https://ngpcloud.blog/ Find answers fast: step-by-step NGP Cloud guides for account setup, billing, server management, Minecraft and game servers, bot hosting, VPS and troubleshooting. en Tue, 03 Nov 2026 16:12:59 GMT https://ngpcloud.blog/article/how-to-grow-a-small-game-community https://ngpcloud.blog/article/how-to-grow-a-small-game-community Most small communities do not fail because the server is bad. They fail because new people arrive, find nobody to play with and quietly leave. Growth is mostly about making the first visit friendly and giving people a reason to return. Gimmicks like vote bribes and mass advertising bring numbers… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:40:14 GMT Getting Started https://ngpcloud.blog/article/moderate-a-gaming-community https://ngpcloud.blog/article/moderate-a-gaming-community Good moderation is the quiet difference between a community that grows and one that turns toxic. It is mostly not about banning people. It is about clear expectations, consistent responses and a team that can share the load. Whether you run a Minecraft server, a Rust wipe group or a Discord for a… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:40:14 GMT Getting Started https://ngpcloud.blog/article/prepare-for-a-big-launch-day https://ngpcloud.blog/article/prepare-for-a-big-launch-day A streamer mentions your server, a big update drops, or your launch event finally arrives, and suddenly ten times the usual players try to join. Servers that have never been tested at that size often fail in the first hour, which is exactly when first impressions are made. Preparation is mostly… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:40:14 GMT Getting Started https://ngpcloud.blog/article/secure-your-discord-server https://ngpcloud.blog/article/secure-your-discord-server A Discord server is the front door of most game communities, and it attracts the same trouble as any busy public place: spam, raids, scammers and attempts to take over staff accounts. A few settings and habits, applied before there is a problem, protect your members and your reputation. The menu… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:40:14 GMT Account & Security https://ngpcloud.blog/article/test-changes-on-a-staging-copy https://ngpcloud.blog/article/test-changes-on-a-staging-copy Every server owner has a story about an update that went wrong: a plugin that corrupted a world, a config change that locked everyone out, a version upgrade that broke half the mods. A staging copy is a second, private version of your server where you try changes first. If it breaks, nobody… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:40:14 GMT Server Management https://ngpcloud.blog/article/glossary-of-minecraft-server-terms https://ngpcloud.blog/article/glossary-of-minecraft-server-terms Running a Minecraft server means learning a vocabulary: server types, file names, performance numbers and permission systems. This glossary explains the terms you will meet, and points to the guides that cover each topic in depth. Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:38:36 GMT Minecraft Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/glossary-of-hosting-terms https://ngpcloud.blog/article/glossary-of-hosting-terms Hosting is full of short, confusing words. This glossary explains the ones you meet most often, in plain language, with links to the guides that go deeper. Skim it, or search for a term when you hit one you do not know. Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:38:36 GMT Getting Started https://ngpcloud.blog/article/plan-a-community-server-launch https://ngpcloud.blog/article/plan-a-community-server-launch Launching a community server is easy. Launching one that people stay on is harder. Most new servers fade because of a few avoidable things: unclear rules, a broken first hour, no plan for moderators, or an empty server on day one. A bit of planning before you open the doors gives you a much better… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:38:36 GMT Getting Started https://ngpcloud.blog/article/reinstall-your-server-safely https://ngpcloud.blog/article/reinstall-your-server-safely A reinstall is the reset button: it puts the server back to a clean starting state. It fixes tangled configurations and corrupted game files, and it is also the easiest way to lose a world you have spent months on. The difference between a smooth reset and a disaster is preparation. This guide… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:38:36 GMT Server Management https://ngpcloud.blog/article/fix-server-not-showing-in-the-server-list https://ngpcloud.blog/article/fix-server-not-showing-in-the-server-list You started your server, you can join by typing the address, but the server does not appear in a public list, or the entry shows "Can't connect to server". Or your friends cannot find it in the list at all. These are different problems with different causes. This guide separates them, so you can… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:38:36 GMT Troubleshooting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/choose-an-sftp-client https://ngpcloud.blog/article/choose-an-sftp-client SFTP, the secure file transfer protocol, is the standard way to move files to and from your server. Browser uploads are fine for small files, but for worlds, modpacks and websites, a dedicated SFTP client is faster, can resume, and lets you drag whole folders. This guide compares popular clients… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:37:08 GMT Server Management https://ngpcloud.blog/article/compress-and-extract-files https://ngpcloud.blog/article/compress-and-extract-files Uploading a world, a plugin pack or a website means moving a lot of files. Sending thousands of small files one by one is slow and error-prone, while a single archive is quick and reliable. Knowing how to compress and extract archives, in the file manager and on the command line, saves a great… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:37:08 GMT Server Management https://ngpcloud.blog/article/fix-java-version-errors https://ngpcloud.blog/article/fix-java-version-errors You start your server and the console prints something about a "class file version" or "UnsupportedClassVersionError", then