Built by players,
for players
Campfire is a community-driven Minecraft server platform built around two desktop apps: Keeper for server admins, and Fireside for players. A headless node runs on your machine, a relay connects everything with end-to-end encryption, and you manage it all from wherever you are — desktop, web, or mobile.
The mission
Make multiplayer Minecraft seamless — for the person running the server and the friends joining it. Hosting, managing, and playing should all work together, from any device, without fighting your tools to make it happen.
Current status
Core server management, mod installation, and the game launcher are complete. Authentication and permissions are production-ready. We're now building the platform layer: Keeper, the E2E encrypted remote access tunnel, Fireside, the web dashboard, and mobile support.
Why Campfire exists
The honest answer: the existing options aren't good enough. Here's what we set out to fix.
Existing tools are stuck in 2015
Most Minecraft server management tools are command-line scripts or decade-old Java GUIs. They were built for a different era and haven't kept up with how servers are run today.
Mod management is fragmented
Installing mods means visiting Modrinth, then CurseForge, then manually dropping jars into a folder and hoping you got the right version. There's no good unified solution.
Remote access doesn't exist
No existing tool lets you manage your server from your phone or check on it while you're away. Campfire bridges that gap with an E2E encrypted tunnel — your data, accessible from anywhere, readable only by you.
Joining a friend's server shouldn't be hard
Players shouldn't need to manually hunt down the right mod versions, configure their launcher, and figure out the correct Minecraft version just to play together. Campfire Fireside handles all of it with a single invite link.
What Campfire is
Campfire is a platform with several connected pieces. The node is a headless daemon that runs on your machine alongside your Minecraft servers — it handles all the management work locally. Campfire Keeper is the admin desktop app for Windows, macOS, and Linux: it bundles the node and gives you a full management interface. Campfire Fireside is the player desktop app: a launcher that auto-installs the right mods and lets you join a friend's server with a single link.
The relay connects everything. Your node registers with the relay, and your clients — Keeper, Fireside, the web dashboard, or the mobile app — connect through it. All traffic is end-to-end encrypted: the relay routes packets but cannot read them. This means you get remote access without port forwarding, without exposing your machine, and without trusting a third-party cloud with your data.
The campfire metaphor runs through the whole platform: the Keeper tends the fire, managing the server, configuring permissions, and keeping everything running. Fireside is where players gather — a welcoming, frictionless place to join, play, and connect with the people around the fire. Authentication supports email/password, OAuth (Microsoft, Google, Discord), two-factor authentication via TOTP, and role-based access control so each team member has exactly the permissions they need.
Development progress
Follow along or contribute
Campfire is being built in the open. If you want to help shape what it becomes, contributions are welcome.