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What is Pelican?
Pelican is a free, open-source game server control panel. It gives you a web interface for creating, configuring and managing game servers, with each server running in its own isolated Docker container. The project describes itself as self-hostable and suitable for anything from a few friends playing together to a larger gaming community.
What it does
- Server management through a browser: A client area and admin panel let you set up servers, adjust settings and start or stop them without working directly on the command line.
- One-click installs via “eggs”: Prebuilt templates cover games such as Minecraft, Terraria, Palworld, Valheim, Enshrouded and Factorio, with more available. This is the main convenience: you pick a game, and Pelican handles the underlying setup.
- Docker isolation: Every server runs in its own container, so one server’s software or misconfiguration is less likely to affect others on the same machine.
- Security features: The panel natively supports SSL, two-factor authentication and AES-256 encryption.
- Automatic updates and documentation: The project advertises automatic updates, comprehensive docs and an active community.
Who it suits
| User | Fit |
|---|---|
| A small group of friends | Good, if someone is willing to host and maintain the machine. |
| A growing gaming community | Good, because Docker isolation and the panel make multiple servers easier to manage. |
| Someone wanting a managed service | Less suitable — Pelican is software you run yourself, not a hosting provider. |
| A user uncomfortable with servers | Workable, but you still need to install and maintain the panel and host machine. |
Trade-offs to weigh
The appeal is control and cost: the software is free and open source, and you can run it on hardware you already own. The cost is responsibility. You supply the machine, handle installation and updates, manage networking and SSL, and troubleshoot when a game server misbehaves. Docker isolation reduces some risks but does not remove the need for basic server administration.
A practical next step: check the official documentation for installation requirements and the current egg list before committing a machine. If you only want to play one game occasionally, a simpler single-server setup may be less effort; if you expect to run several games for a group, Pelican’s panel and container model are the reason to choose it. See Pelican for the project itself.
How do I install Pelican on my server?
Pelican is a free, open-source game server control panel, so "installing it on your server" means setting up the panel itself on a machine you control, then using it to create and manage individual game servers as isolated Docker containers. The panel is the management layer; each game (Minecraft, Terraria, Palworld, Valheim, Enshrouded, Factorio and others) runs in its own container.
The realistic path
- Pick a host machine. A VPS, dedicated box, or even a home machine works, since Docker isolation means you are not limited to one specific OS or hardware setup. Choose based on how many game servers you expect to run and how much RAM/CPU they need.
- Install Docker and its Compose tooling. Pelican relies on Docker for container isolation, so this is a prerequisite rather than an optional extra.
- Follow the official installation documentation. The project points to comprehensive docs; use those rather than a random blog walkthrough, because panel installs involve database setup, a web server, and background daemon/worker processes that must match the current version.
- Create an admin account and log into the client area. This is where you will see the panel settings and the "Create Server" flow shown in the project's screenshots.
- Add games via "eggs." Eggs are the templates that tell Pelican how to install and launch a particular game. Import the egg for the game you want, then create a server from it.
- Harden it before exposing it. Enable SSL, turn on 2FA for your account, and keep automatic updates on. These are built-in features, not add-ons.
What to weigh before you start
| Situation | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| You just want to play with a few friends | A small VPS plus Pelican is fine, but a managed game host may be less work |
| You run a community with several games | Pelican's scaling and per-container isolation pay off |
| You want zero maintenance | Self-hosting the panel adds patching and backup duties you own |
The main trade-off is control versus effort: you get a free, open-source panel with no per-slot fees, but you are responsible for updates, backups, and security of the underlying machine.
Next step
Read the installation section of the official documentation at Pelican and confirm which game egg you need before you provision hardware, since RAM and disk requirements vary a lot between, say, Valheim and a small Minecraft server.
Can Pelican run Minecraft and other game servers like Terraria or Valheim?
Yes. Pelican is built for exactly this: it's a game server control panel that runs each server inside its own Docker container, and its published "eggs" list explicitly names Minecraft, Terraria, Palworld, Valheim, Enshrouded and Factorio among the supported games.
What that means in practice
- One panel, many games. Instead of installing each game's server software by hand, you pick a game template (an "egg") and let the panel handle the setup and process management.
- Isolation per server. Because every instance is containerised, a misbehaving Minecraft server won't take down your Valheim world, and you can host different games side by side on the same machine.
- Management features. The panel advertises a web interface, one-click installations, automatic updates, SSL, 2FA and AES-256 encryption — the kinds of things you'd otherwise script yourself.
A concrete scenario
Say four friends want a modded Minecraft server plus a Terraria world for weekends. You install Pelican once on a spare machine or VPS, create two servers from the relevant eggs, and hand out panel accounts so each person can start, stop and edit configs without SSH access. That's the workflow Pelican is designed for.
Trade-offs worth knowing
Docker isolation costs a little overhead and means you work within the panel's conventions rather than editing system files directly. You're also relying on the community's eggs being kept current for newer game versions — check the egg you need is actively maintained before committing.
