Ruby
Free Ruby Minecraft bot hosting.
Bring your own Minecraft client library and run it around the clock. We host the Ruby; the protocol support is up to the library you choose.
Read this before you pick Ruby
Minecraft bots are a Java and Node.js world. Mineflayer and the prismarine packages are written for Node.js, and we do not recommend a Ruby library for this: whichever one you find, check that it speaks the protocol version your server runs and that it is still maintained before you build on it.
A Minecraft client leans hard on networking, compression and binary parsing, so a library that is out of date shows up here sooner than it would for a chat bot. If you are choosing a language for this, the Node.js page is the better starting point.
Deploying
Getting it running
- 1
Upload your project
Push your source over SFTP or drag it into the file manager. Gems install into a folder inside your server, so leave any vendor directory behind and spend your 512 MB of disk on the bot.
- 2
bundle install runs for you
When a Gemfile is present, Bundler installs it before the bot starts and skips the install on later restarts until the Gemfile changes. List whatever library you use in the Gemfile. Check its version against the Minecraft version your server runs before you deploy.
- 3
Point us at your entry file
bot.rb or main.rb. The server address, port and account details belong in environment variables rather than your source.
Memory
What actually fits in 256 MB
The numbers follow the bot, not the language. A client that stands still and reads chat is comfortable in 256 MB, because the world it holds grows with what the server sends and a stationary bot on a small view distance is sent very little.
Movement is what costs. A bot that keeps chunks loaded to walk through them climbs past 256 MB in any language, so cut the view distance first. Then check what your code keeps references to: a reconnect handler that registers listeners again without removing the old ones leaks in Ruby as it does anywhere.
FAQ
Questions
Is there a Ruby library for Minecraft bots?
We do not recommend one. The mature client libraries for this are written for Node.js, so look at what exists for Ruby yourself, and check that it supports your server's version and is still maintained.
Why run a Minecraft bot in Ruby at all?
If Ruby is what you write and you already have, or are writing, the protocol handling, there is nothing stopping you. If you want the least risky path, the Node.js page is it.
Can a Ruby bot host the Minecraft server too?
No, in any language. This allocation runs a client that connects to a server. The server needs a game host, and we are not one.
Do gems with native extensions work?
Yes for the common ones. The image has a compiler and the headers for SQLite, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, libxml and OpenSSL, so gems such as nokogiri, pg, mysql2 and sqlite3 build when bundle install runs. The first start after you change your Gemfile takes longer while they compile; later starts skip the install.
Can I host a botnet?
No. Absolutely not, so do not try. A botnet here means an attack network: DDoS tools, stressers, booters, packet flooders, crash exploits, bot swarms that flood a server with fake players, and any "node" or "zombie" that takes attack orders from somewhere else. All of it is banned, whatever the target and whatever you call it. "Stress testing", "it is only my own server" and "it is only a game" are not exceptions.
It is also a serious crime. In the UK, knocking a server, website or network offline is an offence under section 3 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990, with up to 10 years in prison. Making, supplying or even obtaining a DDoS tool to use is a separate offence under section 3A, with up to 2 years. Where an attack causes serious damage to the economy, to people's welfare or to national security, section 3ZA allows up to 14 years, and life imprisonment where lives or national security are put at risk. Most other countries have laws just like these.
People get caught. The Aisuru botnet, built from hijacked routers, cameras and Android TV boxes, set the public record for a DDoS attack at 31.4 terabits per second, and it is tracked by Cloudflare, security researchers and police forces around the world. The three people who created Mirai, the botnet behind the 2016 attack that knocked Twitter, Netflix and much of the web offline for millions of people, pleaded guilty in the United States. The UK's National Crime Agency even runs fake DDoS-for-hire websites to collect the details of everyone who signs up to them.
Here, a server found running any of this is suspended straight away, without a warning first, and deleted. The account behind it is terminated, and so is any account opened to replace it. We can and will pass what we know to the police and the National Crime Agency.
None of this is about ordinary bots. An AFK client, a chat bridge or a helper bot on a server you are allowed to be on is exactly what this page is for. Read the acceptable use policy →
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