info_tfgrid/collections/system_administrators/advanced/minetest.md

<h1>Minetest on the TFGrid</h1>

<h2>Table of Contents</h2>

- [Introduction](#introduction)
- [Prerequisites](#prerequisites)
- [Deploy a Full VM](#deploy-a-full-vm)
- [DNS Settings](#dns-settings)
  - [DNS Verification](#dns-verification)
- [Run a Minetest Server on the TFGrid](#run-a-minetest-server-on-the-tfgrid)
- [Run Minetest Locally](#run-minetest-locally)
- [Access the Server from Minetest](#access-the-server-from-minetest)
- [Public Server Notes](#public-server-notes)
- [References](#references)

---

## Introduction

We show how to deploy a Minetest server on the TFGrid, install Minetest on a local machine and access the Minetest server from the local machine.

![](./img/minetest_1.png)

## Prerequisites

- [A TFChain account](dashboard@@wallet_connector)
- TFT in your TFChain account
  - [Buy TFT](threefold_token@@buy_sell_tft)
  - [Send TFT to TFChain](threefold_token@@tft_bridges)

## Deploy a Full VM

We start by deploying a full VM on the ThreeFold Dashboard.

* On the [Threefold Dashboard](https://dashboard.grid.tf/#/), go to the [full virtual machine deployment page](https://dashboard.grid.tf/#/deploy/virtual-machines/full-virtual-machine/)
* Deploy a full VM (Ubuntu 22.04) with an IPv4 address and at least the minimum specs for a full VM
  * Network
    * Set IPv4 Address (required)
    * Set Wireguard (optional)
  * Minimum vcores: 1vcore
  * Minimum MB of RAM: 512MB
  * Minimum storage: 15GB
* After deployment, note the VM IPv4 address
* SSH into the VM
    ```
    ssh root@vm_ipv4_address
    ```


## DNS Settings

You need to set an A record for the IPv4 address.

The following table explicitly shows how to set the A record for your domain. Note that we set `minetest` as a subdomain.

| Type | Host | Value          |
| ---- | ---- | -------------- |
| A    | minetest   | <ipv4_address> |


You will then be able to access your server on Minetest with the URL `minetest.example.com:30033`. More on the port below.

### DNS Verification

You can use tools such as [DNSChecker](https://dnschecker.org/) or [dig](https://linux.die.net/man/1/dig) on a terminal to check if the DNS propagadation is complete.


- Check that the subdomain resolves to the IPv4 address of the full VM
    ```
    minetest.example.com
    ```

## Run a Minetest Server on the TFGrid


- Install the Minetest server
```
apt update
apt install minetest-server -y
```
- Set the Minetest server
```
nano /etc/minetest/minetest.conf
```
- Update the following lines
```
server_name = Server Name

server_address = http://minetest.example.com

server_announce = true

port = 30033
```
- Run the Minetest server
```
minetestserver --worldname world
```

## Run Minetest Locally

- Update the local machine
```
apt update
```
- Install Minetest
```
apt install flatpak -y
apt install gnome-software-plugin-flatpak -y
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
```
- Reboot the machine 
- Install Minetest
```
flatpak install flathub net.minetest.Minetest
```
- Run Minetest
```
flatpak run net.minetest.Minetest
```

## Access the Server from Minetest

- On Minetest, go to the server you previously set

![](./img/minetest_2.png)

- You can then access the Minetest world!

![](./img/minetest_3.png)

## Public Server Notes

Once you set the Minetest server publicly, you can see it displayed on https://servers.minetest.net/.

- Example of publicly available server

![](./img/minetest_4.png)

## References

For further information on Minetest, read the [Minetest documentation](https://wiki.minetest.net/Main_Page).