An EC2-hosted game server can incur costs while idle. This project provides a controlled way to start, stop, and inspect selected instances without granting users direct AWS console access.
A Discord bot manages the selected EC2 instance lifecycle through defined commands and scoped AWS permissions.
The AWS side is handled entirely through boto3, the AWS Python SDK. The bot uses a restricted IAM role that can only start, stop, and reboot specific tagged instances. It has no other AWS permissions, so even if credentials were somehow compromised, the blast radius is minimal.
def start_instance(instance_id):
ec2 = boto3.client("ec2", region_name=REGION)
ec2.start_instances(InstanceIds=[instance_id])
waiter = ec2.get_waiter("instance_running")
waiter.wait(InstanceIds=[instance_id])
return get_public_ip(instance_id)Instance discovery uses EC2 tags. The bot only manages instances tagged with the Discord Guild ID, which prevents it from accidentally touching other instances in the account.
The bot exposes a small set of commands:
.start: starts the instance, posts the IP when ready.stop: stops the instance after confirming intent.state: returns the current instance state.info: returns the public IP (useful after a stop/start cycle).totaluptime: returns cumulative uptime tracked in SQLitePterodactyl is a game server management panel. It handles the actual game server process, player management, and resource limits. The bot optionally integrates with the Pterodactyl API to start or stop the game server process independently of the EC2 instance, which is useful for games where you want the instance running but the server stopped.
A local SQLite database records every start and stop event with timestamps. The .totaluptime command queries this to show cumulative hours, useful for splitting costs among players, or just knowing how much you've actually used the server this month.
On-demand operation can reduce idle compute costs; the outcome depends on instance type, region, usage patterns, and other AWS charges.
The bot runs in Docker, with the docker-compose.yml handling environment variable injection for AWS credentials, Discord token, and Pterodactyl API key. The README walks through IAM setup, EC2 tagging, and Discord bot creation from scratch.