Game servers benefit from regular restarts to clear memory leaks, apply configuration changes, and keep performance stable over long play sessions. This guide shows you how to set up automatic scheduled restarts using the Schedules feature in GPanel, so your server stays healthy without manual intervention.

Why Schedule Restarts?

Most game servers accumulate memory usage and temporary data over time. Without periodic restarts, you may notice:

• Increasing lag and rubber-banding as RAM usage climbs over hours or days
• Entity and chunk loading slowdowns in games like Minecraft and Project Zomboid
• Mod-related memory leaks that only reset on a full server restart
• Delayed application of config changes that require a restart to take effect

A scheduled restart every 6 to 12 hours is the most common setup and prevents the majority of these issues.

Prerequisites

• An active game server with Legion Hosting
• Access to GPanel with your account credentials
• Your server should be in a Running state (schedules only trigger when the server is online, unless configured otherwise)

Step 1: Open the Schedules Tab

1. Log in to GPanel and select your server from the server list.
2. In the left sidebar, click the Schedules tab.
3. You will see a list of any existing schedules. If this is a new server, the list will be empty.

Step 2: Create a New Schedule

1. Click the Create Schedule button.
2. Enter a Name for the schedule — something descriptive like Auto Restart Every 6 Hours.
3. Set the Cron Expression to control when the schedule runs. See the section below for common examples.
4. Make sure Enabled is toggled on.
5. Click Save to create the schedule.

Step 3: Add a Restart Task to the Schedule

1. After saving the schedule, click on its name to open it.
2. Under the Tasks section, click New Task.
3. Set the Action to Send power action.
4. Set the Payload to Restart.
5. Set the Time Offset to 0 seconds (this means the task runs immediately when the schedule fires).
6. Click Save.

Your scheduled restart is now active. The server will automatically restart according to the cron expression you configured.

Understanding Cron Expressions

GPanel uses cron expressions to define when a schedule runs. A cron expression has five fields separated by spaces:

Minute  Hour  Day-of-Month  Month  Day-of-Week
  *       *        *           *        *

Special characters:

• * — matches every value (wildcard)
• */N — matches every N intervals (e.g., */6 in the Hour field means every 6 hours)
• , — separates multiple values (e.g., 0,12 means at 0 and 12)

Common Restart Schedules

Here are the most popular restart intervals and the cron expressions to use in GPanel:

Warning Players Before a Restart

Restarting without warning can interrupt players mid-action, causing frustration or lost progress. You can use GPanel's Send Command task to broadcast a warning message to players before the restart happens.

How It Works

Instead of a single restart task, you create multiple tasks within the same schedule, staggered with time offsets:

1. A Send Command task at offset 0 that broadcasts a warning message (e.g., "Server restarting in 5 minutes")
2. A Send Command task at offset 240 (4 minutes later) with a final warning (e.g., "Server restarting in 1 minute")
3. A Send power action → Restart task at offset 300 (5 minutes after the first warning)

Example: Full Schedule with Warnings

Here is what a complete schedule looks like with a 5-minute warning, a 1-minute warning, and the restart:

Game-Specific Warning Commands

The command you use to broadcast a message to players varies by game. Below are the commands for the most popular games:

Project Zomboid

Use the servermsg command to send an in-game message to all connected players:

servermsg "Server restarting in 5 minutes. Please find a safe location."

servermsg "Server restarting in 1 minute!"

Minecraft

Use the say command to broadcast a chat message to all players:

say Server restarting in 5 minutes. Please save your progress.

say Server restarting in 1 minute!

ARK: Survival Ascended

Use the broadcast command to display a message on-screen for all players:

broadcast Server restarting in 5 minutes. Please find a safe location.

broadcast Server restarting in 1 minute!

Best Practices

• Restart during off-peak hours. If your server has a predictable player schedule, time the restarts for when the fewest players are online. A daily restart at 4:00 AM or 6:00 AM works well for most communities.
• Always include a warning. Even a 1-minute warning gives players time to reach a safe location or finish a trade. A 5-minute warning is ideal.
• Use backups alongside restarts. If your game or GPanel supports automatic backups, schedule a backup before the restart. This ensures you always have a recent save in case something goes wrong.
• Don't restart too frequently. Restarting every hour is unnecessary for most servers and will frustrate players. Every 6 to 12 hours is the sweet spot unless you are running a heavily modded server with known memory leak issues.
• Test your schedule. After creating a schedule, check back after the first expected trigger time to confirm the restart happened. Look at the GPanel Console log for the restart event.
• Name your schedules clearly. Use descriptive names like "6h Auto Restart with Warning" so you can quickly identify what each schedule does.

Managing Existing Schedules

You can modify or disable schedules at any time from the Schedules tab in GPanel:

• To edit a schedule: click the schedule name, change the cron expression or tasks, and click Save.
• To temporarily disable a schedule: open the schedule and toggle Enabled off. The schedule will remain saved but will not fire until you re-enable it.
• To delete a schedule: click the delete icon next to the schedule. This removes it permanently.

Troubleshooting

Need Help?

If you are having trouble setting up scheduled restarts or your schedule is not working as expected, open a support ticket and include:

• Your server name from GPanel
• The cron expression you are using
• A description of what is happening (or not happening)

Our support team will help you configure the schedule correctly.