Enigma 1/2 BBS — Self-Hosted, Open-Source

Enigma 1/2 is a modern, multi-platform BBS engine with unlimited "callers" and legacy DOS door game support.

License: BSD-2-Clause. Built with: JavaScript, Shell, PEG.js, HTML, Dockerfile, PLpgSQL, AGS Script. Website: https://nuskooler.github.io/enigma-bbs/. Source: https://github.com/NuSkooler/enigma-bbs.

Features

Multi platform — Anywhere modern Node.js runs likely works (known to work under Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, macOS and Windows)
Unlimited multi node support
Highly customizable via HJSON based configuration, menus, and themes in addition to JavaScript based mods
MCI support for lightbars, toggles, input areas, and so on plus many other bells and whistles
Telnet, SSH, and both secure and non-secure WebSocket access built in! Additional servers are easy to implement
CP437 and UTF-8 output
SyncTERM style font and baud emulation support. Display PC/DOS and Amiga style artwork as it's intended! In general, ANSI-BBS / cterm.txt / bansi.txt are followed for expected BBS behavior.
Full SAUCE support.
Renegade style pipe color codes.
SQLite storage of users, message areas, etc.

Installation

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NuSkooler/enigma-bbs/master/misc/install.sh | bash

Why self-host Enigma 1/2 BBS

Self-hosting gives you three things SaaS can’t: data ownership (the files live on disks you control), cost predictability (a one-time setup vs. recurring per-seat fees that grow with your household or team), and longevity (open-source means the app keeps working even if the maintainers move on, since you can pin a working version). The trade-off is that you take on the operational work of running a server, applying updates, and handling backups.

What hardware do you need

Most self-hosted apps run comfortably on modest hardware — a Raspberry Pi 4, a mini PC, a NAS with Docker support, or a small VPS is usually enough for personal or family use. CPU and RAM requirements scale with how many simultaneous users or how much data you push through Enigma 1/2 BBS. Storage requirements depend on the kind of data you keep; check the README for guidance on data retention.

Where to go from here

Last verified: 2026-04-28