Table of Contents
Getting Started
What is the GRUE Game Lounge?
The GRUE Game Lounge is the home page for the GRUE gaming community's game servers. It shows which games are available, who's playing, and upcoming sessions. For GMs, it also provides a full management panel to control Foundry VTT worlds, modules, files, and backups.
Signing In
Click "Sign in with Discord" on the login page. You'll be redirected to Discord to authorize. Only members of the GRUE Discord server can access the lounge. If you're not a member yet, ask for an invite in the Discord.
After signing in, you'll see your Discord avatar and username in the top-right corner along with your role badge (Member, GM, or Admin).
The Lounge
The main lounge shows:
- Game cards — each game server with its status, current players (from Discord and Steam), and a join button.
- Upcoming Sessions — a schedule of planned game sessions. GMs can add, edit, and delete their own sessions.
- Steam integration — link your Steam account (top-right button) to show which games you own and enable launch buttons for Steam games.
Tip: Game cards show live player counts from Discord presence. If someone is playing Foundry VTT or Nightingale, you'll see them listed on the card.
Opening the Management Panel
If you're a GM or Admin, you'll see a bottom bar with server status pills and a "Management Panel" button. Click it to open the full management interface. The bottom bar shows at a glance whether each FVTT server is idle, running a world, or stopped.
My Worlds
The Worlds tab shows all Foundry VTT worlds and who owns them. Worlds live in shared storage and can run on either server (Phoenix or Dragon).
Launching a World
- Find your world in the list.
- Pick a server from the dropdown (only available/idle servers are shown).
- Click Launch. It takes 10–30 seconds to load.
- Once active, click the server link to connect.
Unloading a World
Click Unload next to your active world to free the server. Foundry auto-saves before unloading. If you forget, worlds left idle with no connected players for 30 minutes are automatically unloaded (unless pinned by an admin).
Creating a World
Click "Create New World" at the top. Choose a game system, give it a name, and it's automatically assigned to you. You can also clone any world you own as a starting point — useful for creating test copies before major changes.
Deleting a World
The world must be inactive (not running on any server). Deletion is permanent — always create a backup first.
Tip: Only one world can run per server at a time. If both servers are busy, wait for a world to unload or ask the other GM to unload when done.
Files
Browse and manage files on the shared storage. You can access:
worlds/<your-world>/ — your own world directoriesassets/ — shared asset directories (maps, tokens, etc.)modules/ and systems/ — read-only
Uploading Files
Navigate to the target directory and click Upload. Multiple files are supported. For maps and tokens, .webp format is recommended (smaller files, faster loading).
Creating Folders
Click New Folder in the toolbar to create a subdirectory in the current location.
Downloading & Deleting
Click a file to download it. Use the delete button to remove files. Deletion is permanent — there is no recycle bin.
Modules
Foundry VTT modules add features to your game. The Modules tab has four sub-tabs:
Installed
Shows all installed modules with search and category filtering. Each card shows the module name, version, and compatibility status. Module installation (via manifest URL) is admin-only.
Registry
The curated module registry — a vetted list of recommended modules maintained by admins. Shows which are installed and which are missing. Admins can batch-install all missing registry modules at once.
World Config
Enable or disable modules for a specific world. The world must be inactive (unloaded from any server) to change its module configuration.
- Select a world from the dropdown.
- Toggle modules on/off.
- Click Save Changes.
You can also save the current module configuration as a preset and apply it to other worlds later.
Browse Hub
Search the Foundry VTT Hub for new modules. This is admin-only. If you find a module you'd like installed, note its name and ask an admin.
Tip: After enabling or disabling modules, you'll need to reload your Foundry VTT browser tab for changes to take effect.
Backups
Create snapshots of your worlds to protect against data loss.
Creating a Backup
- Select a world from the dropdown.
- Optionally add a note (e.g., "before module update" or "end of session 12").
- Click Create Backup.
The world is automatically unloaded during backup. It typically takes 10–60 seconds depending on world size.
When to Back Up
- Before updating modules or the game system
- Before making major world changes (restructuring scenes, bulk imports)
- After a particularly good session you want to preserve
Restoring a Backup
Restore is admin-only to prevent accidental data loss. Restoring overwrites the current world state completely. Ask an admin to restore for you — they'll back up the current state first as a safety net.
Tip: Each backup shows its name, date, size, and your note. Look for the date and note to find the right snapshot.
Server Management
The Admin > Servers sub-tab shows a card for each FVTT Docker container with live metrics.
Server Card Metrics
- Status dot — green (healthy), yellow (starting), red (unhealthy/stopped)
- RAM — current usage vs. limit. Turns red above 85%.
