Tasks & Automation

Schedule and automate server management tasks.

Overview

Tasks allow you to schedule recurring or one-time actions:

• Restart servers at specific times
• Execute RCON commands on schedule
• Create automatic backups
• Send player announcements
• Conditional actions based on player count

Task Types

Restart Task

Restart server at scheduled time.

Configuration:

• Schedule: Daily/Weekly/Monthly or Cron
• Warning time: Alert players before restart
• Force restart: Kill if graceful stop fails

Example:

Daily restart at 4:00 AM
Warning: 5 minutes
Force restart: After 60 seconds

RCON Command Task

Execute RCON command on schedule.

Configuration:

• Command: RCON command to execute
• Schedule: When to run
• Server: Target server

Example:

Command: SaveWorld
Schedule: Every 30 minutes
Server: ARK-Island

Backup Task

Automatic server backups.

Configuration:

• Schedule: When to backup
• Retention: How many backups to keep
• Stop server: Whether to stop before backup

Example:

Schedule: Daily at 3:00 AM
Retention: 7 days
Stop server: Yes

Broadcast Task

Send messages to players.

Configuration:

• Message: Text to broadcast
• Schedule: When to send
• Servers: Which servers

Example:

Message: "Visit our Discord: discord.gg/example"
Schedule: Every hour
Servers: All

Conditional Task

Execute based on conditions.

Configuration:

• Condition: Player count, time range, etc.
• Action: What to do when condition met
• Cooldown: Minimum time between executions

Example:

Condition: Player count < 5
Action: Restart server
Cooldown: 4 hours
Time: Between 2 AM - 6 AM

Creating Tasks

Via Dashboard

1. Navigate to Cluster → Tasks
2. Click Create Task
3. Select task type
4. Configure settings
5. Set schedule
6. Save task

Via API

POST /api/v1/clusters/{clusterId}/tasks
{
  "type": "restart",
  "name": "Daily Restart",
  "schedule": "0 4 * * *",
  "serverId": "srv_xyz",
  "config": {
    "warningMinutes": 5,
    "forceKill": true
  }
}

Scheduling

Cron Syntax

Tasks use cron expressions:

* * * * *
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ └─ Day of week (0-6)
│ │ │ └─── Month (1-12)
│ │ └───── Day of month (1-31)
│ └─────── Hour (0-23)
└───────── Minute (0-59)

Examples:

Schedule	Cron Expression
Every hour	0 * * * *
Daily at 3 AM	0 3 * * *
Every 30 min	*/30 * * * *
Weekly Sunday 2 AM	0 2 * * 0
First of month	0 0 1 * *

Preset Schedules

Common presets available:

• Every 15 minutes
• Hourly
• Daily at midnight
• Daily at 3 AM
• Weekly Sunday 2 AM
• Monthly 1st at midnight

Managing Tasks

Viewing Tasks

See all scheduled tasks:

• Task name and type
• Next execution time
• Last run timestamp
• Success/failure status

Editing Tasks

Modify existing tasks:

1. Tasks list → Select task
2. Click Edit
3. Update settings
4. Save changes

Pausing Tasks

Temporarily disable without deleting:

1. Tasks list → Select task
2. Click Pause
3. Task won't execute until resumed

Task History

View execution history:

• Timestamp of each run
• Success or error status
• Output/logs from execution
• Duration

Best Practices

Restart Schedules

• Schedule during low-activity hours (2-6 AM)
• Always warn players beforehand
• Stagger restarts across servers
• Test on development server first

Backup Strategy

Frequent: Every 6 hours, 2-day retention
Daily: 3 AM, 7-day retention
Weekly: Sunday 2 AM, 4-week retention

Command Tasks

• Test commands manually first
• Use clear task names
• Document what each task does
• Monitor for failures

Conditional Tasks

• Set reasonable cooldowns
• Avoid conflicting conditions
• Log conditional actions
• Review trigger frequency

Troubleshooting

Task Not Running

Check schedule:

• Cron expression valid?
• Next run time correct?
• Task not paused?

Check logs:

• Execution errors?
• Server offline at scheduled time?
• Insufficient permissions?

Task Fails

Common issues:

• Server offline when task runs
• Invalid RCON command
• Insufficient disk space for backup
• Network connectivity issues

Solutions:

• Enable error notifications
• Add retry logic
• Check server status before execution
• Review task configuration

Examples

Daily Maintenance

3:00 AM - Backup all servers
3:30 AM - Update game files
4:00 AM - Restart servers (5 min warning)
4:15 AM - Verify servers online

Player Engagement

Every 2 hours - Broadcast rules reminder
Every 30 minutes - Save world
Top of hour - Announce website/Discord

Resource Management

If players < 3 AND time 2-6 AM: Restart
If CPU > 90% for 10 min: Restart
If memory > 95%: Emergency backup then restart

Next Steps

• RCON Console
• Server Management
• Backups