An instance is a self-contained setup living on your server: its own application, its own files, its own startup command and variables. One server can hold up to 10 instances, and you switch between them like save slots — activate one and that's what your server is, until you switch again. Open Instances from your server menu to see them.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| You need | Any Falix server |
| Plan | All plans; on free, instances run free-plan applications only |
| Time | Fifteen minutes |
What's separate, what's shared
This is the whole model, so it's worth being precise.
| Each instance keeps its own | All instances share the server's |
|---|---|
| Application (Minecraft, Node.js, Python, a database — anything) | Port allocation |
| Files | RAM, CPU, and disk limits |
| Startup command and application variables | Firewall and reverse proxy |
| Runtime version | SFTP access |
🎯 Good to know: Because every instance uses the same single port and the same resources, only one instance runs at a time. Instances aren't a way to run two things at once — they're a way to keep several setups ready and swap between them.
You can rename an instance any time — edit its label so "Instance 2" becomes "Modded 1.20" or "Staging". It's just a name for you; it doesn't touch the files or configuration underneath.
Watch your disk
Instances share resources, but there's a catch worth understanding: each instance keeps its own full copy of files on disk, and all of them count against your server's single disk limit. The instance you're not running doesn't vanish — its files sit there waiting, taking up space. So five instances each holding a 3 GB world need 15 GB of disk between them, even though only one runs at a time. Cloning doubles an instance's footprint, since the copy is a second full set of files.
💡 Tip: If your disk fills up, delete an instance you no longer need (back it up first) or trim big files inside one. The File Manager's disk-usage breakdown shows which instance's files are the heavy ones.
Switch instances
To switch, the server must be stopped. The panel makes this one action with a Stop and Activate button — it stops the current instance and brings up the one you picked. Activation swaps in that instance's files and configuration; some switches (a fresh application you haven't set up yet) trigger an install step the first time. Give it a moment, then start the server as normal.
Clone an instance
Any instance can be cloned — you get a separate copy, files and all. This is the safe way to experiment: clone your live setup, activate the copy, and try something risky knowing the original sits untouched on its own instance.
Delete an instance
Deleting an instance frees the slot — that's the point.
⚠️ Heads up: Deleting an instance permanently deletes its files. There's no undo, so take a backup of anything you might want later before you remove one.
Real ways to use them
- A game server and a bot on the same server — a Minecraft instance for game nights, a Discord bot instance the rest of the time. Swap to whichever you want running.
- Staging vs live — clone your live setup into a second instance, break things there, and only switch back once it's solid.
- Try a different runtime — spin up an instance on a new application or version without dismantling your working setup. If it doesn't pan out, activate your original and nothing was lost.
Running two things at once
Because instances share one allocation, they can't run simultaneously. If you genuinely need two things online at the same time — say a bot and its database, both up around the clock — use two separate servers instead. To let them talk privately without exposing anything to the internet, connect them over the Internal Network on the Network page: it gives each server a private internal address reachable only from your other Falix servers. The server menu map has the details, and a database that needs to stay up for other servers is a good candidate for its own database server.
Troubleshooting
- "Stop the server first" — activation only happens while the server is stopped; stop it (or use Stop and Activate) and try again.
- Switching kicked off an install — expected the first time an instance runs a new application; let it finish before starting.
- My files vanished after switching — they didn't; they belong to the other instance and come back when you activate it. Deleting an instance is the only thing that removes files for good.
- Free plan won't activate an instance — free instances are limited to free-plan applications; that setup needs premium.