- Uptime — how long the container has been running
- FVTT Version — the installed Foundry VTT version
- Health — Docker health check status
VM & World Controls
- Start VM — start a stopped container
- Shutdown VM — stop the container entirely
- Reboot VM — restart the container (clears memory, ghost sessions)
- Load World — launch a world on an idle server (dropdown picker)
- Unload World — deactivate the running world
Pin / Unpin
Pinning a world prevents the 30-minute idle auto-unload. Useful during extended AFK prep or when you need the world running without players. The pin shows who set it and when.
Tip: If RAM is consistently above 85%, consider rebooting the VM to clear accumulated memory. Ghost sessions (disconnected players still counted) are also cleared by a reboot.
CDN Management
The demand-driven CDN automatically promotes frequently-accessed assets to Backblaze B2 + Cloudflare for faster delivery, and demotes unused files back to local-only.
How It Works
- Access tracking — Caddy logs are ingested every 5 minutes to track which files players request.
- Daily evaluation (3 AM) — files meeting the size and access thresholds are queued for promotion. Files with no hits in 3+ months are queued for demotion.
- Execution on world stop — when a world is unloaded (manually or by idle timeout), queued promotions and demotions are applied. Files are uploaded to S3, LevelDB references are rewritten, and demoted files have their S3 copies deleted.
Files always remain local — S3 is a performance cache, not the only copy.
Configuration
- Size threshold — minimum file size for CDN consideration (default: 128KB)
- Demote after months — months of inactivity before demotion (default: 3)
- Enabled — master switch for the entire CDN system
Evaluate vs. Cycle
Evaluate runs the promotion/demotion logic immediately (queues files). Cycle executes the queue right now — requires both servers to be idle or stopped, and a non-empty queue.
Cost
Storage is approximately $0.006/GB/month on Backblaze B2. Egress through Cloudflare is free (Bandwidth Alliance). The CDN panel shows current S3 usage and estimated monthly cost.
Asset Browser
Low-level file browser with both Local and S3/CDN views. Use this for direct file management beyond what the Files tab offers.
Features
- Local / S3 toggle — switch between browsing local files and S3 bucket contents
- Breadcrumb navigation — click any path segment to jump back
- Batch move — move or rename asset files with automatic LevelDB reference updates
- Hover preview — image files show a thumbnail on hover
Jobs Modal
Shows migration and rewrite jobs (in-progress and completed). You can cancel running jobs or view details of past operations.
DB Rewrite Modal
Emergency tool for rewriting LevelDB references. Always run a dry-run first to preview changes before applying. Used when CDN references need manual correction.
Error Bank
Collects client-side errors from all Foundry VTT worlds via the grue-error-tracker module.
How Errors Arrive
- The
grue-error-tracker module captures browser errors during gameplay.
- GMs see an error count badge and can choose to report errors to the global bank.
- Reported errors appear in Admin > Errors with world context, timestamps, and stack traces.
Managing Errors
- Filter — toggle between Open, Resolved, and All errors
- Resolve — mark an error as handled (e.g., after a module update fixes it)
- Copy All Open — copies error details to clipboard for sharing with module developers
- Bulk delete — clear resolved or all errors
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my world auto-unloading?
Worlds with 0 connected players for 30 minutes are automatically unloaded to free the server for others. If you need the world running during AFK prep, ask an admin to pin it — this skips the auto-unload timer.
How do I get my world on a specific server?
When launching, pick the server from the dropdown. Phoenix and Dragon are interchangeable — your world data is shared, so it plays identically on either. Players connect to whichever server URL the world is running on.
Why can't I see the Admin tab?
The Admin tab is only visible to users with the Admin role in Discord. GMs see My Worlds, Files, Modules, and Backups. If you need admin access, ask Clay.
What happens if both servers are busy?
You'll need to wait for a world to be unloaded, or ask the GM using the other server to unload when they're done. Check the bottom bar for live server status.
How do I reset my Foundry password?
Your Foundry VTT user password is separate from your Discord login. Open your world, go to Game Settings > User Management (as GM), and reset the password there.
Where do uploaded files go?
Files uploaded through the Files tab go to the server's shared storage at the directory you're currently browsing. They're accessible from any world running on either server.
Why do I see "World must be inactive" when changing modules?
Module configuration is stored in the world's data files. To safely edit them, the world must not be running on any server. Unload the world first, make your module changes, then re-launch.
Who do I contact for help?
Ping Clay in the GRUE Discord server. For bugs or feature requests, describe what happened and what you expected — screenshots help.