Piminer4 Help

What This Server Does

• Runs a Flask/Gunicorn web app on port 8080.
• Browses and streams media from the main bmps media tree.
• Protects selected private media folders with the same server password used by Budget/Admin.
• Provides a Budget web UI for the Excel workbook, including entry editing, recurring entries, categories, dashboards, restore, and backups.
• Hosts local browser games, an Ollama prompt page, and a manually controlled Paper Minecraft server.
• Redirects Easy Diffusion access to the configured remote URL.

Addresses And Services

Safe Restart Checklist

1. Check the service: systemctl status piminer4-media.service --no-pager
2. Check logs if needed: journalctl -u piminer4-media.service -n 80 --no-pager
3. Restart only the web app: sudo systemctl restart piminer4-media.service
4. Verify it answers: curl -I http://127.0.0.1:8080/

Media Server Notes

• Main media root: /mnt/pcie_nvme/bmps
• Thumbnails are stored inside media folders in _thumbs.
• Hidden folders include _thumbs and Budget.
• Music Videos has playlist controls: Autoplay Next, Random Next, and Random Now.
• Italian subtitles are served only when subtitle files exist beside MP4 files and the folder is not protected or Music Videos.
• Some large folders may be bind-mounted into the main media tree. Check findmnt and /etc/fstab before moving or deleting media.

Budget Notes

• Workbook folder: /mnt/pcie_nvme/bmps/Budget
• Workbook file: My Money - Fresh Start Budget.xlsx
• The web UI edits the workbook directly. A lock file is used beside the workbook while changes are being written.
• Recent Entries can be edited if a date, amount, category, description, or note was entered incorrectly.
• Recurring entries are monthly. The Day field is the day of the month, from 1 to 31.
• Budget backups can be restored from Admin. A safety copy is created before restore.

Reading The Monthly Income Vs Outflow Graph

• The graph is month-by-month. Each month compares that month's Money In against that month's Outflow.
• Outflow is calculated as Money Out + Transfers. Transfers are shown separately in the budget, but the graph treats them as cash leaving checking for the month.
• The number printed at the right side of a month is that month's net cash, rounded to the nearest dollar: Money In - Money Out - Transfers.
• Example from July 2026: Money In was $4,517.62, Money Out was $3,715.27, and Transfers were $315.00. The graph used $4,517.62 - ($3,715.27 + $315.00) = $487.35, so it displayed + $487.
• The top Net Cash card is year-to-date for the selected year, not just the current month. In the July 2026 example, June was -$551.56 and July was +$487.35, so the year-to-date Net Cash card showed -$64.21.
• If the graph and the top cards seem to disagree, check whether one value is monthly and the other is year-to-date, then check the year selector, Recent Entries, and Recurring rows.

Minecraft Notes

• Server type: Paper Minecraft, installed under /mnt/pcie_nvme/minecraft/server.
• Bedrock support is provided by Geyser-Spigot plus Floodgate, with ViaVersion installed for protocol compatibility.
• Systemd service: piminer4-minecraft.service.
• It is disabled by default and should be started from Admin only when people are playing.
• Villages/structures, animals, hostile mobs, and villagers are enabled.
• The whitelist is enabled. Add player names before expecting new players to connect.
• Current Pi limits are shown and editable from Admin under Minecraft Server then Server Limits.
• max-players controls how many players can join at once.
• view-distance controls how far players can see in chunks. Higher looks better but uses more RAM and network.
• simulation-distance controls how far the world actively runs around players. Higher values cost more CPU because mobs, farms, villagers, and redstone keep ticking farther away.
• Pi-safe ranges in the web UI are players 1-20, view distance 3-16, and simulation distance 3-12. A good next step is 8 players, view 8, simulation 6.
• Minecraft backups made from Admin are stored in /mnt/pcie_nvme/minecraft/backups.
• If the world becomes popular or busy, move Minecraft to a second Pi and point players to the new host while keeping Piminer4 for media/budget.

Getting Started With Minecraft

New User Setup

• Bedrock players can use the Minecraft Bedrock Edition they already have installed on Windows, phone, tablet, or console.
• On this Windows PC, open the Minecraft Launcher or Microsoft Store version and choose Minecraft for Windows, not Java Edition.
• If Minecraft is not installed yet, download it from https://www.minecraft.net/download or install Minecraft from the Microsoft Store.
• Java players can still use Minecraft Java Edition and connect on the Java port.