stops. This is one of the most common Minecraft problems, and it has a simple cause: the server software was built for a newer (or older) Java than the one running it. The… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:37:08 GMT Troubleshooting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/what-the-startup-settings-do https://ngpcloud.blog/article/what-the-startup-settings-do Most game server panels have a page for startup settings: a command, a few variables and sometimes a choice of version or Java release. It is tempting to ignore it until something breaks, but this page decides how your server program is launched, and a small change can fix a crash or cause one… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:37:08 GMT Server Management https://ngpcloud.blog/article/fix-the-server-keeps-restarting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/fix-the-server-keeps-restarting A server that starts, runs for a short time and then restarts on its own is frustrating, because the console scrolls past before you can read what happened. The cause is nearly always one of a small number of things, and the clue is in the log just before each restart. This guide shows how to find… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:37:08 GMT Troubleshooting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/bandwidth-latency-and-ping-explained https://ngpcloud.blog/article/bandwidth-latency-and-ping-explained People often say "my internet is fast, so why is my game laggy?" The answer is that speed is not one number. Bandwidth, latency, jitter and packet loss are different things, and games and servers care about them in different ways. Once you can tell them apart, you can work out whether a problem… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:35:17 GMT Getting Started https://ngpcloud.blog/article/fix-high-ping-and-packet-loss https://ngpcloud.blog/article/fix-high-ping-and-packet-loss High ping and packet loss make a game feel awful: rubber-banding, delayed hits, sudden disconnects. The tricky part is that the cause can sit in several places: your device, your home network, your internet provider, the route to the server or the server itself. Working through them in order, and… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:35:17 GMT Troubleshooting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/spot-phishing-and-fake-support-messages https://ngpcloud.blog/article/spot-phishing-and-fake-support-messages Phishing is the most common way people lose accounts. The attacker pretends to be someone you trust, such as your host, a payment company or a friend, and tricks you into handing over a password, a code or a click. Anyone can be fooled, especially when rushed, so the goal is not to be perfect but… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:35:17 GMT Account & Security https://ngpcloud.blog/article/migrate-to-new-hosting-checklist https://ngpcloud.blog/article/migrate-to-new-hosting-checklist Moving a server, a website or a bot to a new host is easy to do badly and straightforward to do well. Most migration disasters come from the same few mistakes: no backup, no test before switching, DNS changed too early or old services switched off too soon. This checklist keeps you out of those… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:35:17 GMT Server Management https://ngpcloud.blog/article/how-game-server-hosting-works https://ngpcloud.blog/article/how-game-server-hosting-works If you have never rented a game server, the process can feel like magic: you pay, press a button and a world appears that your friends can join. Knowing what happens behind that button helps you make better choices, fix problems faster and avoid the beginner mistakes that waste money and time. Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:33:54 GMT Getting Started https://ngpcloud.blog/article/choose-a-strong-password-and-use-a-password-manager https://ngpcloud.blog/article/choose-a-strong-password-and-use-a-password-manager Most account takeovers do not involve clever hacking. Someone reuses a password that leaked from another site, or picks something guessable, and an attacker simply tries it. Good password habits are one of the highest-value security steps you can take, and a password manager makes them almost… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:33:54 GMT Account & Security https://ngpcloud.blog/article/how-to-choose-a-server-location https://ngpcloud.blog/article/how-to-choose-a-server-location People are often surprised that a powerful server can still feel slow. The reason is distance. Data travels fast, but not instantly, and every extra thousand kilometres adds delay. Choosing a server location close to the people who use it is one of the cheapest ways to improve their experience… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:33:54 GMT Getting Started https://ngpcloud.blog/article/uptime-and-maintenance-windows-explained https://ngpcloud.blog/article/uptime-and-maintenance-windows-explained "99.9 percent uptime" sounds almost perfect, until you work out what it allows. Understanding uptime figures, and planning maintenance around the people who use your server, helps you set honest expectations, pick sensible restart times and judge any hosting claim you read. This guide explains the… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:33:54 GMT Server Management https://ngpcloud.blog/article/what-is-a-vps-and-do-you-need-one https://ngpcloud.blog/article/what-is-a-vps-and-do-you-need-one A VPS, or virtual private server, is one of the most useful and most misunderstood hosting products. It can run almost anything, but it also hands you full responsibility for the machine. Before you buy one, it helps to know exactly what you are getting, what it asks of you and when a simpler… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:33:54 GMT Getting Started https://ngpcloud.blog/article/ddos-attacks-explained https://ngpcloud.blog/article/ddos-attacks-explained A DDoS attack tries to make a service unavailable by flooding it with more traffic than it can handle. Game servers and community sites are common targets, usually because of a grudge, a rivalry or boredom rather than money. Understanding how these attacks work helps