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File Manager Guide ​

Trash Bin Pro integrates directly into the stock Pterodactyl file manager. Deleted files are moved to a hidden /.trash folder on the server instead of being removed, and can be restored until their retention window expires.

Opening the Trash ​

The /.trash folder never appears in normal directory listings — it is filtered out of the UI entirely, so it cannot be clicked, renamed, or deleted by accident.

Instead, a dedicated Trash button sits in the file manager toolbar, next to Upload and New File. Clicking it navigates to #/.trash.

Subusers

The Trash button is only shown to users with the trashbinpro.access permission (server Users tab → Trash Bin Pro → Access). The server owner always has it.

The Trash view ​

The trash view looks like a normal directory, with a few deliberate differences:

  • The breadcrumb renders Trash instead of .trash.
  • Each row shows a trash icon, the file's original path as its name (e.g. plugins/broken-plugin.jar), and its real size.
  • A banner at the top reads: "Files here are permanently deleted after their retention window."
  • The create actions — New Directory, Upload, New File — are hidden. Nothing new can be placed into the trash by hand.
  • Rows are not clickable: you cannot open or navigate into a trashed item.
  • Selecting rows tracks their numeric trash IDs instead of file names — the select-all checkbox selects every trash ID in the view, which is what powers mass restore and mass delete.

Deleting files (move to trash) ​

Outside the trash, clicking Delete on a file or directory does not delete it immediately. The UI first checks the server's trash quota and then shows one of three dialogs:

  • Normal case — a Move to Trash confirmation that tells you the retention window: "…will be moved to the Trash and automatically deleted after {retention}h."
  • File larger than the cap — a Delete Permanently dialog. The danger button stays disabled until you tick the checkbox: "I understand this file will be permanently deleted and cannot be recovered." Confirming sends the delete with the permanent flag, so the file skips the trash entirely.
  • Trash full — a Trash Bin Full dialog: "The Trash Bin is full. Delete some files from the Trash and try again." There is no confirm button — the delete is blocked until you free space.

The same checks run server-side

If the quota changes between the dialog and the request, the API still enforces it and returns 409 with a FileTooLargeForTrash or TrashBinFull error. See the API Reference.

Restoring files ​

Inside the trash view, each row's context menu is reduced to two actions: Restore and Delete Permanently (rename, move, chmod, copy, archive, and download are not offered for trash entries).

  • Restore (context menu, requires trashbinpro.access) — returns the file to its original path.
  • Mass restore — select several rows and click Restore in the mass action bar.

If something already exists at the original path, the restored file is renamed with a suffix: name (restored), then name (restored 2), and so on — restoring never overwrites an existing file.

Deleting from trash ​

Delete Permanently on a trash row (or Delete in the mass action bar) removes the selected entries for good — the files are deleted from /.trash on the daemon and their tracking rows are removed. The confirmation dialog makes this explicit: "Permanently delete N file(s)? This cannot be undone."

Emptying the trash ​

The mass action bar inside the trash view has an Empty Trash button that permanently deletes every entry for the server in one call.

Bypasses retention

Empty Trash ignores the retention window — files are deleted immediately even if they were trashed seconds ago. There is no way to recover them afterwards.

Protections built in ​

Several guards keep the trash folder itself safe:

  • /.trash is filtered out of every listing, so it can never be selected or targeted through the UI.
  • Mass-delete requests silently exclude .trash even if a stale selection somehow contains it.
  • The rename/move modal silently refuses any operation whose target is .trash or a path inside it — the dialog simply closes without submitting.
  • Server-side, the API rejects any attempt to trash the trash directory itself (a root of .trash//.trash or a path under it), so the protection cannot be bypassed with a hand-crafted request.