How to host your MU Online server's website

The website is where players register accounts, check rankings, download the client, and learn about your server. Getting it online and connected to your game database is a critical step.

The three hosting options

CHOOSE YOUR HOSTING SETUP:

OPTION 1 — WEBSITE ON THE SAME VPS AS THE GAME (simplest):
→ Install XAMPP or AppServ on the Windows VPS that also runs the MuServer
→ Website runs on Apache/PHP on the same machine
→ Database connection: localhost (no network hop)
→ Pros: everything in one place, simplest setup, no additional cost
→ Cons: website load competes with MuServer for CPU/RAM
→ Good for: new servers, under 50 concurrent players

OPTION 2 — WEBSITE ON SEPARATE LINUX HOSTING (recommended for medium+ servers):
→ Rent a cheap PHP shared hosting ($5-15/month, usually Linux)
→ Upload the website files there via FTP
→ Database connection: the VPS's public IP (e.g., 45.67.89.100:1433)
→ Pros: website load doesn't affect game performance, usually cheaper
→ Cons: two servers to manage, network between them adds small latency
→ Good for: established servers planning to grow

OPTION 3 — LOCAL MACHINE FOR TESTING (XAMPP/AppServ on home PC):
→ Run the game server and website on your own PC for testing
→ Database connection: localhost
→ Pros: no cost, full control
→ Cons: only accessible from your network (without port forwarding + No-IP)
→ Good for: development, testing before going live

Uploading files via FTP

UPLOAD SITE FILES WITH FILEZILLA:

STEP 1 — INSTALL FILEZILLA CLIENT:
→ filezilla-project.org → download FileZilla Client (not Server) → install

STEP 2 — GET FTP CREDENTIALS:
→ From your hosting control panel (cPanel, Plesk, or similar):
  → cPanel → FTP Accounts → create a new FTP account or use the main account
  → Note: FTP host, username, password, port (21 for FTP, 22 for SFTP)

STEP 3 — CONNECT:
→ FileZilla → top bar: Host / Username / Password / Port → Quickconnect
→ Left panel = your PC, Right panel = hosting server
→ Navigate right to your public_html (or www/) folder

STEP 4 — UPLOAD SITE FILES:
→ Navigate left to your website folder on your PC
→ Select all files → drag to the right panel (public_html/)
→ Wait for transfer to complete (may take a few minutes for large sites)

AFTER UPLOAD — VERIFY:
→ Open your domain in a browser: http://yourdomain.com
→ If you see the site: upload worked
→ If blank page: probably IonCube issue (see below) or config not set up yet

Installing IonCube Loader

IONCUBE INSTALLATION:

WHY IONCUBE IS NEEDED:
→ Many MU web systems encrypt their PHP files with IonCube
→ Without the Loader installed, you get: "This file is encoded by ioncube..."

METHOD A — CPANEL SHARED HOSTING:
1. Log into cPanel → "Select PHP Version" or "PHP Selector"
2. Look for "ioncube_loader" in the extensions list
3. Check the box to enable it → Save
4. Verify: create a phpinfo.php file with <?php phpinfo(); ?>
   and browse to it — search for "ioncube" in the output

METHOD B — XAMPP (LOCAL):
1. Download IonCube Loaders from ioncube.com → Linux/Windows package
2. Extract → find the file matching your PHP version:
   → ioncube_loader_win_7.4.dll (for PHP 7.4 on Windows)
   → or ioncube_loader_lin_7.4.so (for PHP 7.4 on Linux)
3. Copy the .dll file to your XAMPP PHP folder:
   → C:\xampp\php\ext\
4. Edit C:\xampp\php\php.ini:
   → Add this line near the TOP (before any other extensions):
   zend_extension = "C:/xampp/php/ext/ioncube_loader_win_7.4.dll"
5. Restart Apache in XAMPP Control Panel
6. Verify: browse to localhost/phpinfo.php → search for "ioncube"

