Managing Nests & Eggs

Nests and Eggs define which game server types your Pterodactyl Panel can deploy. This guide explains both concepts, shows how to import new Eggs from JSON files and how to manage Egg variables.

Understanding Nests and Eggs

What is a Nest?

A Nest is a logical grouping for all the different variations of a single game or service. For example, Minecraft would be a Nest containing all the different Minecraft server types you offer — Vanilla, Forge, Paper, and so on.

What is an Egg?

An Egg is the specific configuration for one type of server within a Nest. It contains everything Pterodactyl needs to run that server: the installation script, the start command, and the variables users can configure.

Each Egg includes:

→Installation script — runs automatically when a new server is created

→Start command — the command used to launch the game server process

→Variables — configurable options for users, such as server name, world seed, or RCON password

How to Import a New Egg

Pterodactyl ships with a set of official Eggs in the Nests Minecraft, Source Engine, Rust and Voice Servers, but the community provides hundreds more for different games and server types. You can find them in the Pterodactyl Egg library, whose sources are maintained on GitHub. The former parkervcp/eggs repository is archived and no longer updated.

1.Find and download the .json file for the Egg you want to import

2.Log in to your panel with an administrator account and go to the Admin Area

3.Click Nests in the sidebar

4.If needed, create a new Nest first via Create New; otherwise click Import Egg at the top of the Nests page

5.Select the .json file and choose the Associated Nest (e.g. Minecraft)

6.Click Import — the new Egg is now available for server deployments

Managing Egg Variables

Each Egg has a Variables tab where you can configure the options presented to users when they create a new server. This allows you to control exactly what settings are available and how they behave.

Name & Description

Customize the label and help text shown to users for each variable.

Default Values

Set a sensible default so users don't have to fill in every field from scratch.

Validation Rules

Require a specific data type (e.g. number only), or limit the length of a text input.

Required / Optional

Use the input rules required or nullable to make a variable mandatory or optional, and decide whether users can view or edit it.

Further Documentation

For a full list of official Eggs and advanced configuration options, refer to the Pterodactyl documentation and community resources.

Pterodactyl Egg Docs

Community Eggs on GitHub