The Interface

The shell

At the top is a slim titlebar: the PalCommand mark and name on the left, and beside them a breadcrumb showing where you are (a server’s name, “License”, or “Settings”). The three window buttons sit on the right: minimize, maximize/restore, close. The whole bar is a drag handle, and double-clicking it toggles maximize, the same as any normal window titlebar.

Down the left side is the sidebar. From top to bottom:

• The brand block (mark, “PalCommand”, the installed version). Once PalCommand itself finds a newer version, an amber “Update available” chip appears next to the version number and stays for the rest of the session, even after the toast that first announced it is gone.
• Dashboard, the server grid.
• A Servers heading (it appears once you have at least one server) over the live list: one row per server, each showing a status dot and, on the right, a small live number: player count while running, a rough percent while updating, ! if crashed, or a dash otherwise.
• License, shows a PRO badge once a license is active, or a small dot if it needs attention (grace or lapsed).
• App settings, the gear icon. License and App settings sit in their own group below the server list, so they stay on screen no matter how many servers you have.
• At the bottom, an agent-status line: “Agent connected · N servers”, or “Agent offline” if the dashboard can’t be reached.

The main content column is capped at a comfortable reading width and centered. It never stretches edge to edge on a wide monitor.

The Dashboard

At the top, a stats strip: servers online, total players across running servers, updates pending, and combined memory (RSS) across running servers. If any updates are pending, the strip’s Updates cell shows an “Update all →” link. Above the strip, header buttons: Start all, Stop all, Check for updates, Import, and New server. Start all and Stop all both confirm first. Stop all also warns you how many players are online before it proceeds, then starts or stops your servers one after another, not all at once.

Below the strip is the card grid, one card per server. Each card shows:

• A monogram tile, the server’s name, and a mono subtitle: its game port, then the mode it’s set to (Co-op or PvP, plus Hardcore) and the build number, each added once PalCommand has read them.
• A status pill: always an icon or dot, a color, and a label together. Color alone never carries the meaning.
• While running: player count, FPS, RAM, and a small memory sparkline.
• While updating: the current phase (draining, snapshotting, installing, verifying, relaunching) and an indeterminate progress sweep. There’s no exact percentage to show, so PalCommand doesn’t invent one.
• While crashed or crash-looping: the last exit code (when known) and View crash log / Disable auto-restart buttons. A crashed server also shows which restart attempt it’s on; a crash-looping one doesn’t carry an attempt number.
• A footer row with Start/Stop, Open, and an overflow menu (Force stop, Update, Migrate co-op save…, Delete).

Clicking anywhere on the card opens that server’s page, except for its own buttons.

First run

With no servers yet, the Dashboard shows a Pal-Sphere mark and “No servers yet. Let’s hatch one.” with Create server and Import existing buttons instead of the usual header actions.

Status colors

One color language, used everywhere a server’s state shows up: sidebar dot, dashboard card, server- page pill.

Theme

App settings, Appearance switches between Dark, Light, and System. Light applies live: the same layout, different token values, not a separate design.

Window behavior

The window opens at 1200×760 and won’t shrink below 1080×680. Below about 760px wide, the sidebar collapses into a horizontally scrolling strip across the top instead of a left column. Below about 900px, the server-overview grid drops to one column. Tables and the tab strip scroll horizontally rather than wrapping.

Keyboard

See Keyboard & Status Glossary for the full rundown: Escape, Enter, Space, and the click-to-copy convention.