Usage stats

What Playkeeper counts about each machine, when it sends it, what the stats service keeps, and the switch or variable that turns it off.

From README.md in the repository, for Playkeeper 0.4.3.

From 0.4.4, Playkeeper counts how many machines run it, anonymously, so the project knows how many people use it and where to spend its time. The installer says so before it sends anything. Each machine sends exactly this, and Settings › Playkeeper › Usage stats shows yours field for field:

Field What it is
id a random ID made on the machine for usage stats alone, tied to nothing else
version the Playkeeper version, like 0.4.4
os, osVersion the system and its release, like ubuntu and 24.04
arch the CPU type, amd64 or arm64
source how Playkeeper got onto the machine: playkeeper.io (the install command there), github (get.sh straight from GitHub), mirror (get.sh from another location), tarball or source (a build that isn't a release)
channel the code of a playkeeper.io/install/<code> command, if one was used
kind dashboard, or joined for a machine connected to another dashboard
test marks the project's own test installs, which aren't counted
event, step from the installer: started once you accept its plan, then succeeded, or failed and the step that failed; or refused and the checks that turned it away, like memory
address from a running machine: free (a playkeeper.me name), own (your own domain) or ip (none)
servers, running from a running machine: how many Minecraft servers it has, and how many run

The installer sends its reports while it installs, and nothing if you decline its plan. A running machine sends a heartbeat a minute after Playkeeper starts and every 12 hours after. They go to stats.playkeeper.io, the project's own service, whose code is in this repository (services/stats). It keeps each machine's random ID with what its reports say and the days it ran, never an IP address, and never learns a host name, server name or anything about players.

To turn usage stats off:

  • Settings › Playkeeper › Usage stats: one switch for every machine of the dashboard.
  • When installing: curl -fsSL https://playkeeper.io/install | sudo DO_NOT_TRACK=1 sh sends nothing, and the machine keeps them off; the switch can't turn them back on. PLAYKEEPER_USAGE_STATS=off does the same. Put the variable after sudo, which drops variables set before it.
  • For a machine that's installed: sudo systemctl edit playkeeper-agent, add Environment=DO_NOT_TRACK=1 under [Service], then sudo systemctl restart playkeeper-agent.

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