you stay calm, take sensible… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:31:24 GMT Account & Security https://ngpcloud.blog/article/fix-no-space-left-on-device https://ngpcloud.blog/article/fix-no-space-left-on-device "No space left on device" means exactly what it says, but the cause is not always obvious. A disk can be full of data, full of tiny files, or hold space that a program has deleted but not released. Whichever it is, the effects are the same: databases stop, logs cannot be written, updates fail and… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:31:24 GMT Troubleshooting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/fix-permission-denied-errors https://ngpcloud.blog/article/fix-permission-denied-errors "Permission denied" is Linux telling you that the account running a command is not allowed to do what it asked. It is one of the most common errors for new server owners, and it appears when you upload files, start a program, run a script or connect with SFTP. The fix is nearly always one of a few… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:31:24 GMT Troubleshooting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/write-a-good-support-request https://ngpcloud.blog/article/write-a-good-support-request Most support conversations take a long time for one reason: the first message does not contain enough to act on. "My server is broken" leads to five rounds of questions before anyone can look at the real problem. A good request lets the person reading it start working immediately, often solving it… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:31:24 GMT Troubleshooting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/the-3-2-1-backup-rule https://ngpcloud.blog/article/the-3-2-1-backup-rule People usually discover whether their backups work on the worst day: after a corrupted world, a deleted database or a failed disk. The 3-2-1 rule is a short, well-known plan that avoids most backup disasters. It is easy to remember and works for a hobby Minecraft world as well as a business website. Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:31:24 GMT Server Management https://ngpcloud.blog/article/dns-records-explained https://ngpcloud.blog/article/dns-records-explained When you type a domain name, your device asks the Domain Name System where to go. The answers live in DNS records , small entries you manage at wherever your domain's DNS is hosted. Understanding the handful of common record types lets you point a website at your server, set up email and verify… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:30:00 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/add-swap-space-to-your-vps https://ngpcloud.blog/article/add-swap-space-to-your-vps When a server runs out of memory, Linux has two choices: kill a process, or push rarely used data out to disk to make room. That overflow area on disk is called swap . A small swap file will not make a slow server fast, but it can be the difference between a brief slowdown and a crash during a… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:30:00 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/fix-lets-encrypt-renewal-problems https://ngpcloud.blog/article/fix-lets-encrypt-renewal-problems Let's Encrypt certificates last about 90 days, and Certbot is meant to renew them quietly in the background. When it silently stops, you find out when visitors see a browser warning that your site's certificate has expired. This guide shows how to check that renewal is set up, how to test it… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:30:00 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/fix-nginx-502-and-504-errors https://ngpcloud.blog/article/fix-nginx-502-and-504-errors You set up nginx in front of an application, and now the browser shows 502 Bad Gateway or 504 Gateway Timeout . These errors have a specific meaning: nginx itself is working, but it could not get a proper answer from the program behind it. That narrows the search a lot. The fault is almost always… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:30:00 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/set-up-spf-dkim-and-dmarc https://ngpcloud.blog/article/set-up-spf-dkim-and-dmarc Anyone can put your domain name in the "From" line of an email. SPF, DKIM and DMARC are three DNS-based checks that let receiving mail servers tell real messages from forged ones. Without them, mail from your domain is more likely to land in spam or be rejected, and criminals can impersonate you… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:30:00 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/back-up-your-vps-with-rsync https://ngpcloud.blog/article/back-up-your-vps-with-rsync A VPS can fail in ways you cannot fix: a disk dies, a provider has an incident, an update goes wrong, or you delete the wrong folder. The only protection is a backup stored somewhere else. rsync is the standard tool for the job. It copies files efficiently, sending only what changed, and it works… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:27:24 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/monitor-your-vps-with-basic-tools https://ngpcloud.blog/article/monitor-your-vps-with-basic-tools When a server feels slow, or something stops working, you need to answer a few questions quickly: is it the CPU, the memory, the disk or the network? What is using it? Linux ships with the tools to answer all of them. You do not need an expensive monitoring platform to find most problems, just a… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:27:24 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/run-a-service-with-systemd https://ngpcloud.blog/article/run-a-service-with-systemd If you start a program in an SSH session, it stops when you log out. If you start it in the background, nobody restarts it when it crashes, or when the server reboots. A systemd service fixes all of that. It starts your program at boot, restarts it if it dies, collects its logs and lets you manage… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:27:24 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/schedule-tasks-with-cron https://ngpcloud.blog/article/schedule-tasks-with-cron Backups, cleanups, restarts, reports: a server accumulates jobs