Getting started

Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.
• The .NET 8 Desktop Runtime.
• Enough free disk space for your game servers. Some games need tens of gigabytes.

Install

1. Download NetrooManager.exe.
2. Make a folder for it, for example C:\NetrooManager, and put the exe inside. All server files are saved next to it, so pick a drive with space.
3. Run it. It does not need administrator rights.

Your first server

1. Open Servers ▸ Create Server...
2. Choose the Game. For Minecraft also pick the Server type (Vanilla, Paper, Purpur, Fabric or Forge) and the Version.
3. Set the Server name, Port, Max players and, if you want, a password.
4. Keep Install the server files now ticked and press Save. SteamCMD and Java are downloaded automatically when needed.
5. When the install finishes, select the server and press START.

Games are downloaded for free from SteamCMD or the game's official site. You don't need a Steam account.

The main window

• Top bar: START, STOP, RESTART, KILL, TOGGLE CONSOLE, UPDATE, BACKUP and MANAGE ADDONS for the selected server.
• Server table: ID, PID, type, version, status, name, IP, ports, map, players and uptime. Double-click a server to open its settings, or right-click it for every action.
• Console: the live server output. Type a command at the bottom and press SEND.
• Sidebar: Servers, Dashboard (CPU, RAM, disk, players and a two-hour chart), Discord Bot, Plugins and Settings.

Menus

• Servers: create and delete servers.
• Actions: start, stop, restart, kill, update, backup, restore, edit config, addons, Modrinth and copy the address. More... starts, stops or restarts all servers at once.
• Browse: open the server files, backups, config or addons folder.
• Tools: check all servers for updates and download SteamCMD.
• Help: this page, report an issue, software updates and about.

Stopping is always clean: Netroo Manager sends stop or quit first and only forces the server closed if it doesn't respond.

Server options

The panel under the server table controls the selected server.

Backups

• Press BACKUP, or turn on Backup on Start. You can back up while the server is running.
• Backups are saved in backups\<server id>\. The newest 5 are kept (you can change the number).
• Actions ▸ Restore Backup lists your backups by date and size. Before restoring, the current files are backed up first (shown as "before restore"), so you can always go back.
• A restore is unpacked into a temporary folder first, so if anything goes wrong your current files are not touched.

Config editor

Right-click a server and choose Edit Config File... A tab opens inside the app with:

• Settings: every server.properties setting in groups, with an explanation, switches, lists and search. Changed settings are highlighted.
• Text: the whole file as text. This works for every game.
• SAVE, SAVE & RESTART and REVERT (back to the last saved version).

Before every save the old file is copied to servers\<id>\config-backups, and the last 10 copies are kept. Port, max players and world name are locked here because you change them in Server Settings.

Plugins, mods & Modrinth

Manage addons

Open MANAGE ADDONS, or right-click a server ▸ Manage Plugins / Mods... It shows what fits the server: Paper/Purpur plugins, Fabric/Forge mods, Vanilla data packs, Oxide plugins for Rust, BepInEx plugins for Valheim and .pak mods for Palworld.

• Each addon shows its name, version and description, read from the file itself.
• A switch turns it on or off. Disabled files end in .disabled and the server ignores them.
• Remove sends the file to the Recycle Bin. Add with ADD or drag and drop files onto the list.
• If the server is running you'll get a RESTART NOW button to apply the changes.

Modrinth

From the sidebar, or right-click ▸ Browse Modrinth..., pick a Minecraft server and you'll only see what works on it and on its exact version.

• Search and sort by relevance, downloads, follows, newest or recently updated.
• INSTALL downloads the latest stable version to the right folder, checks the file hash and offers to install required dependencies (like Fabric API).
• The Installed tab finds Modrinth files (even ones you added by hand) and shows which have updates, with UPDATE ALL.

Discord bot & alerts

Set up the bot

1. Go to discord.com/developers, create a New Application, open Bot, press Reset Token and copy the token.
2. On the same page turn on MESSAGE CONTENT INTENT.
3. In Netroo Manager open the Discord Bot page, press EDIT next to the token, paste it and turn on Enable.
4. Press INVITE to add the bot to your Discord server.
5. Press ADD ADMIN ID and enter a person's Discord user ID (Developer Mode ▸ right-click the user ▸ Copy User ID). In the servers box write * for all servers, or IDs like 1,3.

Commands

netroo check          netroo list           netroo stats
netroo start 1        netroo stop 1         netroo restart 1
netroo update 1       netroo backup 1       netroo send 1 say hello

Only admins you added can use the bot, each only on their allowed servers. Messages from bots and webhooks are ignored, and each person can send one command every two seconds.

