When something goes wrong, logs are your best friend. They record what the server was doing before, during, and after an error occurred.
Where to Find Logs
Game Servers (Pterodactyl)
The Pterodactyl console shows real-time output from your server. For historical logs, check the File Manager for log files in the server’s directory. Common locations include /logs for Minecraft (files like latest.log) and the server console output for FiveM. Pterodactyl also keeps its own activity logs accessible from the panel.
Web Hosting
In cPanel, check the Error Log section for Apache/PHP errors. In DirectAdmin, look under Error Logs. Application-specific logs (like WordPress debug logs) are typically stored in the application’s directory.
VPS / Dedicated
System logs are found in /var/log/. Important files include syslog or messages (general system events), auth.log (login attempts), kern.log (kernel messages), and application-specific logs in subdirectories.
How to Read Error Messages
When reading logs, look for lines containing ERROR, FATAL, EXCEPTION, or WARN. These indicate where the problem occurred. Read the error message carefully - it usually describes the issue and sometimes even suggests a fix. Note the timestamp to correlate the error with when the problem started. If the error references a specific file and line number, that is where you should look first.
Tip: When asking for help from support or a community forum, always include the relevant error message from your logs. Screenshots of the error or a copy-paste of the relevant log lines make it much easier for someone to help you.