Panel Basics

Find your way around the GuavaHost control panel: console, files, SFTP uploads, backups, schedules, MySQL databases, sub-users and safe restarts.

• See who did what with the panel activity log

  The Activity page records every action taken on your server in the panel, so after something goes wrong you can see who did it and when.

  6 min read · panel, activity, security · Updated Oct 21, 2026

• Add and manage extra ports for your server

  Some features need a port of their own, and you can add, label, repoint and remove your server's ports yourself from the Ports and network page.

  6 min read · panel, ports, network · Updated Oct 21, 2026

• Startup parameters: what they are and when to touch them

  Startup settings are the handful of options your server reads every single time it boots, and a wrong value there stops the server before it writes a single log line.

  6 min read · panel, startup, settings · Updated Oct 21, 2026

• Read the CPU, RAM and disk graphs in the panel

  What the Usage card on your server's Overview is actually telling you, which shapes are normal, and which ones mean you need to act.

  6 min read · panel, performance, ram · Updated Oct 21, 2026

• Edit config files in the panel file manager

  How to find a config file on your server, change it in the panel's built-in editor, and make the change actually stick after a restart.

  6 min read · panel, files, config · Updated Oct 21, 2026

• Daily Off-site Backups: adding and restoring

  Daily Off-site Backups is an optional upgrade that copies your whole server to separate cloud storage every day and keeps the last 7. This guide covers when you need it, how to add it and how to restore from it.

  7 min read · backups, off-site backups, daily backups · Updated Oct 6, 2026

• Getting around your new control panel

  A tour of the new GuavaHost control panel at customer.guavahost.com: signing in, your servers, the server menu, billing, account settings and where each old panel tab went.

  5 min read · control panel, customer panel, new panel · Updated Oct 1, 2026

• Giving a Friend Access With Sub-Users

  Sub-users let you hand a trusted friend or co-admin their own login to your server without ever sharing your GuavaHost password or billing details.

  3 min read · sub-users, people, permissions · Updated Oct 1, 2026

• Backups: creating, restoring and scheduling

  How to create a backup of your server, restore one when something goes wrong, and set up automatic backups on a schedule.

  4 min read · backups, panel, scheduled tasks · Updated Oct 5, 2026

• Setting Up a MySQL Database From the Panel

  Many plugins and mods need a MySQL database to store their data, and you can create one in under a minute from the Databases page without installing anything.

  3 min read · mysql, database, plugins · Updated Sep 24, 2026

• Using the classic game panel (panel.guavahost.com)

  The classic game panel is still available alongside the new control panel. Here is when you need it, how to sign in with your GuavaHost account, and how to fix common login problems.

  3 min read · panel, login, sign in · Updated Oct 1, 2026

• Panel tour: Overview, Console, Files, Backups and Settings

  A quick orientation to the pages of a server in the GuavaHost control panel, so you know where everything lives before you start.

  3 min read · panel, getting-started, console · Updated Oct 1, 2026

• Reinstalling Your Server: What It Wipes and When to Use It

  Reinstalling re-runs your server's original installation and can overwrite core files, so it is a powerful fix that you should only reach for after taking a backup.

  3 min read · reinstall, settings, troubleshooting · Updated Sep 24, 2026

• Setting Up an Automatic Daily Restart With Scheduled Tasks

  A scheduled daily restart clears out built-up memory and keeps your server running smoothly, and you can set one up in a couple of minutes on the Scheduled tasks page.

  3 min read · schedules, scheduled tasks, restart · Updated Sep 24, 2026

• Why Your Server Says "Starting" or Is Stuck Offline

  When your server hangs on Starting or drops back to Offline, the reason is almost always written in plain text in the Console log, and reading it is the fastest way to fix things.

  3 min read · troubleshooting, console, offline · Updated Sep 24, 2026

• Uploading files with SFTP

  How to connect to your server over SFTP with a free tool like FileZilla or WinSCP, so you can transfer big files or lots of files far more reliably than the browser uploader.

  4 min read · sftp, files, filezilla · Updated Sep 24, 2026

• How to Start, Stop and Restart Your Server Safely

  Starting, stopping and restarting your server are the three power controls you will use most, and doing them in the right order keeps your world from losing progress.

  2 min read · console, restart, power · Updated Sep 24, 2026

• Using the Console Command Box Effectively

  The command box at the bottom of the Console tab lets you talk directly to your running server, and learning a few habits makes it one of the most useful tools in the panel.

  3 min read · console, commands, admin · Updated Sep 24, 2026

About these guides

The control panel is where you do everything that is not playing: start and stop the server, read the console, edit files, take and restore backups, run scheduled jobs, hand a friend access, and watch what the server is actually using. These guides are the tour and then the detail on each part.

Read the panel tour first if you are new, then the console and backups guides, which are the two you will come back to. A daily scheduled restart is the single highest value thing most owners set up and takes about two minutes. Reinstalling is the one button worth understanding before you press it, because of what it wipes.