Pterodactyl® is a free, open-source game server management panel built with PHP, React, and Go. Designed with security in mind, Pterodactyl runs all game servers in isolated Docker containers while exposing a beautiful and intuitive UI to end users.
This report presents the forensic synthetic code analysis of pterodactyl/panel, a PHP project with 9,139 GitHub stars. SynthScan v2.0 examined 76,552 lines of code across 1134 source files, recording 321 pattern matches distributed across 5 syntactic categories. The overall adjusted score of 4.2 places this repository in the Likely human-written band.
The scanner applied 160+ deterministic lexical heuristics, multi-line block detectors, abstract syntax tree depth profilers, and a cross-file Jaccard similarity matrix to construct a statistically normalised synthetic code estimate. All matches are individually weighted by severity coefficient and contextual multiplier before summation, and the resulting headline score is temporally discounted to account for the repository's development history relative to the commercial emergence of large language model coding tooling (November 2022 onward).
Longitudinal tracking requires multiple scan runs. Once this repository is re-scanned after new commits land, this chart will visualise how the synthetic code signal evolves over time — enabling you to detect whether AI authorship is growing, stabilising, or being actively corrected by human engineers.
Classifies detected patterns by their diagnostic confidence and structural impact. CRITICAL patterns (coefficient 10) represent definitive synthetic signatures — hallucinated imports, explicit LLM attribution metadata — virtually never produced by human authors. HIGH (5) indicates strong structural tells such as cross-file repetition or cross-linguistic idioms. MEDIUM (2) covers recognisable conversational padding and AI-specific vocabulary. LOW (1) captures subtle indicators like tautological comments and generic boilerplate that require density to carry independent signal.
This horizontal bar chart decomposes the repository's raw synthetic code score by top-level directory, allowing you to pinpoint precisely which modules or components carry the highest AI authorship density. Directories with disproportionately high scores relative to their size warrant targeted manual review: concentrated AI signatures often trace back to mass-generated configuration layers, auto-ported test suites, LLM-scaffolded boilerplate classes, or entire subsystems authored under heavy copilot assistance. Use this view to prioritise your human code-review effort.
The scanner identified 321 distinct pattern matches across 5 syntactic categories. Each entry below represents a discrete location in the source code where the engine recorded a statistically significant AI authorship indicator. Expand any category row to inspect the individual file paths, line numbers, code snippets, and the lexical context (CODE, COMMENT, or STRING) in which each match was detected.
Reading the findings table: The Severity column indicates the diagnostic confidence level (CRITICAL / HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW). The Context column identifies whether the match occurred inside executable code, an inline comment, or a string literal — comment-context matches receive a ×1.5 weight because LLMs systematically over-annotate. The ⚡ bolt icon marks clustered matches: three or more patterns within a 10-line window, each receiving an additional ×1.5 density multiplier as dense clusters constitute far stronger evidence of synthetic authorship than isolated hits.
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | app/Contracts/Repository/SubuserRepositoryInterface.php | 12 | public function loadServerAndUserRelations(Subuser $subuser, bool $refresh = false): Subuser; | CODE |
| LOW | app/Contracts/Repository/SubuserRepositoryInterface.php | 24 | public function getWithPermissionsUsingUserAndServer(int $user, int $server): Subuser; | CODE |
| LOW | app/Contracts/Repository/NodeRepositoryInterface.php | 26 | public function loadLocationAndServerCount(Node $node, bool $refresh = false): Node; | CODE |
| LOW | app/Contracts/Repository/NodeRepositoryInterface.php | 37 | public function getNodesForServerCreation(): Collection; | CODE |
