How to Create Your MU Online Server Website from Scratch

Overview

Building a website for your MU Online private server is a critical step for giving players a central hub for account registration, rankings, event information and support. This guide covers full web stack installation, SQL Server integration with MuServer's database, and configuration of essential features.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have:

• Windows Server 2008 R2 or later (or Windows 10/11 for local testing)
• SQL Server 2012 or later with the MuOnline database already created by MuServer
• Administrator access to the server
• A domain or public IP pointed at the server (for production)

Step 1 — Install IIS and PHP

1.1 Open Server Manager → Add Roles and Features → select Web Server (IIS).

Check the following additional components:

• CGI (required for PHP via FastCGI)
• Basic Authentication
• Static and Dynamic Content Compression
• URL Rewrite (download separately from the Microsoft website as URL Rewrite Module)

1.2 Download PHP 8.1 (Non-Thread-Safe, x64) from https://windows.php.net/download/ and extract it to C:\PHP\.

1.3 Rename C:\PHP\php.ini-production to C:\PHP\php.ini and edit the following lines:

; C:\PHP\php.ini — essential settings for MU website

extension_dir = "C:\PHP\ext"
extension=pdo_sqlsrv       ; SQL Server PDO driver
extension=sqlsrv           ; SQL Server alternative driver
extension=mbstring
extension=openssl
extension=curl
extension=gd

date.timezone = "America/New_York"
upload_max_filesize = 10M
post_max_size = 10M
max_execution_time = 60

1.4 Configure IIS to use PHP as a FastCGI handler:

Open IIS Manager → default site → Handler Mappings → Add Module Mapping:

Request path: *.php
Module: FastCgiModule
Executable: C:\PHP\php-cgi.exe
Name: PHP_via_FastCGI

Step 2 — Create the Website Directory Structure

Set the site root to C:\inetpub\muweb\ and create the following structure:

C:\inetpub\muweb\
├── index.php
├── register.php
├── ranking.php
├── events.php
├── admin\
│   ├── index.php
│   └── players.php
├── assets\
│   ├── css\
│   ├── js\
│   └── img\
├── includes\
│   ├── db.php          ← SQL Server connection
│   ├── functions.php
│   └── config.php
└── web.config          ← IIS rewrite rules

Create the directory and apply permissions via PowerShell:

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "C:\inetpub\muweb\includes"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "C:\inetpub\muweb\admin"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "C:\inetpub\muweb\assets\css"

# Read permission for IIS_IUSRS
icacls "C:\inetpub\muweb" /grant "IIS_IUSRS:(OI)(CI)R" /T

Step 3 — Configure the SQL Server Database Connection

Edit C:\inetpub\muweb\includes\config.php:

<?php
// includes/config.php — central configuration for MU website

define('DB_HOST',     '127.0.0.1');   // SQL Server IP (localhost or remote IP)
define('DB_NAME',     'MuOnline');    // default MuServer database name
define('DB_USER',     'mu_web');      // SQL user with limited permissions
define('DB_PASS',     'YourPasswordHere');
define('DB_PORT',     1433);

define('SITE_NAME',   'My MU Server');
define('SITE_URL',    'http://yourdomain.com');
define('MAX_CHARS',   4);             // characters per account
define('SERVER_VERSION', 'Season 6 Episode 3');

Create the connection file C:\inetpub\muweb\includes\db.php:

<?php
// includes/db.php — PDO connection to SQL Server

require_once __DIR__ . '/config.php';

try {
    $dsn = sprintf(
        'sqlsrv:Server=%s,%d;Database=%s;TrustServerCertificate=1',
        DB_HOST, DB_PORT, DB_NAME
    );
    $pdo = new PDO($dsn, DB_USER, DB_PASS, [
        PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE            => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION,
        PDO::ATTR_DEFAULT_FETCH_MODE => PDO::FETCH_ASSOC,
        PDO::SQLSRV_ATTR_ENCODING    => PDO::SQLSRV_ENCODING_UTF8,
    ]);
} catch (PDOException $e) {
    die('Database connection error: ' . $e->getMessage());
}

Step 4 — Build the Account Registration System

The main account table in MuServer Season 6 is MEMB_INFO in the MuOnline database. Relevant columns:

-- Key columns in the MEMB_INFO table (Season 6)
-- memb__id    varchar(10)  -- login (max 10 chars)
-- memb__pw    varchar(10)  -- password (plain text in default S6)
-- memb_name   varchar(10)  -- member name
-- memb_guid   int          -- unique ID (identity)
-- mail_addr   varchar(60)  -- email address
-- bloc_code   tinyint      -- 0=active, 1=blocked
-- ctl1_code   tinyint      -- account level (0=player, 255=GM)

Create C:\inetpub\muweb\register.php:

<?php
require_once 'includes/db.php';
require_once 'includes/functions.php';

