Dynamic Passgate 🔗

Invite-only server gate for Luanti (formerly Minetest) with dynamic per-user passwords.

New players get a templated password based on their username — share it privately to grant access. They must change it within a countdown timer to gain full privileges. Failure to comply results in a kick, and repeated failures lead to a permanent block.

How It Works 🔗

1. You invite a player and tell them: "Your password is <their-name>-wants-in"
2. They connect with that password — the mod auto-creates their account
3. They see a gate modal: "Change your password within 2 minutes"
4. They type: /password oldpassword newpassword
5. Password changed → verified → full privileges granted
6. If they don't comply → kicked → strike added → account purged
7. After 3 strikes → permanently blocked

The password template is fully configurable with variables, so you can use patterns like ${name}-${MMM}${yyyy} to create monthly rotating passwords.

Features 🔗

Dynamic passwords — per-user passwords generated from a configurable template
Template variables — username, dates, server name (see table below)
In-game admin panel — manage settings, players, and view server status without editing config files or restarting
Zero-config defaults — works out of the box, every setting has a sensible default
Runtime configuration — all settings changeable via admin panel, no restart needed
Delegated administration — custom passgate_admin privilege for non-admin gate managers
Server-side /password fallback — works even when the client doesn't handle /password natively
Strike system — configurable max strikes before permanent block
Admin bypass — the server admin (from minetest.conf) always passes through

Installation 🔗

Copy the dynamic_passgate folder into your server's mods/ directory
Enable the mod in your world's world.mt: load_mod_dynamic_passgate = true
Restart the server
(Optional) Configure settings via the in-game admin panel (/gate) or minetest.conf

Template Variables 🔗

The password template supports the following variables:

Variable	Description	Example (player "Steve", March 17, 2026)
`${name}`	Username (lowercase)	`steve`
`${NAME}`	Username (original case)	`Steve`
`${server}`	Server name	`My Server`
`${d}`	Day of month	`17`
`${dd}`	Day of month (zero-padded)	`17`
`${m}`	Month number	`3`
`${mm}`	Month number (zero-padded)	`03`
`${mmm}`	Month abbreviation (lowercase)	`mar`
`${mmmm}`	Month full name (lowercase)	`march`
`${MMM}`	Month abbreviation (capitalized)	`Mar`
`${MMMM}`	Month full name (capitalized)	`March`
`${yy}`	2-digit year	`26`
`${yyyy}`	4-digit year	`2026`

Example Templates 🔗

Template	Password for "Steve" (March 2026)
`${name}-wants-in`	`steve-wants-in`
`${name}-${MMM}${yyyy}`	`steve-Mar2026`
`welcome-${name}-${mm}${yy}`	`welcome-steve-0326`
`${server}-${name}`	`My Server-steve`

Note: Date-based templates mean the password changes over time. Make sure to tell invitees the correct current password.

Settings 🔗

All settings can be changed at runtime via the admin panel (/gate) — no server restart required.

Setting	Default	Description
`dynamic_passgate.password_template`	`${name}-wants-in`	Password template with variable substitution
`dynamic_passgate.countdown_seconds`	`120`	Seconds before unverified player is kicked
`dynamic_passgate.max_strikes`	`3`	Strikes before permanent block
`dynamic_passgate.reminder_interval`	`10`	Seconds between chat reminders
`dynamic_passgate.admin_email`	(empty)	Contact shown in ban/kick messages
`dynamic_passgate.server_title`	(empty)	Override for server name in gate messages (uses `server_name` from `minetest.conf` if empty)
`dynamic_passgate.verified_privs`	`interact,shout,fly,fast,noclip,give,creative,basic_privs,teleport,debug`	Privileges granted on verification
`dynamic_passgate.show_inventory_button`	`true`	Show admin panel button in inventory

Settings are read in this priority order:

Admin panel (mod_storage) — highest priority, runtime-changeable
minetest.conf — initial configuration
Hardcoded defaults — always available as fallback

Admin Panel 🔗

Access the admin panel with the /gate chat command or the inventory button (if enabled). Requires server privilege or passgate_admin privilege.

Settings Tab 🔗

Configure all mod settings with a live preview of the password template.

Players Tab 🔗

View all known players with their status (verified/blocked/unverified) and strike count. Select a player to:

Verify — manually verify and grant privileges
Block — ban and purge account
Unblock — remove ban and reset strikes
Reset Strikes — reset strike count without unblocking

Status Tab 🔗

View server status, player counts, currently pending players (with countdown timers), active settings summary, and a quick reference of the gate flow.

Chat Commands 🔗

All admin commands require server or passgate_admin privilege.

Command	Description
`/gate`	Open the admin panel
`/gate_verify <name>`	Manually verify a player
`/gate_block <name> [reason]`	Block a player (ban + purge account), with optional reason
`/gate_unblock <name>`	Unblock a player and reset strikes
`/gate_status <name>`	Check a player's gate status
`/password <old> <new>`	Change your own password (available to all players)

Technical Notes 🔗

/password is client-side in Luanti — some clients handle it natively, others send it to the server as a chat command. This mod registers a server-side /password fallback to handle both cases.
Password change detection works by monkey-patching auth_handler.set_password via core.register_on_mods_loaded, since Luanti has no register_on_password_change callback.
mod_storage is used for all persistent data (settings, player status, strikes). Do not edit mod_storage.sqlite directly — the engine caches it in memory.
The server admin (set via name in minetest.conf) always bypasses the gate automatically.

Compatibility 🔗

Luanti 5.9.0+
Works with any game (Minetest Game, Asuna, MineClone, etc.)
No dependencies on other mods

License 🔗

CC BY-SA 4.0