| LOW | …Contracts/Repository/AllocationRepositoryInterface.php | 13 | public function getUnassignedAllocationIds(int $node): array; | CODE |
| LOW | app/Repositories/Eloquent/AllocationRepository.php | 23 | public function getUnassignedAllocationIds(int $node): array | CODE |
| LOW | app/Repositories/Eloquent/AllocationRepository.php | 41 | protected function getDiscardableDedicatedAllocations(array $nodes = []): array | CODE |
| LOW | app/Repositories/Eloquent/NodeRepository.php | 78 | public function loadLocationAndServerCount(Node $node, bool $refresh = false): Node | CODE |
| LOW | app/Repositories/Eloquent/NodeRepository.php | 117 | public function getNodesForServerCreation(): Collection | CODE |
| LOW | app/Repositories/Eloquent/BackupRepository.php | 21 | public function getBackupsGeneratedDuringTimespan(int $server, int $seconds = 600): array|Collection | CODE |
| LOW | app/Repositories/Eloquent/SubuserRepository.php | 22 | public function loadServerAndUserRelations(Subuser $subuser, bool $refresh = false): Subuser | CODE |
| LOW | app/Repositories/Eloquent/SubuserRepository.php | 56 | public function getWithPermissionsUsingUserAndServer(int $user, int $server): Subuser | CODE |
| LOW | app/Models/User.php | 211 | public function sendPasswordResetNotification($token) | CODE |
| LOW | app/Models/Egg.php | 159 | public function getCopyScriptInstallAttribute(): ?string | CODE |
| LOW | app/Models/Egg.php | 172 | public function getCopyScriptEntryAttribute(): string | CODE |
| LOW | app/Models/Egg.php | 185 | public function getCopyScriptContainerAttribute(): string | CODE |
| LOW | app/Models/Egg.php | 197 | public function getInheritConfigFilesAttribute(): ?string | CODE |
| LOW | app/Models/Egg.php | 209 | public function getInheritConfigStartupAttribute(): ?string | CODE |
| LOW | app/Models/Egg.php | 221 | public function getInheritConfigLogsAttribute(): ?string | CODE |
| LOW | app/Models/Egg.php | 233 | public function getInheritConfigStopAttribute(): ?string | CODE |
| LOW | app/Models/Egg.php | 246 | public function getInheritFeaturesAttribute(): ?array | CODE |
| LOW | app/Models/Egg.php | 259 | public function getInheritFileDenylistAttribute(): ?array | CODE |
| LOW | app/Models/UserSSHKey.php | 76 | public static function isSupportedPublicKeyMaterial(string $value): bool | CODE |
| LOW | app/Models/Traits/HasRealtimeIdentifier.php | 58 | protected static function bootHasRealtimeIdentifier(): void | CODE |
| LOW | app/Exceptions/Handler.php | 91 | private function generateCleanedExceptionStack(\Throwable $exception): string | CODE |
| LOW | …equests/Api/Client/Servers/Subusers/SubuserRequest.php | 52 | protected function validatePermissionsCanBeAssigned(array $permissions) | CODE |
| LOW | app/Http/Controllers/Auth/ForgotPasswordController.php | 19 | protected function sendResetLinkFailedResponse(Request $request, $response): JsonResponse | CODE |
| LOW | …Controllers/Admin/Servers/ServerTransferController.php | 99 | private function assignAllocationsToServer(Server $server, int $node_id, int $allocation_id, array $additional_alloc | CODE |
| LOW | app/Http/Controllers/Api/Client/ClientApiController.php | 14 | protected function getIncludesForTransformer(BaseClientTransformer $transformer, array $merge = []): array | CODE |
| LOW | app/Helpers/Utilities.php | 16 | public static function randomStringWithSpecialCharacters(int $length = 16): string | CODE |
| LOW | app/Services/Databases/DatabaseManagementService.php | 47 | public static function generateUniqueDatabaseName(string $name, int $serverId): string | CODE |
| LOW | app/Services/Eggs/EggConfigurationService.php | 39 | protected function convertStartupToNewFormat(array $startup): array | CODE |
| LOW | app/Services/Servers/StartupModificationService.php | 68 | protected function updateAdministrativeSettings(array $data, Server &$server): void | CODE |
| LOW | …/Console/Commands/Environment/EmailSettingsCommand.php | 110 | private function setupMailgunDriverVariables() | CODE |
| LOW | …/Console/Commands/Environment/EmailSettingsCommand.php | 131 | private function setupMandrillDriverVariables() | CODE |
| LOW | …/Console/Commands/Environment/EmailSettingsCommand.php | 142 | private function setupPostmarkDriverVariables() | CODE |
| LOW | …Unit/Extensions/Laravel/Sanctum/NewAccessTokenTest.php | 17 | public function testAccessTokenWrapperSupportsSanctumDtoContract() | CODE |
