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Draginox

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Build a Minecraft Server Monitoring Dashboard with Node.js

#node #javascript #tutorial #gamedev

Ever wanted to build a real-time dashboard that monitors multiple Minecraft servers at once? In this tutorial, we'll build one using Node.js, Express, and the free Minecraft ServerHub API.

What We're Building

A web dashboard that:

  • Monitors multiple Minecraft servers simultaneously
  • Shows real-time player counts, version info, and MOTD
  • Auto-refreshes every 30 seconds
  • Displays server status with color-coded indicators

Prerequisites

  • Node.js 18+
  • Basic JavaScript/HTML knowledge
  • A list of Minecraft server IPs to monitor

Step 1: Project Setup 

mkdir mc-dashboard && cd mc-dashboard
npm init -y
npm install express
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Step 2: Create the API Client

The Minecraft ServerHub API provides free endpoints to query any Java or Bedrock server. No API key required.

Create api.js:

const SERVERS = [
  'play.hypixel.net',
  'mc.hypixel.net',
  '2b2t.org',
  'play.cubecraft.net'
];

async function fetchServerStatus(address) {
  const url = 'https://minecraft-serverhub.com/api/server/java/' + address;
  const res = await fetch(url);
  if (!res.ok) return { address, online: false };
  const data = await res.json();
  return {
    address,
    online: data.online,
    players: data.players || { online: 0, max: 0 },
    version: data.version?.name || 'Unknown',
    motd: data.motd?.clean || '',
    icon: data.icon || null
  };
}

async function fetchAllServers() {
  return Promise.all(SERVERS.map(fetchServerStatus));
}

module.exports = { fetchAllServers, SERVERS };
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Step 3: Build the Express Server

Create server.js:

const express = require('express');
const { fetchAllServers } = require('./api');
const app = express();

app.get('/api/status', async (req, res) => {
  const servers = await fetchAllServers();
  res.json(servers);
});

app.get('/', (req, res) => {
  res.sendFile(__dirname + '/index.html');
});

app.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log('Dashboard running at http://localhost:3000');
});
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Step 4: Create the Dashboard UI

Create index.html with a clean, dark-themed design. The dashboard fetches data from our Express API endpoint and renders a card for each server. Each card shows the server address, player count, version, and MOTD with a green/red border indicating online/offline status.

The frontend uses vanilla JavaScript with fetch() to poll our /api/status endpoint every 30 seconds, keeping the dashboard always up to date.

Step 5: Add Status Badges

Want to embed server status on your website or forum? Use the minecraft-server-badge npm package:

npm install minecraft-server-badge
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const { badge, html } = require('minecraft-server-badge');

// Generate a status badge URL
const badgeUrl = badge('play.hypixel.net', { style: 'rounded' });

// Or get ready-to-use HTML embed code
const embed = html('play.hypixel.net', { dark: true });
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You can also generate badges visually with the Badge Generator — no code needed.

Step 6: Run It 

node server.js
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Open http://localhost:3000 and you'll see your live dashboard monitoring all configured servers.

Going Further

Some ideas to extend the dashboard:

  • Historical data: Store player counts in a database and graph trends over time
  • Alerts: Send Discord webhooks when a server goes offline
  • Bedrock support: The API also supports Bedrock servers at /api/server/bedrock/address
  • Statistics: Check out live Minecraft ecosystem stats for global player trends

Resources

Built with the free Minecraft ServerHub API. No API key required, no rate limits for reasonable use.

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