Configuration

CraftPanel is configured with environment variables. Most day-to-day settings live in the dashboard; these cover how it starts.

Where to put them

Install	Settings file	Apply changes
Linux installer	/etc/craftpanel/craftpanel.env	sudo systemctl restart craftpanel
Windows installer	config.env in the install folder	Sign out and in, or restart the CraftPanel task
Git checkout	.env (copy .env.example)	node --env-file=.env apps/api/dist/index.js

The settings file is kept on updates. A checkout doesn’t load .env by itself; pass --env-file.

Variables

Variable	Default	Purpose
CRAFTPANEL_PROFILE	local	Start profile: local, lan, proxy or headless
CRAFTPANEL_HOST	from profile	Interface the dashboard listens on
CRAFTPANEL_PORT	8080	Dashboard port
CRAFTPANEL_DATA_DIR	platform default	Servers, backups, Java runtimes and the database
CRAFTPANEL_PUBLIC_URL	none	Browser-facing origin, such as https://panel.example.com
CRAFTPANEL_TRUSTED_PROXIES	loopback in proxy mode	Comma-separated proxy IPs or CIDRs allowed to send forwarding headers
CRAFTPANEL_TLS_CERT / CRAFTPANEL_TLS_KEY	none	Serve HTTPS directly with these PEM files
CRAFTPANEL_SECURE_COOKIES	automatic	Forced on for HTTPS; cannot be turned off then
CRAFTPANEL_SESSION_TTL_HOURS	168	Session lifetime (sliding)
CRAFTPANEL_LOG_LEVEL	info	fatal, error, warn, info or debug (logs every request)
CRAFTPANEL_LOG_FORMAT	pretty	json for log collectors
CRAFTPANEL_UPDATE_CHECK	true	false never contacts GitHub for the update notice
CRAFTPANEL_RELEASE_DIR	none	Folder of release archives for offline updates

Data directory

System	Default
Linux installer	/var/lib/craftpanel
Linux checkout	~/.local/share/craftpanel
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\CraftPanel
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/CraftPanel

The dashboard and the runtime must use the same data directory. If you move it on Linux, add the new path to ReadWritePaths in both systemd units.