How to Get Alerts When Your Game Server Goes Down (Discord, Free)

To get an alert when your game server goes down, run a monitor that checks the server every minute or so and sends a Discord message or email when it stops answering. For games that use TCP, like Minecraft Java, any uptime monitor's TCP port check works. For most Steam games, which use UDP, you need a monitor that speaks the game's query protocol, such as Uptime Kuma's GameDig monitor or a short script using the GameDig library. Both are free and take about fifteen minutes to set up.

Why a plain ping is not enough

Pinging the server's IP only proves the machine is reachable. The game process on it can have crashed while the IP still answers. You want to check the game itself:

• TCP check: connects to the game's port. Works when the game listens on TCP.
• Game query check: sends the game's own status request and waits for a reply with the server name and player count. This is the most accurate, and the only option for UDP games.

Steam games answer the A2S query on their query port, which is not always the game port. Valheim answers on the game port plus one, for example.

Option 1: Uptime Kuma (best all round)

Uptime Kuma is a free, open source monitor you run yourself. It has a GameDig monitor type that understands hundreds of games, and it sends alerts to Discord, email, Telegram and more.

Run it

You need an always on machine: a home PC, a Raspberry Pi or a small VPS. With Docker:

docker run -d --restart=always -p 3001:3001 -v uptime-kuma:/app/data --name uptime-kuma louislam/uptime-kuma:1

Open http://localhost:3001 (or the machine's IP) and create an admin account.

Add the monitor

1. Click Add New Monitor.
2. Monitor Type: GameDig (for Minecraft Java you can also use TCP Port).
3. Pick your game from the list.
4. Hostname: your server's IP. Port: the game or query port.
5. Heartbeat interval: 60 seconds.
6. Retries: 2 or 3, so a single missed reply during a restart does not alert you.

Add a Discord alert

1. In Discord, open your channel's settings, Integrations, Webhooks, New Webhook, and copy the URL.
2. In Uptime Kuma, go to Settings, Notifications, Setup Notification, choose Discord, and paste the URL.
3. Tick it on your monitor and save.

You now get a message when the server goes down and when it comes back.

Option 2: a small GameDig script

If you would rather not run a dashboard, this Node.js script checks a server and posts to a Discord webhook when its state changes. It needs Node 18 or newer.

npm install gamedig

Save as watch.mjs:

import { GameDig } from 'gamedig'

const WEBHOOK = 'https://discord.com/api/webhooks/your/webhook'
const SERVER = { type: 'minecraft', host: '203.0.113.10', port: 27412 }
let wasUp = true

async function check() {
  let up = true
  try { await GameDig.query({ ...SERVER, maxRetries: 2 }) } catch { up = false }
  if (up !== wasUp) {
    await fetch(WEBHOOK, {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
      body: JSON.stringify({ content: up ? 'Server is back online.' : 'Server is DOWN.' }),
    })
    wasUp = up
  }
}

setInterval(check, 60_000)
check()

Run it with node watch.mjs on an always on machine. Change type to your game's GameDig id, such as valheim or rust, and use the query port.

Option 3: hosted uptime services

Free tiers of hosted uptime monitors can do TCP port checks, which cover Minecraft Java, Terraria and FiveM without running anything yourself. Most cannot query UDP games, so for Valheim, Rust or ARK use Option 1 or 2.

Option 4: a Discord status bot

Many Discord bots show a game server's status and player count in a channel and can post when it goes offline. They use the same query protocols. How to run a game server for a Discord server covers adding one. Bots are convenient but you depend on someone else keeping them running.

Avoiding false alarms

• Restarts. A daily restart shows up as a short outage. Use two or three retries, or pause alerts during your restart window.
• Updates on start. Servers that update when they start can be offline for several minutes after a patch. That is expected.
• Sleep features. If your host stops the server when nobody plays, the monitor will report it as down. Either turn the feature off or ignore those alerts. See sleep mode vs always on.
• Monitoring from home. If your home internet drops, every check fails. A monitor on a VPS avoids that.

What to do when the alert fires

1. Open the control panel and read the console. A crash usually leaves its reason in the last lines.
2. Start the server if it stopped.
3. If it will not start, check for a game update or a recently added mod.
4. If the panel itself is unreachable, check your host's status page or contact support. How to write a support ticket helps it get fixed quickly.

On GamezServers

Every server has its own address, which you can use in any monitor above, and the live console in the control panel shows exactly why a server stopped. If you use Sleep when empty, remember it stops the server after 4 days with nobody on, which a monitor will see as down; turn it off in Settings if you want alerts to mean real problems. Support is 24/7 at support@gamezservers.com. Pick a game to get started.

FAQ

How do I know if my game server is down?

Set up a monitor that queries the game every minute and sends a Discord or email alert, such as Uptime Kuma with a GameDig monitor.

Can I monitor a UDP game server with a normal uptime checker?

Usually not. Most uptime checkers only test HTTP or TCP. UDP games like Valheim and Rust need a game query monitor.

What is the query port?

The port a game server answers status requests on. Steam games use the A2S protocol on it. It is often the game port or the game port plus one.

Can I see player counts too?

Yes. Game query monitors return the player count, and Discord status bots can show it in a channel.