The Schedules page runs tasks on a timer: a nightly restart, an extra backup, or a console command such as a warning message. Once you set one up, it runs on its own. Schedule times run on a UTC clock, so always check the Next runs list before you save.
Set up a nightly restart
- Open your server, then choose Tools and Schedules.
- Click New schedule.
- Give it a Name, for example "Nightly restart".
- Set Action to Power action, and set Power action to restart.
- Under When should this run?, pick a preset such as Every day at 3:00 AM, or choose Repeat, Daily, Weekly or Monthly and set the time.
- Check the Next runs list. It shows when the schedule will fire, converted to your own time zone.
- Click Create schedule.
Times are in UTC
Schedules fire on a UTC clock, and the time you pick in At or in a preset is a UTC time. For example, Every day at 3:00 AM runs at 3:00 AM UTC, which is 10:00 PM or 11:00 PM the evening before in US Eastern time, depending on daylight saving. The Next runs list converts the time to yours, so use it to check before you save.
The Console timezone setting under Settings doesn't change this. It only changes the time zone MineXEngine uses for its own console messages. See Server timezone and console filter.
Restart without kicking players
For a restart, you can tick Wait until nobody is online and choose how long to wait in Wait up to. At the scheduled time the server restarts straight away if it is empty. If players are on, it restarts as soon as the last one leaves. If they are still on when the wait runs out, they get an in-game warning and the server restarts about a minute later. When the panel can't tell who is online, it assumes someone is.
If your server has enough player history, the form also shows its quietest hour over the last 30 days. Click Use this time to put that hour into the schedule.
Other things a schedule can do
- Console command: sends a command to the console, for example
say Restarting in 5 minutes. Type it without a leading slash. If you add one, the form warns you and offers Remove the slash. - Backup: makes a backup. Your server already makes automatic backups, so this only adds extra ones. Retention, restore and download are on the Backups page. See Backups and restore.
- Power action: start, stop, restart or kill. Use restart or stop for planned shutdowns. Kill cuts the server off without saving, so unsaved world changes can be lost.
Manage your schedules
- Each schedule has Edit, Duplicate, Run now and Pause (or Resume). A duplicate starts paused.
- Run now runs it once straight away. For a restart, Run now always restarts immediately, even if players are online.
- A schedule with Only when the server is online (skip the run if it's stopped) ticked is skipped while the server is stopped.
- A Never fires badge means its timing never matches a real date. Edit the time.
- Schedules can't run more often than once every 5 minutes.
Good to know
- A start schedule with the "only when the server is online" box ticked can never start a stopped server. Untick it for start schedules.
- Schedules don't run while the server is suspended or while the machine it runs on is offline. If one shows as Overdue, check status.minexhost.com.
- Subusers need the Manage schedules permission to create or change schedules.