: Add or remove players from the server whitelist. Manage whitelist enforcement.
Ban list: View banned players with reasons, and unban players.
Quick actions: Kick, ban, op, deop, and whitelist players with one-click buttons.

All player actions are executed via console commands sent to the running server.

Plugins Tab (Minecraft)

The Plugin Installer lets you browse, install, and manage plugins and mods from multiple sources:

Modrinth — The largest open-source mod repository.
Hangar — PaperMC’s official plugin repository.
CurseForge — The classic mod hosting platform.

Features

Search: Find plugins by name across all three sources simultaneously.
One-click install: Install any plugin directly to your server’s plugins directory.
Version selection: Choose specific plugin versions compatible with your server.
Loader filtering: Filter by server software (Paper, Spigot, Purpur, Fabric, Forge, etc.).
Update detection: See which installed plugins have newer versions available.
Uninstall: Remove installed plugins from your server.
Modpack support: Install Modrinth modpacks (.mrpack files) with parallel downloads.

Audit Logs Tab

The Audit Logs tab shows a chronological record of every action taken on your server. Entries include:

Power actions (start, stop, restart, kill).
File operations (upload, edit, delete, rename, compress, extract).
Backup actions (create, restore, delete).
Database operations (create, delete, password rotation).
Console commands.
Startup configuration changes.
Server reinstalls and renames.

Each entry shows the action type, who performed it, a description, and a timestamp. You can filter by action category and paginate through the history.

Audit logs are invaluable for troubleshooting issues (“What changed right before my server broke?”) and for verifying activity if multiple people have access to your server.