How to start, stop and restart your server safely

Short answer: On your server’s Console page, use Start, Stop or Restart. Always use Stop, never Kill, unless the server is frozen: Kill ends the game without saving.

Before you begin

You need: the server owner’s account, or a subuser with the Start, Stop and Restart permissions (under Control).
Time needed: 1 to 10 minutes, depending on the game and mods.

What this guide covers

What each power button does
How to stop without losing progress
What the server states mean

The server states

State	Meaning
Offline	The game is not running. Players cannot connect.
Starting	The game is loading. Players usually cannot connect yet.
Online	The game process is running. Most games accept players once the console shows they are ready (see your game guide for the exact message).
Stopping	The game has been asked to save and shut down.

The status appears next to the server name in the menu. Connecting means the panel is still reaching the server; it normally changes within a few seconds.

On a phone, the Start, Restart and Stop buttons are under Power in the bar at the bottom of the screen.

Steps

Start the server

Go to [Game Panel] > [Your Server] > Console.
Select Start.
Watch the console. The status changes to Starting, then Online. Large or modded servers can take several minutes to finish loading after they show Online.

Stop the server

Optional but recommended: tell players, and if your game has a save command, run it first in the console box (for example save-all on Minecraft). Your game guide lists the command.
Select Stop. The game is asked to save and shut down cleanly.
Wait until the status shows Offline. Some games take a minute or more to save.

Stopping and starting a server: Stop, the status goes to Offline, Start, the console fills and the status goes to Online

Restart the server

Select Restart. This is the same as Stop followed by Start.

Expected result

After Start: status Online, and the console shows the game’s “ready” message.
After Stop: status Offline, and the last console lines show the game saving and exiting.

Common mistakes

Using Kill to stop faster. It skips saving. Wait for Stop.
Restarting during a mod download. Steam Workshop downloads from the Mods page stop the server while they run, and leave it stopped afterwards. Let them finish, then start the server.
Joining the moment the status changes. The status says Online as soon as the game process starts, but many games keep loading the world for a while after. Wait for the ready message.
Starting a suspended server. Suspended servers cannot be started. See Why is my server suspended?.

Troubleshooting

What you see	What it means	What to do
Goes Starting, then Offline again	The game crashed while starting	Read the last 30 lines of the console; see My server will not start
Stuck on Starting for over 15 minutes	Still loading, or frozen	Check whether the console is still printing. If it has been silent for 10 minutes, use Stop, then see My server will not start
Stuck on Stopping	The game is not responding to the shutdown	Wait 5 minutes, then use Kill
Power buttons are missing or greyed out	No permission, or the server is installing, restoring a backup, suspended, or the page is still Connecting	Check the message at the top of the page; ask the server owner for the power permissions
Server restarts by itself	A schedule, a crash, or maintenance	Check Schedules, then Activity, then the status page

When to contact support

Contact support if the server will not start after you have checked the console for errors and tried once more, or if the power buttons do nothing at all. Attach the last 50 lines of the console. See How to contact support with useful diagnostic information.

Last reviewed: 2026-10-05 · Applies to: Game Panel (hici 0.4.2)