Connecting From Bedrock

1. Open /admin and unlock Admin with the shared server password.
2. Open the Minecraft Server section and press Start Minecraft. First startup can take about 30-90 seconds while Paper loads the world.
3. In Minecraft Bedrock, go to Play, then Servers, then Add Server.
4. Use any server name such as Piminer4.
5. For outside-the-house Bedrock players, use the split playit fields shown in the Admin Minecraft Server section.
6. Current outside Server Address: doing-boolean.gl.at.ply.gg.
7. Current outside Port: 62300.
8. At home/LAN, use 192.168.1.67 with port 19132. Outside the house, use the playit address and port shown above after public access is stable.
9. Because whitelist is on, new players must be added before they can join. In Admin, use Add Player To Whitelist, choose Bedrock or Java, enter the exact player name, and press Add Player.
10. For Bedrock players, enter the Xbox gamertag without a Floodgate prefix. Floodgate handles the Bedrock whitelist with fwhitelist.
11. For Java players, enter the exact Java username. Java names must be 3-16 letters, numbers, or underscores.
12. When everyone is done playing, press Stop Minecraft from Admin. It is intentionally not set to auto-start so the Pi stays free for media, budget, backups, and converters.
13. Use Backup World before experimenting with settings, plugins, or major world changes. Backups go to /mnt/pcie_nvme/minecraft/backups.

Connecting From Java Edition

1. In Minecraft Java Edition, choose Multiplayer, then Add Server.
2. Use piminer4:25565 on the home network, or use the Java address shown in Admin.

Quake Arena Notes

• Server type: OpenArena / ioquake3 dedicated server. It is Quake 3-style deathmatch with free game data.
• Systemd service: openarena-server.service.
• Config file: /etc/openarena-server/server.cfg.
• Default port: UDP 27960.
• Current home-network join address: piminer4:27960.
• Current server name: Piminer4 Quake Arena.
• Current defaults: Free-for-all deathmatch, map oa_dm1, 8 players, frag limit 25, time limit 15 minutes.
• The package is disabled at boot so it does not auto-start after a reboot. Start or stop it from Admin.
• Players need OpenArena or a compatible ioquake3/OpenArena client. On the home network, connect to piminer4:27960.
• Outside-the-house Quake access is not tunneled yet. It will need a UDP tunnel or router port forward for UDP 27960.

Backups And Recovery

Recovery backups contain the Flask app files, systemd service files, helper scripts, sudoers snippets, password files, and SSH key used for budget backups. They do not contain media files, Ollama models, or Easy Diffusion.

Admin Page

• Change the shared server password. This password is used for Admin, Budget, and protected folders.
• Restore a budget workbook from backup.
• Adjust the automatic budget backup schedule.
• Start, stop, restart, and back up the Minecraft server.
• Open the Activity Log from the Current Users area to see recent server activity by IP address, browser/device, area, action, path, and HTTP status.
• Run Pi OS update/upgrade. Watch the log shown on the Admin page after starting it.

Do not put plain-text passwords into this Help page. Password data is stored by the app in its configured password files. The Activity Log also redacts password fields, cast tokens, secret keys, and Ollama prompt text.

Password Lockout Security

• Admin, Budget, protected media folders, and Music Videos artist sorting use the same password lockout rules.
• After 3 wrong password attempts, that page/folder is locked for that client for about 15 minutes.
• A correct password clears the failed-attempt counter.
• Lockouts are tracked by area and client address, so one bad client should not lock everyone out of the entire server.
• Lockout state is stored in /home/dave_klenda/piminer4_server/password_lockouts.json. Delete that file only if an accidental lockout must be cleared from SSH.

Important Files

Useful Commands

cd /home/dave_klenda/piminer4_server
systemctl status piminer4-media.service --no-pager
journalctl -u piminer4-media.service -n 80 --no-pager
sudo systemctl restart piminer4-media.service
sudo systemctl status piminer4-minecraft.service --no-pager
sudo systemctl start piminer4-minecraft.service
sudo systemctl stop piminer4-minecraft.service
tailscale funnel status
lsblk -f
findmnt
systemctl list-timers piminer4-budget-backup.timer --no-pager

When Things Break

• If the whole page is down, check piminer4-media.service and its journal.
• If Media opens but a folder is missing, check drive mounts and bind mounts first.
• If Budget totals look wrong, verify the workbook year selector, then check Recent Entries and Recurring rows.
• If Funnel works poorly but local Tailscale is fine, suspect Funnel bandwidth/latency before changing the app.
• If the Pi loses power and the NVMe acts strange, shut down cleanly and run a filesystem check from a PC if needed.
• Before reflashing the SD card, copy the newest server recovery archive and restore script from Piminer3.