Self-Hosting Minecraft on Kubernetes

Introduction

This Jot will walk you through how to run a Minecraft Java server with a custom domain on Kubernetes without opening any ports on your router.

Prerequisites

• Kubernetes
• Persistent Storage
• Playit.gg
• DNS Access

Playit.gg

1. Navigate to playit.gg
2. Name your agent (ex: homelab-agent)
3. Save the secret key

Kubernetes

1. Create a namespace: kubectl create ns minecraft

2. Apply the following ConfigMap to your namespace: kubectl apply -f configmap.yaml -n minecraft

   configmap.yaml

   apiVersion: v1
   kind: ConfigMap
   metadata:
     name: mc
   data:
     SERVER_NAME: "Example Minecraft Server"
     EULA: "true"
     VERSION: "1.21.1"
     MAX_PLAYERS: "10"
     OPS: |
       YOUR_USERNAME_GOES_HERE
     ENABLE_WHITELIST: "true"
     WHITELIST: |
       YOUR_USERNAME_GOES_HERE

   Note: Make sure to update the OPS and WHITELIST variables to your minecraft username before applying

3. Create a secret which will contain the Agent key we obtained in the steps prior: kubectl create secret generic playit-gg-secret --from-literal=SECRET_KEY=<TUNNEL_KEY_GOES_HERE> -n minecraft

4. Apply the following deployment manifest: kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml -n minecraft

   apiVersion: apps/v1
   kind: StatefulSet
   metadata:
     name: mc
   spec:
     replicas: 0
     selector:
       matchLabels:
         server: mc
     template:
       metadata:
         labels:
           server: mc
       spec:
         containers:
           - name: mc
             image: itzg/minecraft-server
             stdin: true
             tty: true
             envFrom:
               - configMapRef:
                   name: mc
             volumeMounts:
               - mountPath: /data
                 name: data
             resources:
               requests:
                 cpu: 2
                 memory: 4Gi
               limits:
                 cpu: 2
                 memory: 4Gi
           - name: playit
             image: ghcr.io/playit-cloud/playit-agent:0.15
             env:
               - name: SECRET_KEY
                 valueFrom:
                   secretKeyRef:
                     name: playit-gg-secret
                     key: SECRET_KEY
     volumeClaimTemplates:
       - metadata:
           name: data
         spec:
           storageClassName: omv-porp-nvme
           accessModes:
             - ReadWriteOnce
           resources:
             requests:
               storage: 8Gi

DNS

1. Navigate to playit.gg
2. Click on the Agent we just created and find the Tunnel it created or create a Tunnel Minecraft Java
3. Click on the Tunnel, scroll down and copy Allocation (Shared IP) (ex: 00.ip.gl.ply.gg)
4. Run nslookup 00.ip.gl.ply.gg and copy the IP Address
5. Add the following DNS Entries:

A mc IP_FROM_NSLOOKUP
SRV _minecraft._tcp.mc 0 0 63346 mc.SOME_DOMAIN.com

6. You should be able to connect to Minecraft from mc.SOME_DOMAIN.com!

Note: The shared IP COULD change. If it does, just update your DNS records. From my experience it rarely does.