Minecraft Hosting
Minecraft is a game that I started playing in 2012, 13 years ago. It was part of my childhood and I always wanted to play with my friends in our own survival map
Since I started on the programming journey, I ended up learning how to host my projects and how to deal with VPS. The first thing I did was to create a Minecraft server to play with my friends.
For a beginner, it wasn't the easiest thing to do. You need to deal with port forwarding (can't escape from that), download the Java JDK and the famous server.jar file, edit the server properties and run it.
That's how I got the idea to build BlockGate. BlockGate is a self-hosted web panel made to create and manage your Minecraft servers with ease, using your web browser.
I started learning about Docker and figured out how amazing it is, and then I found out there was an Docker Image already made for hosting Minecraft servers. With this image, named itzg/minecraft-server, you can host Vanilla, Paper, Spigot, Forge and a lot of other server options for mods, modpacks and etc...
To improve my web development skills and try some new tools, I started building BlockGate in Next.js with BetterAuth. Probably too much, but it's a stack I really like.
I thought the manual process to setup a Minecraft server was a problem, and I started building my own solution to it. Later I found out there were already some alternatives, but it's good to build your own solution, you solve a problem and learn more.
Developing BlockGate has been one of the most rewarding experiences so far. It started as a simple idea, making Minecraft server management easier.
Seeing people show interest in it, sharing feedback, and even starring the project on GitHub in just a few hours was incredible. It reminded me why I love building things: to learn, to experiment, and to share what I create with others.
Whether BlockGate becomes a widely used tool or stays as a personal project, it already achieved its purpose, it taught me a lot and connected me with other developers who share the same passion for self-hosting and open source.
And that, honestly, is the best part of it all.