Alerts

Turn on Discord Alert for a server, press EDIT and paste a channel webhook (https://discord.com/api/webhooks/...). Choose the events in SETTINGS and press TEST ALERT.

Supported games

42 games. Name, port, max players and password are written into each game's own config automatically on every start.

Game notes

• CS2 and Insurgency: Sandstorm need a Steam token (GSLT) to be listed publicly. Add it in the extra launch arguments: +sv_setsteamaccount TOKEN for CS2, -GSLTToken=TOKEN for Sandstorm.
• Valheim passwords must be at least 5 characters.
• Project Zomboid creates the admin account with the password admin on first start. Change it in game.
• 7 Days to Die uses its own serverconfig_netroo.xml, because game updates reset serverconfig.xml.
• Satisfactory: set the name and password in game (Server Manager).
• Empyrion, Barotrauma, Astroneer: change settings with Edit Config File.
• Bedrock: to join from the same PC, Windows needs a loopback exemption. The command is shown in the console if it's needed.
• Games that can't be downloaded without a Steam login (like DayZ and Arma 3) aren't supported.

Letting friends join

1. Open the port in Windows Firewall: Windows Defender Firewall ▸ Advanced settings ▸ Inbound Rules ▸ New Rule ▸ Port. Use the server's port (and query port if it has one), TCP and UDP.
2. Port forward on your router to this PC's local IP, for the same ports.
3. Right-click the server ▸ Copy Address (IP:Port) and send it to your friends. They need your public IP.

Look, language & tray

Interface style

⚙ Settings ▸ Interface Style. It changes right away, no restart:

• Classic (default): coloured buttons, server table and console.
• Netroo Navy: navy, one card per server with quick buttons and PC stats on top.
• Studio Light: light, server list on the left and a full page per server with tabs.
• Command Center: dark and compact for many servers, with a command bar on Ctrl+K (start survival, backup all, update 2, help).

Language

⚙ Settings ▸ Language / اللغة switches the whole app to Arabic, right to left. Console output, logs and paths stay left to right.

Tray

• The ⌄ button in the title bar hides the app next to the clock. Servers keep running.
• Click the tray icon to bring it back; right-click it for Open, Dashboard, running servers, players and Exit.
• If a server crashes while the app is hidden, you get a Windows notification.
• Settings has Minimize to Tray (on by default) and Close to Tray.
• Only one copy runs. Opening it again brings back the hidden one.

App updates

Netroo Manager checks for a new version when it starts, or when you open Help ▸ Software Updates. When there is one, a window shows what's new:

• Update now downloads it, checks its signature and hash, stops your servers, replaces itself, restarts and starts the servers that were running again.
• Later asks again next time. Skip this version stops asking about that version.
• You can turn off the automatic check in Settings.

Security & your data

Everything stays on your PC, next to NetrooManager.exe:

NetrooManager.exe
data\servers.json        server settings
steamcmd\                SteamCMD
servers\1\serverfiles\   files of each server
backups\1\               backups of each server

• The Discord token, webhook URLs and server passwords are encrypted with Windows DPAPI. Only your Windows user on this PC can read them. If you move the folder to another PC, enter them again.
• App updates are signed (ECDSA) and checked (SHA-256), and only come over HTTPS.
• Paper, Vanilla, Forge, Purpur, Java and Modrinth downloads are checked against the publisher's hash.
• Webhooks are only accepted if they are real Discord webhook links.
• Archives (Bedrock, backups, Java) can't write outside their folder.
• Game plugin DLLs show a warning before import, and whether they're digitally signed.

Adding new games

Any game with a Steam dedicated server can be added as a plugin, without changing Netroo Manager:

1. Start from the SamplePlugin project (an example for Project Zomboid) and change it for your game.
2. Build it to get a .dll.
3. In Netroo Manager open the Plugins page, press IMPORT PLUGIN and choose the file. The game appears in the list right away.

public class ZomboidPlugin : SteamGamePlugin
{
    public override string Id => "zomboid";
    public override string DisplayName => "Project Zomboid";
    public override int AppId => 380870;      // the server's Steam app id
    public override int DefaultPort => 16261;
    public override string ExecutablePath => "StartServer64.bat";
    public override string? StopCommand => "quit";

    protected override string BuildArguments(ServerConfig c) =>
        $"-port {c.Port} -servername gsm{c.Id}";
}

Find a game's app id on steamdb.info: search for the game name with "Dedicated Server".