Next step
Open Pelican and browse the eggs list. If your game is there, note its memory and port requirements, then confirm your host has enough RAM and free ports before installing. If a game you want isn't listed, check the community repositories before assuming it can't be added — eggs are extensible, but writing your own takes some Docker familiarity.
Is Pelican free and open source, and what are the costs?
Yes. Pelican is free to use and its code is published openly, per the project's own description. There is no paid tier described on the site — it presents itself as free "forever" for personal use, friends, family and others, with all code open source.
What that means in practice
- You can install and run the panel yourself without paying for the software.
- You keep control of the machine it runs on, since each game server runs in its own Docker container.
- The practical costs are the ones you supply: a machine to host it (a spare PC, a VPS or dedicated server), electricity or hosting fees, and your time for setup and maintenance.
Where money can still enter the picture
Free software does not mean zero running cost. If you rent a server, that bill is yours. If you run it at home, you pay for power and your internet connection, and you may need to handle port forwarding or a tunnel. Support comes from documentation and the community rather than a paid contract, so budget time instead of money when something breaks.
Who this suits
A small group of friends wanting a shared Minecraft, Terraria, Valheim, Palworld or Factorio server is the natural fit — one person hosts, everyone else connects. Larger gaming communities also fit, since the panel is described as scalable and supports many games through installable "eggs." If you want a vendor to handle updates, backups and uptime for you, a managed hosting plan will be easier, at a monthly cost.
A quick comparison
| Option | Upfront cost | Ongoing cost | Your effort |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-host Pelican | None for the software | Hosting or electricity | Setup, updates, troubleshooting |
| Managed game host | None | Monthly fee | Minimal |
Next step
Check the install documentation and confirm your machine meets the Docker requirements before committing. If you already pay for a VPS, try Pelican there first — it is the cheapest way to test whether the setup effort matches your group's patience. You can review the project and its source at Pelican.
How does Pelican keep game servers secure with Docker and other features?
Pelican's security model rests on two layers: Docker-based isolation for each game server, and account-level protections for the panel itself.
Docker-based server isolation According to Pelican's own description, every game server runs in its own Docker container and is "completely isolated" from other servers on the same machine. In practice this means a crash, misconfiguration or compromised plugin in one server shouldn't be able to reach another server's files or processes — a meaningful difference from panels that run multiple game instances directly on the host. It also lets you host on almost any machine you already own, since the host OS doesn't need each game's dependencies installed natively.
Panel and account protections Pelican states it natively supports SSL, two-factor authentication and AES-256 encryption. For a typical small-group setup, SSL keeps panel traffic encrypted in transit, while 2FA is the single most useful control for stopping credential-stuffing attacks against an admin account.
Other relevant traits
- Free and open source, with code on GitHub — you can audit or self-host rather than trusting a third party.
- Automatic updates, which reduce the window of exposure to known bugs.
- Eggs (install templates) for Minecraft, Terraria, Palworld, Valheim, Enshrouded, Factorio and others.
Where to start If you're setting this up for friends, enable 2FA on every admin account before opening the panel to the internet, and run the panel behind SSL. If you're running a larger community, the container isolation is what lets you safely mix untrusted users' servers on one box — but keep in mind that isolation protects servers from each other, not the host from a determined attacker, so keep the host OS patched separately. You can read more at Pelican.
Can Pelican scale for a large gaming community or just a few friends?
Pelican is designed to handle both ends of that range. Its page describes it as scalable "to the sky," explicitly covering the case of "some friends that want to play together" as well as a full gaming community. The mechanism behind that flexibility is Docker: each game server runs in its own isolated container, so you can spread servers across whatever machines you have rather than depending on one box.
What that means in practice
- A few friends: You can run a single Minecraft, Valheim or Terraria server on one modest machine, with one-click installs and automatic updates keeping maintenance low.
- A growing community: Because servers are containerised, you can add more servers or move them to additional hardware as demand grows, instead of rebuilding your setup. Pelican supports a wide catalogue of games through its "eggs," including Minecraft, Terraria, Palworld, Valheim, Enshrouded and Factorio.
The trade-offs to weigh
| Situation | Where Pelican fits well | Where it needs care |
|---|---|---|
| Small friend group | Simple single-server hosting; low admin overhead | You still supply and maintain the host machine |
| Large community | Multiple isolated servers, scaling across machines | You need to plan hardware, networking and backups yourself |
The main caveat is that Pelican is a control panel, not a hosting service. Scaling is something you enable by adding resources and containers, so the practical ceiling depends on your own hardware and how comfortable you are administering it. Security features such as SSL, 2FA and AES-256 encryption are built in, which matters more as your player base and number of admin accounts grow.
Next step: if you are starting with a few friends, install Pelican on one machine and run a single game server to learn the interface. If you already run a community, map out how many servers you need and on how many hosts, then check the documentation and community support channels before migrating. Pelican itself is free and open source, so the real cost is your hardware and time.
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