Beacon

A place for game communities to be found

A multi-game server listing platform with live status, voting, and tools for server owners.

Multiplayer communities are discovered through server lists, and most server lists feel like relics: stale data, one game per site, owners shouting into the void. I wanted to build the version players and owners actually deserved — several games in one place, live data worth trusting, and good servers found on their merits.

What it is

A listing platform for Minecraft Java and popular Steam games. Players browse, search, and filter servers; check live status and player counts; leave comments; vote daily; and keep favourites close. Server owners create listings, verify ownership, post news, generate promotional banners, and can purchase highlighted placement. An admin dashboard manages games, listings, users, reports, and payments, and the whole platform runs in English and Polish.

Server browse view with live player counts and filters

What it taught me

Live data is a caching problem first. Checking hundreds of game servers on every page view doesn't survive contact with real traffic. You batch the checks, cache the results, and treat timeouts as a normal condition rather than an error.
Generalization has a price, and it's worth paying deliberately. Supporting several games meant abstracting the differences between them — versions, query methods, categories. Every generalization saved a website and cost some complexity.
Two audiences, one system. Players want truth; owners want reach. Daily votes reward players while fair ordering protects them, and promotion helps owners without lying to anyone.
Trust features are load-bearing. Verification, reporting, anti-spam, and moderation aren't extras bolted on at the end — they're the reason the platform can exist.

Server detail page with description, banner, and vote button

Where it stands

In development — the core is taking shape, and the roadmap keeps growing. The code is public on GitHub .

What it is

What it taught me

Live data is a caching problem first. Checking hundreds of game servers on every page view doesn't survive contact with real traffic. You batch the checks, cache the results, and treat timeouts as a normal condition rather than an error.

Generalization has a price, and it's worth paying deliberately. Supporting several games meant abstracting the differences between them — versions, query methods, categories. Every generalization saved a website and cost some complexity.

Two audiences, one system. Players want truth; owners want reach. Daily votes reward players while fair ordering protects them, and promotion helps owners without lying to anyone.

Trust features are load-bearing. Verification, reporting, anti-spam, and moderation aren't extras bolted on at the end — they're the reason the platform can exist.