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AutoStartStop

AutoStartStop is a Velocity plugin for automated server management using a flexible, rule-based system. You define rules that react to triggers (events like proxy start, player connect, cron schedules, etc.) and execute actions (start/stop servers, connect/disconnect players, log messages, and more), optionally gated by conditions.

How it works

AutoStartStop evaluates your configuration as:

  • Settings: Global plugin settings (timeouts, intervals, etc.).
  • Servers: Which backend servers are managed, and how to control them (Shell, AMP, or Pterodactyl API).
  • Rules: What should happen under which circumstances.
    • Triggers: When should a rule fire? (e.g. connection, proxy_start, cron, empty_server)
    • Conditions (optional): Should it run right now? (e.g. “server is offline”, “player count > 0”)
    • Actions: What should happen? (e.g. start, stop, send_message, disconnect)

Here’s the overall config.yml shape at a glance:

settings: { ... }  # Global plugin settings (timeouts, intervals, etc.).
defaults: { ... }  # Global defaults for server configurations.
servers: { ... }   # Which backend servers are managed, and how to control them.
rules: { ... }     # What should happen under which circumstances.

Key features

  • Rule-based automation: Define rules that react to triggers and execute actions
  • Multiple control APIs: Support for Shell commands, AMP API, and Pterodactyl Panel API
  • Flexible triggers: Proxy lifecycle, player connections, cron schedules, empty server detection, ping/MOTD requests
  • Built-in templates: Pre-configured templates for common automation patterns

Example use cases

  • Auto-start on demand: Start a server when a player tries to connect and it’s offline.
  • Auto-stop when idle: Stop game servers after they’ve been empty for a duration.
  • Scheduled tasks: Nightly restart, backups, or maintenance actions via cron rules.
  • Smarter server list: Adjust ping/MOTD behavior while a server is online/offline.
  • Graceful shutdown: On proxy shutdown, stop selected servers with warning messages to players.
  • Scheduled rewards: Send hourly rewards or messages to players using cron triggers.

AI-friendly documentation

This documentation is available in an LLM-friendly format following the llms.txt standard. You can use these files with any AI assistant (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc.) to ask questions about AutoStartStop or generate configurations:

  • llms.txt: Structured index of all documentation pages
  • llms-full.txt: Full documentation content in a single file

Generate configurations with AI

Copy the llms-full.txt URL and paste it into your preferred AI assistant, then ask it to help you create or troubleshoot your config.yml.

Statistics

This plugin uses bStats to collect anonymous usage statistics. You can opt out by editing plugins/bStats/config.txt.