Minecraft Deployments

With Strela, you can deploy Minecraft servers to Kubernetes using the MinecraftDeployment resource. This resource is a custom resource definition (CRD) that allows you to define a Minecraft server and deploy it to your Kubernetes cluster. A MinecraftDeployment orchestrates the creation and management of Minecraft servers. It achieves this by generating MinecraftServerSets, which in turn, instantiate the actual MinecraftServer resources.

Get started with proxies

We're getting started with proxies, as they are used in most Minecraft server setups. If you want to deploy a Minecraft server, you can use the same steps, but you will need to use a different image and port. You can find a better example in the Get started with servers section.

The first thing you need to do is to create a MinecraftDeployment resource. In this case we're using a Docker image that is based on itzg/bungeecord. You can read their documentation, if you want to use a different configuration.

For this example we'll name the file example-proxy-deployment.yaml and we'll use the following content:

apiVersion: strela.dev/v1
kind: MinecraftDeployment
metadata:
  name: example-proxy-deployment
  labels:
    # We define this label to be able to create a service, so the Minecraft server can be accessed from the server list.
    app: example-proxy-deployment
spec:
  replicas: 1
  type: PROXY
  template:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          containers:
            # We use our Docker image for a Minecraft proxy server.
            # You can use any other image, but make sure it's starting a Minecraft server.
            - image: ghcr.io/strela-dev/docker-minecraft-proxy:main
              imagePullPolicy: Always
              name: server
              tty: true
              stdin: true
              ports:
                # This might be different for your image, but it's usually 25577 for Minecraft proxies.
                - containerPort: 25577
                  name: main
              env:
                # Our image is based on itzg/bungeecord, so we use a variable to start a velocity server.
                # If you use a different image, you might need to use a different variable.
                - name: "TYPE"
                  value: "VELOCITY"

After you've created the file, you can apply it to your Kubernetes cluster using the following command:

kubectl apply -f example-proxy-deployment.yaml

Please keep in mind that we don't register any servers on the proxy by default. If you want that every server you deploy is automatically registered on the proxy, you have to use our additional Server Registration Plugin for Velocity or BungeeCord.

Expose the proxy for players

Exposing the proxy for players is a crucial step to allow them to connect to your Minecraft servers. You can use a Kubernetes service to expose the proxy. You can use the following example to create a service for the proxy:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: example-proxy-service
spec:
  selector:
    app.kubernetes.io/component: proxy
    # We use the label we've defined in the MinecraftDeployment to select the proxy.
    # You can use a different label, if you've used a different label in the MinecraftDeployment.
    # Multiple labels are also possible, and you can specify which proxies you want to select.
    app: example-proxy-deployment
  type: NodePort
  ports:
    # This might be different for your image, but in our case it's 25577 for Minecraft proxies.
    - port: 25577
      targetPort: minecraft
      protocol: TCP
      name: minecraft
      nodePort: 32556

After you've created the file, you can apply it to your Kubernetes cluster using the following command:

kubectl apply -f example-proxy-service.yaml

Now you can connect to your proxy using the IP of your Kubernetes cluster and the port you've defined in the service. If you're using a cloud provider, you might need to use a LoadBalancer instead of a NodePort. You can find more information about the different service types in the Kubernetes documentation.

Get started with servers

To create a Minecraft server, you can use the following example. If your server has state, that you want to keep between restarts, or your server needs to be identified by a number (e.g. for a lobby server), you should use a MinecraftStatefulSet instead of a MinecraftDeployment. You can find more information about the MinecraftStatefulSet in the MinecraftStatefulSet documentation.

For this example, we're using a Docker image that is based on itzg/minecraft-server. You can read their documentation, if you want to use a different configuration.

In our case we'll name the file example-server-deployment.yaml and we'll use the following content:

apiVersion: strela.dev/v1
kind: MinecraftDeployment
metadata:
  name: example-server-deployment
spec:
  replicas: 1
  type: SERVER
  template:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          containers:
            # We use our Docker image for a Minecraft server.
            # You can use any other image, but make sure it's starting a Minecraft server.
            - image: ghcr.io/strela-dev/docker-minecraft-server:main
              imagePullPolicy: Always
              name: server
              tty: true
              stdin: true
              ports:
                # This might be different for your image, but it's usually 25565 for Minecraft servers.
                - containerPort: 25565
                  name: main
              env:
                # Our image is based on itzg/bungeecord, so we use a variable to start a velocity server.
                # If you use a different image, you might need to use a different variable.
                - name: "EULA"
                  value: "TRUE"

After you've created the file, you can apply it to your Kubernetes cluster using the following command:

kubectl apply -f example-server-deployment.yaml

If you want to be redirected to any server, when you join a proxy, you can use our additional Server Connection Plugin for Velocity or BungeeCord. Just keep in mind that you have to put it in the proxy's plugins folder and not in the server's plugins folder.

Set up private Docker images

You can use private Docker images for your Minecraft servers. To do so, you have to create a secret in your Kubernetes cluster and use it in your MinecraftDeployment.

To create a secret, you can use the following command:

kubectl create secret docker-registry custom-registry-secret \
  --docker-server=ghcr.io \
  --docker-username=GITHUB_USER \
  --docker-password=GITHUB_PASSWORD \
  --docker-email=GITHUB_EMAIL

After you've created the secret, you can use it in your MinecraftDeployment. You can use the following example to do so:

apiVersion: strela.dev/v1
kind: MinecraftDeployment
metadata:
  name: example-proxy-deployment
  labels:
    # We define this label to be able to create a service, so the Minecraft server can be accessed from the server list.
    app: example-proxy-deployment
spec:
  replicas: 1
  type: PROXY
  template:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          containers:
            # We use our Docker image for a Minecraft proxy server.
            # You can use any other image, but make sure it's starting a Minecraft server.
            - image: ghcr.io/strela-dev/docker-minecraft-proxy:main
              imagePullPolicy: Always
              name: server
              tty: true
              stdin: true
              ports:
                # This might be different for your image, but it's usually 25577 for Minecraft proxies.
                - containerPort: 25577
                  name: main
              env:
                # Our image is based on itzg/bungeecord, so we use a variable to start a velocity server.
                # If you use a different image, you might need to use a different variable.
                - name: "TYPE"
                  value: "VELOCITY"
              imagePullSecrets:
                - name: custom-registry-secret

Interact with a started MinecraftServer

Spec Fields

The MinecraftDeploymentSpec defines the desired state of your Minecraft server deployment. Below are the properties you can specify in the MinecraftDeployment spec:

Status Fields

The MinecraftDeploymentStatus reflects the observed state of the MinecraftDeployment. It provides runtime information about the servers:

Types

MinecraftDeploymentType is an enumeration that specifies the server type. It supports the following values:

• PROXY: A proxy server like Velocity, BungeeCord, etc.
• SERVER: A server like Spigot, Paper, etc.

Ensure you apply the correct YAML configuration based on this specification to manage your Minecraft servers effectively within your Kubernetes cluster.

Using an SDK

If you want to use an API to deploy Minecraft server, you can use on of our official SDKs. They offer a simple way to interact with the Strela API and create and manage MinecraftDeployments.