The game server is already under your desk.
Aperture turns a Linux machine you own into a home for your group’s games. We run the control panel. You keep the hardware, the worlds, and the final say.
Free. Try the live demo, no account needed.
- 1Claim a name
- 2Run one command
- 3Pick a game
- 4Send the address
If it runs Linux, it can host.
Start with whatever is around. Most groups begin with a machine they already own.
Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04, or Debian 12 or 13, and 8 GiB of free disk to start. A virtual machine or a Proxmox LXC container works too. Many Steam game servers only run on x86.
Claim a name.
Your control panel lives at that address. Open it from your phone, a work laptop, or a friend’s couch.
Paste one command.
Run it on your machine. It installs what it needs and links itself to your panel.
curl -fsSL https://get.aperture.sh/install.sh | sudo bash -s -- --enrollment-code apt_n_••••••••••••✓Docker ready✓Agent installed✓Linked to godapple.aptr.sh
Your account shows your own command, with your private enrollment code in place of the dots.
Pick a game.
Every game gets a settings page made for it, so you change the difficulty or the player cap without digging through config files.
Minecraft also gets version switching, mods, and modpacks. Rust gets wipe schedules.
Send one address.
Each server gets a name your friends can remember. It points at your machine’s public IP, so they connect straight to you.
- SSam, Toronto
- KKiwi, Auckland
- AAdrian, Berlin
- MMo, São Paulo
- JJules, London
- RRen, Tokyo
6 friends online
On a home network, forward the game’s port on your router so friends can reach it. Can’t open ports? A tunnel such as playit.gg works too.
Minecraft servers can nap when nobody’s on.
When the last player logs off, a Minecraft server can go to sleep. It wakes when someone tries to join, so your machine stays quiet in between.
Running. 1 player online.
Sleep works with Paper servers today. How sleep works
Everything stays yours.
We host the panel so you can reach it from anywhere. Your worlds, files, and backups stay on your machine, and they stay yours if you ever leave.
- On aptr.sh
- The control panel
- On your machine
- Game servers, worlds, backups, files
Claim your address.
Free. Or look around the live demo first.