In Databases / Updated October 17, 2026

A plugin that needs an external database does not guess: it reads five values out of its own config file. This page shows the five, where the config lives, and who hands you the values.

The five values, in their generic shape

Every plugin config that takes MySQL wants the same five pieces, whatever the plugin ends up naming them:

• host: the address of the database server
• port: the port that server answers on
• database: the name of the database on it
• user: the account that connects
• password: that account's password

The plugin's own config file carries the block that takes these, and the block's field names differ between plugins. The docs show the block; the shape underneath does not change: five values, filled from the database's own details.

One pass through the whole loop is the norm: values in, save, restart, run the plugin, read the console. If the console prints a connection error, work the simple list first: each of the five values checked against the provider's page, one at a time, before anything deeper gets blamed. A typo outranks every complicated cause.

Where the config lives

In your server's files, under the plugin's own folder, usually alongside the rest of its configuration under plugins/<plugin name> . We name no one exact filename on purpose: the plugin's documentation points at the file, and it is the record for its own naming. The mechanics are the standard loop for everything on your server: open the file in the file manager, find the database block, set the values, save, and restart to apply.

Where the five values come from

From the database provider you choose. When a plugin needs an external database, you bring your own from a provider you pick: you create the database with them, and they hand you the address, port, database name, and the user and password for it. Take those values as issued: copy them exactly as the provider shows them. A single mistyped character in any of the five is a common reason a plugin cannot connect, and pasting the values as issued is always the first recheck before anything deeper.

Read the docs before you touch anything

Every plugin that wants MySQL documents it. Before editing a config, read the plugin's page and documentation: whether a database is needed at all, which file to edit, and what each field in the block names. If the docs never mention a database, stop there: the plugin stores its own way, and no external setup is needed.

We do not sell database hosting: when a plugin needs an external database, you bring your own from a provider you choose.

Related reading: What is MySQL, and when do your plugins need it? .

Values in, saved, restarted, and the plugin still fails to connect: open a ticket from your account with the plugin's name and the console lines from startup, and a person takes it from there.