Configuring the database connection

CONNECT THE WEBSITE TO THE GAME DATABASE:

FIND THE CONNECTION FILE:
→ Look in the site's root folder for: config.php, db.php, database.php, or similar
→ Some systems use a config folder: config/database.php

SQL SERVER CONNECTION (most S6 web systems):
// Connection to the game's SQL Server database
$sql_host   = '127.0.0.1';         // localhost if on same VPS, or VPS IP if separate hosting
$sql_port   = 1433;
$sql_db     = 'MuOnline';
$sql_user   = 'mu_web_user';       // a dedicated SQL Server user (not sa!)
$sql_pass   = 'SecurePassword2024';

// For some web systems using ODBC:
$dsn = "DRIVER={SQL Server};SERVER=127.0.0.1;DATABASE=MuOnline;UID=mu_web_user;PWD=SecurePassword2024";

MYSQL CONNECTION (if the site also uses MySQL for its own data):
$mysql_host = 'localhost';
$mysql_user = 'mu_web';
$mysql_pass = 'SecurePassword2024';
$mysql_db   = 'musite';

CREATE THE DEDICATED SQL SERVER USER FOR THE WEBSITE:
-- In SSMS on the game VPS:
CREATE LOGIN mu_web_user
WITH PASSWORD = 'SecurePassword2024',
     CHECK_EXPIRATION = OFF, CHECK_POLICY = OFF;
USE MuOnline;
CREATE USER mu_web_user FOR LOGIN mu_web_user;
-- Grant read access to game data, write only where needed:
EXEC sp_addrolemember 'db_datareader', 'mu_web_user';

Setting permissions correctly

UNIX FILE PERMISSIONS FOR HOSTING:

WHAT EACH PERMISSION LEVEL MEANS:
→ 644 = owner read/write, others read-only (good for PHP files and configs)
→ 755 = owner full access, others read+execute (good for folders)
→ 777 = everyone full access (only use for writable cache/upload folders)

APPLY VIA FILEZILLA:
→ Right-click a file or folder → "File permissions"
→ Or: right-click → "File permissions" → "Numeric value" → type the number

RECOMMENDED STRUCTURE:
/public_html/           → 755 (the web root)
    config.php          → 644 (configuration — read only)
    index.php           → 644 (main entry point)
    /cache/             → 777 (site needs to write cache here)
    /uploads/           → 777 (player avatar uploads, if feature exists)
    /log/               → 777 (error logs)
    /include/           → 755 (library files)
    /admin/             → 755 (admin panel — consider IP-restricting this)

Troubleshooting common site errors

COMMON PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS:

BLANK WHITE PAGE:
→ Cause 1: IonCube not installed or wrong version
  → Check phpinfo.php for "ioncube" — if not there, install it
→ Cause 2: PHP error being suppressed
  → Add to config.php: ini_set('display_errors', 1); error_reporting(E_ALL);
  → Reload the page — the actual error should now appear

"THIS FILE IS ENCODED BY IONCUBE":
→ IonCube Loader is not installed or not matching the PHP version
→ Download the correct loader for your exact PHP version (e.g., 7.4, 8.0)

"CONNECTION FAILED" OR "CANNOT CONNECT TO DATABASE":
→ Check the database credentials in config.php
→ Verify the SQL Server user exists and has correct permissions
→ If site is on separate hosting: verify port 1433 is reachable from that IP
→ Test: telnet [vps-ip] 1433 from the hosting's SSH terminal

RANKING PAGE SHOWS NO DATA:
→ The SQL Server user doesn't have read access to the ranking tables
→ The web system's ranking query may be for a different database name
→ Check the database name in config.php matches the actual MuOnline DB name

Continue with the XAMPP tutorial (for setting up the PHP + Apache environment on your VPS), the MySQL and phpMyAdmin tutorial (for the site's own MySQL database), and the SQL Server configuration tutorial (for creating the correct database users the site will use).

Frequently asked questions