Notifications

The bell

The bell at the top of the panel lists what needs attention, while it lasts:

• a server that crashed, or a backup or modpack update that failed in the last day;
• a machine that’s offline, needs an update, failed to update, or is low on disk space, or the panel’s machine can’t reach Docker;
• a new version of NetherNode (administrators and owners);
• a newer version of a server’s modpack.

A number on the bell counts what you haven’t seen yet in this browser.

New versions

About twice a day the panel asks GitHub for the newest NetherNode release. Nothing about your install is sent; GitHub sees only the request. Once a day it also asks Modrinth or CurseForge for newer versions of each modpack your servers run (CurseForge needs its API key in Settings). Turn both off in Settings › Notifications › New versions, where Check now asks GitHub straight away.

When there’s a newer release, Update now (administrators and owners) installs it without any commands:

• Docker: the panel downloads the new image from the same place its own image came from, starts a copy of its container on it (same name, settings and compose project), and hands over. If the new version doesn’t start, the old one keeps running.
• Binary (Linux x86-64 and ARM64): it downloads the release, checks it against the release’s checksums, and restarts in place. Set NETHERNODE_RELEASES_URL to download from a mirror instead of GitHub.

The panel is gone for a minute or so and the page reloads when it’s back. Minecraft servers keep running, and nodes on other machines update themselves to match.

Update channels

Settings › Notifications › New versions › Update channel chooses what the panel follows:

• Stable (the default): releases only.
• Edge: edge builds too. New features land on the edge branch first, and every change there is built and published as an edge build, numbered like 0.2.10-edge.41 (on its way to release 0.2.10). They can have rough edges.

Switching to Edge offers the newest edge build under Update now. Switching back to Stable offers Go back to stable, which installs the newest release even though its number is lower. Nodes on other machines follow the panel’s version either way.

Going back is safe for your data: a release opens a database an edge build has added to, and ignores what it doesn’t know. Features only edge builds have (such as modules) stop being managed until you switch to Edge again; their settings and files stay.

Discord

NetherNode can post to a Discord channel when servers crash, start or stop (including restarts), when players join, when a backup fails, and about modpack updates (a newer version of a server’s pack, once per version, and updates that finish or fail). Each can be turned on or off; all but player joins are on to begin with.

1. In Discord, open the channel’s settings, then Integrations › Webhooks › New Webhook, and copy its URL.
2. In NetherNode, open Settings › Notifications › Discord notifications, paste it, and save. Send a test checks it. On edge builds it also posts examples of a server coming online, a player joining, and a crash (marked “Example”).

Messages say what they’re about at a glance: a server coming online shows where to join (from its route), its version, its player limit and, on another machine, which one. A crash includes the last lines the server printed. A player joining shows their head. Edge builds only, for now.

Events a few seconds apart are sent together (up to ten at a time), so a restart is one message and a group of friends joining is one line. If Discord asks NetherNode to slow down, it waits. If a message can’t be delivered, the reason shows in Settings.

The webhook URL works like a password for the channel: NetherNode stores it encrypted, shows only its last few characters, and keeps it out of logs.