$error   = '';
$success = false;

if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST') {
    $login  = trim($_POST['login']  ?? '');
    $pass   = trim($_POST['pass']   ?? '');
    $email  = trim($_POST['email']  ?? '');
    $name   = trim($_POST['name']   ?? '');

    // Basic validation
    if (!preg_match('/^[a-zA-Z0-9]{4,10}$/', $login)) {
        $error = 'Login must be 4–10 alphanumeric characters.';
    } elseif (strlen($pass) < 4 || strlen($pass) > 10) {
        $error = 'Password must be 4–10 characters.';
    } elseif (!filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
        $error = 'Invalid email address.';
    } else {
        // Check if login already exists
        $stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM MEMB_INFO WHERE memb__id = ?");
        $stmt->execute([$login]);
        if ($stmt->fetchColumn() > 0) {
            $error = 'This login is already in use.';
        } else {
            // Insert new account
            $stmt = $pdo->prepare("
                INSERT INTO MEMB_INFO
                    (memb__id, memb__pw, memb_name, mail_addr, bloc_code, ctl1_code)
                VALUES
                    (?, ?, ?, ?, 0, 0)
            ");
            $stmt->execute([$login, $pass, $name, $email]);
            $success = true;
        }
    }
}
?>

Step 5 — Build the Ranking Page

The character ranking reads from the Character table in the MuOnline database:

<?php
// ranking.php — top 10 characters by resets and level

require_once 'includes/db.php';

$stmt = $pdo->query("
    SELECT TOP 10
        Name        AS name,
        Class       AS class,
        cLevel      AS level,
        Resets      AS resets,
        PkCount     AS pks,
        GuildName   AS guild
    FROM Character
    ORDER BY Resets DESC, cLevel DESC
");
$ranking = $stmt->fetchAll();

To display the class name instead of the numeric code, add this helper function:

// includes/functions.php
function className(int $code): string {
    $classes = [
        0  => 'Dark Wizard',    1  => 'Soul Master',
        16 => 'Dark Knight',    17 => 'Blade Knight',
        32 => 'Fairy Elf',      33 => 'Muse Elf',
        48 => 'Magic Gladiator',
        64 => 'Dark Lord',
        80 => 'Summoner',
        96 => 'Rage Fighter',
    ];
    return $classes[$code] ?? "Class $code";
}

Step 6 — Configure web.config for Clean URLs

Create C:\inetpub\muweb\web.config:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<configuration>
  <system.webServer>
    <rewrite>
      <rules>
        <rule name="PHP extensionless URLs" stopProcessing="true">
          <match url="^([^.]+)$" />
          <conditions>
            <add input="{REQUEST_FILENAME}.php" matchType="IsFile" />
          </conditions>
          <action type="Rewrite" url="{R:1}.php" />
        </rule>
      </rules>
    </rewrite>
    <defaultDocument>
      <files>
        <add value="index.php" />
      </files>
    </defaultDocument>
  </system.webServer>
</configuration>

Step 7 — Configure SQL Server Permissions for the Web User

Run the following in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) as sa:

-- Create login and user for the website
USE [master];
CREATE LOGIN [mu_web] WITH PASSWORD = 'YourSecurePassword123!',
    DEFAULT_DATABASE = [MuOnline],
    CHECK_EXPIRATION = OFF,
    CHECK_POLICY = OFF;

USE [MuOnline];
CREATE USER [mu_web] FOR LOGIN [mu_web];

-- Minimum required permissions
GRANT SELECT ON [dbo].[MEMB_INFO]   TO [mu_web];
GRANT INSERT ON [dbo].[MEMB_INFO]   TO [mu_web];
GRANT SELECT ON [dbo].[Character]   TO [mu_web];
GRANT SELECT ON [dbo].[Guild]       TO [mu_web];
GRANT SELECT ON [dbo].[GuildMember] TO [mu_web];

-- Deny access to sensitive tables
DENY SELECT ON [dbo].[WAREHOUSE]        TO [mu_web];
DENY SELECT ON [dbo].[AccountCharacter] TO [mu_web];

Troubleshooting Common Issues

"Could not find driver" error when connecting to SQL Server

Verify that the PDO SQL Server drivers are installed. Download Microsoft Drivers for PHP for SQL Server from https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/connect/php/ and place the .dll files in C:\PHP\ext\. Confirm that php.ini has extension=sqlsrv and extension=pdo_sqlsrv without a leading semicolon.

Blank page after configuring PHP

Temporarily enable error display in C:\PHP\php.ini:

display_errors = On
error_reporting = E_ALL

Restart IIS with iisreset in the command prompt and reload the page.

Characters not showing up in the ranking

Confirm that the Character table exists in the MuOnline database and that mu_web has SELECT permission. Run in SSMS:

SELECT TOP 5 Name, cLevel, Resets FROM MuOnline.dbo.Character;

Perguntas frequentes