that should run by themselves at set times. On Linux, the classic tool is cron . It is installed everywhere, uses almost no resources and does exactly one thing: run commands on a schedule. Its only real difficulty is the schedule… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:27:24 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/turn-on-automatic-security-updates https://ngpcloud.blog/article/turn-on-automatic-security-updates Most compromised servers were not hit by clever zero-day attacks. They were running software with a known bug that had been fixed weeks or months earlier, and nobody installed the fix. Automatic security updates close that gap for you. Ubuntu has a built-in tool for it, called unattended-upgrades… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:27:24 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/docker-compose-basics-for-small-projects https://ngpcloud.blog/article/docker-compose-basics-for-small-projects Running one container with docker run is easy. Running an app, its database and a cache, each with ports, volumes and settings, means a very long command per service, and nobody can remember them all six months later. Docker Compose solves that: you describe the whole setup in one file, and start… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:25:55 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/host-a-wordpress-site-on-your-vps https://ngpcloud.blog/article/host-a-wordpress-site-on-your-vps WordPress runs a large share of the web, and a VPS lets you host it with full control and without paying for a managed plan. It is a manageable project if you take it in stages: a web server, PHP, a database, WordPress itself and HTTPS. This guide uses nginx, PHP-FPM and MariaDB, a combination… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:25:55 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/host-multiple-sites-with-nginx-server-blocks https://ngpcloud.blog/article/host-multiple-sites-with-nginx-server-blocks One VPS can serve many websites. Each visitor's browser tells the server which domain it wants, and nginx uses that to pick the right site. The mechanism is called a server block , and once you understand it, adding a new site takes a few minutes and a short file. Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:25:55 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/install-and-secure-mariadb https://ngpcloud.blog/article/install-and-secure-mariadb Many websites, bots and games keep their data in a MySQL-compatible database, and MariaDB is the free, widely used version of it. Installing it takes a minute. Securing it takes a few more, and it is worth doing every time, because an exposed or badly configured database is among the most common… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:25:55 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/set-up-postgresql-on-ubuntu https://ngpcloud.blog/article/set-up-postgresql-on-ubuntu PostgreSQL is a powerful, dependable database that many applications and larger bots prefer. It is strict about correctness, handles many users at once and has features such as rich data types and good support for complex queries. Setting it up on a VPS is straightforward, and the steps below give… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:25:55 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/create-a-non-root-sudo-user https://ngpcloud.blog/article/create-a-non-root-sudo-user A fresh VPS usually gives you one account: root . Root can do anything, including deleting the whole system with one mistyped command, and every attacker on the internet knows the name. The first thing most administrators do is create an ordinary account with permission to run admin commands… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:24:28 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/harden-your-ssh-configuration https://ngpcloud.blog/article/harden-your-ssh-configuration SSH is the front door to your server, and the first place automated attacks knock. The default settings accept passwords and root logins, which is convenient and also exactly what attackers want. A few changes to the SSH configuration make it far harder to break in. The key is to make them in the… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:24:28 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/install-docker-on-ubuntu https://ngpcloud.blog/article/install-docker-on-ubuntu Docker packages an application and everything it needs into a container , so it runs the same way everywhere. On a VPS, that means you can run a database, a web app or a bot with one command, without installing a pile of dependencies on the host. Ubuntu's own package for Docker is often older than… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:24:28 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/install-fail2ban-on-ubuntu https://ngpcloud.blog/article/install-fail2ban-on-ubuntu Look at the login log of any server on the public internet and you will see the same thing: hundreds of failed attempts a day from strangers guessing usernames and passwords. Fail2ban watches those logs and, when an address fails too many times, blocks it for a while. It does not replace good… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:24:28 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/set-up-ssh-key-authentication https://ngpcloud.blog/article/set-up-ssh-key-authentication A password can be guessed, reused, leaked or phished. An SSH key cannot be guessed in any practical sense. Switching from passwords to keys is the single best thing you can do for a server's login security, and once it is set up, logging in is also faster, because you stop typing passwords. Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:24:28 GMT VPS & Web Hosting https://ngpcloud.blog/article/bot-hosting-resource-sizing https://ngpcloud.blog/article/bot-hosting-resource-sizing Discord bots are among the lightest programs you can host, and also among the easiest to accidentally make heavy. A simple bot runs happily on a tiny allowance, and a poorly written or very popular one can use gigabytes. Knowing what drives the cost lets you pick a plan that fits and spot a… Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:22:46 GMT Discord Bot Hosting