Environment Configuration

Configure Pterodactyl Panel environment variables and .env settings

Pterodactyl Panel uses environment variables defined in the .env file for core configuration settings. This file is located in the root of your Panel installation.

Initial Setup

During installation, copy the example environment file:

cp .env.example .env

Core Application Settings

Application Environment

.env

APP_ENV=production
APP_DEBUG=false

APP_ENV · string · default: "production"

Application environment. Use production for live deployments, local for development.

APP_DEBUG · boolean · default: "false"

Enable debug mode. Shows detailed error messages with stack traces.

Never enable in production! Debug mode exposes sensitive application details.

Application Identity

.env

APP_NAME="Pterodactyl Panel"
APP_URL=https://panel.example.com
APP_LOCALE=en
APP_TIMEZONE=UTC

APP_NAME · string · default: "Pterodactyl"

Application name used in emails and UI elements.

APP_URL · string · required

The full URL where your Panel is accessible. Used for generating URLs in emails and console commands.

Example: https://panel.example.com

APP_LOCALE · string · default: "en"

Default language locale for the application.

APP_TIMEZONE · string · default: "UTC"

Default timezone for the application. See PHP timezones.

Encryption Key

.env

APP_KEY=base64:YOUR_32_CHARACTER_KEY_HERE

APP_KEY · string · required

Application encryption key. Generated during installation with php artisan key:generate.

Critical Security Setting! Changing this key will invalidate all encrypted data including session cookies.

Theme Configuration

.env

APP_THEME=pterodactyl

APP_THEME · string · default: "pterodactyl"

Active theme name. Custom themes should be placed in resources/themes/.

Security Settings

HashIDs Configuration

HashIDs are used to obfuscate internal database IDs in public-facing URLs.

.env

HASHIDS_SALT=random_salt_value
HASHIDS_LENGTH=8

HASHIDS_SALT · string · required

Random salt for HashID generation. Should be a long, random string.

Never change this value after installation as it will break all existing URLs.

HASHIDS_LENGTH · integer · default: "8"

Minimum length of generated hash IDs.

Environment Restrictions

.env

APP_ENVIRONMENT_ONLY=true

APP_ENVIRONMENT_ONLY · boolean · default: "true"

When enabled, only environment variables are used for configuration. Recommended for security.

Logging Configuration

.env

LOG_CHANNEL=daily
LOG_LEVEL=debug
LOG_DEPRECATIONS_CHANNEL=null

LOG_CHANNEL · string · default: "daily"

Logging channel to use. Options:

• daily - Separate log file per day
• single - Single log file
• stack - Multiple channels

LOG_LEVEL · string · default: "debug"

Minimum log level. Options: debug, info, notice, warning, error, critical, alert, emergency

Generating the Application Key

After creating your .env file, generate an encryption key:

php artisan key:generate --force

The --force flag is required in production environments.

Next Steps

Email Configuration

Configure SMTP and email settings

Database Setup

Configure MySQL/MariaDB connection

Cache & Queues

Set up Redis, caching, and queue workers

Security Settings

Configure SSL, trusted proxies, and sessions