| LOW | tests/Unit/Http/Middleware/AdminAuthenticateTest.php | 14 | public function testAdminsAreAuthenticated() | CODE |
| LOW | tests/Unit/Http/Middleware/AdminAuthenticateTest.php | 26 | public function testExceptionIsThrownIfUserDoesNotExist() | CODE |
| LOW | tests/Unit/Http/Middleware/AdminAuthenticateTest.php | 38 | public function testExceptionIsThrownIfUserIsNotAnAdmin() | CODE |
| LOW | …sts/Unit/Http/Middleware/MaintenanceMiddlewareTest.php | 44 | public function testHandleInMaintenanceMode() | CODE |
| LOW | …s/Unit/Http/Middleware/RedirectIfAuthenticatedTest.php | 28 | public function testAuthenticatedUserIsRedirected() | CODE |
| LOW | …s/Unit/Http/Middleware/RedirectIfAuthenticatedTest.php | 41 | public function testNonAuthenticatedUserIsNotRedirected() | CODE |
| LOW | tests/Unit/Http/Middleware/LanguageMiddlewareTest.php | 28 | public function testLanguageIsSetForGuest() | CODE |
| LOW | tests/Unit/Http/Middleware/LanguageMiddlewareTest.php | 39 | public function testLanguageIsSetWithAuthenticatedUser() | CODE |
| LOW | …/Http/Middleware/Api/Daemon/DaemonAuthenticateTest.php | 38 | public function testResponseShouldContinueIfRouteIsExempted() | CODE |
| LOW | …/Http/Middleware/Api/Daemon/DaemonAuthenticateTest.php | 49 | public function testResponseShouldFailIfNoTokenIsProvided() | CODE |
| LOW | …/Http/Middleware/Api/Daemon/DaemonAuthenticateTest.php | 69 | public function testResponseShouldFailIfTokenFormatIsIncorrect(string $token) | CODE |
| LOW | …/Http/Middleware/Api/Daemon/DaemonAuthenticateTest.php | 83 | public function testResponseShouldFailIfTokenIsNotValid() | CODE |
| LOW | …/Http/Middleware/Api/Daemon/DaemonAuthenticateTest.php | 103 | public function testResponseShouldFailIfNodeIsNotFound() | CODE |
| LOW | …/Http/Middleware/Api/Daemon/DaemonAuthenticateTest.php | 118 | public function testSuccessfulMiddlewareProcess() | CODE |
| LOW | tests/Unit/Rules/UsernameTest.php | 39 | public static function validUsernameDataProvider(): array | CODE |
| LOW | tests/Unit/Rules/UsernameTest.php | 55 | public static function invalidUsernameDataProvider(): array | CODE |
| LOW | tests/Unit/Helpers/EnvironmentWriterTraitTest.php | 11 | public function testVariableIsEscapedProperly($input, $expected) | CODE |
| LOW | …le/Commands/Environment/Addons/RunHooksCommandTest.php | 20 | public function testHooksAreSkippedWhenDisabled(): void | CODE |
| LOW | …le/Commands/Environment/Addons/RunHooksCommandTest.php | 31 | public function testExecutableHooksRunForEvent(): void | CODE |
| LOW | …le/Commands/Environment/Addons/RunHooksCommandTest.php | 44 | public function testNonExecutableFilesAreIgnored(): void | CODE |
| LOW | …le/Commands/Environment/Addons/RunHooksCommandTest.php | 57 | public function testInvalidEventNameIsRejected(): void | CODE |
| LOW | …le/Commands/Environment/Addons/RunHooksCommandTest.php | 69 | public function testFailingHookDoesNotAbortRemainingHooks(): void | CODE |
| LOW | …le/Commands/Environment/Addons/RunHooksCommandTest.php | 88 | public function testDeclinedConfirmationSkipsHooks(): void | CODE |
| 254 more matches not shown… | ||||
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEDIUM | docker-compose.example.yml | 28 | # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | public/themes/pterodactyl/js/plugins/minecraft/eula.js | 1 | // Copyright (c) 2015 - 2017 Dane Everitt <dane@daneeveritt.com> | COMMENT |
| LOW | public/themes/pterodactyl/js/admin/new-server.js | 1 | // Copyright (c) 2015 - 2017 Dane Everitt <dane@daneeveritt.com> | COMMENT |
| LOW | public/themes/pterodactyl/js/admin/functions.js | 1 | // Copyright (c) 2015 - 2017 Dane Everitt <dane@daneeveritt.com> | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | …tabase/Seeders/eggs/minecraft/egg-forge-minecraft.json | 34 | "script": "#!\/bin\/bash\r\n# Forge Installation Script\r\n#\r\n# Server Files: \/mnt\/server\r\napt update\ | CODE |
| LOW | app/Models/Server.php | 306 | // Don't forget to join against the server ID as well since the way we're using this relationship | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | …tabase/Seeders/eggs/minecraft/egg-forge-minecraft.json | 34 | "script": "#!\/bin\/bash\r\n# Forge Installation Script\r\n#\r\n# Server Files: \/mnt\/server\r\napt update\ | CODE |