Hytale Launcher for Nix

A Nix flake that packages the official Hytale Launcher with automatic updates. New upstream releases are detected hourly and packaged automatically.

Why This Exists

Hypixel Studios distributes the Hytale Launcher exclusively as a Flatpak. While Flatpak works, it comes with trade-offs for NixOS users:

Concern	Flatpak	This Flake
Integration	Separate runtime, sandbox overhead	Native system integration
Declarative config	Requires extra setup	Works with standard Nix patterns
Reproducibility	Flatpak-managed updates	Pinnable via flake lock
Disk usage	Flatpak runtime + app	Just the launcher (~50MB)

This flake extracts the launcher from the official Flatpak and repackages it as a native Nix derivation, giving you the best of both worlds: official binaries with Nix's declarative package management.

Quick Start

Try it without installing:

nix run github:JPyke3/hytale-launcher-nix

Install to your profile:

nix profile install github:JPyke3/hytale-launcher-nix

Installation

NixOS Configuration

{
  inputs.hytale-launcher.url = "github:JPyke3/hytale-launcher-nix";

  outputs = { nixpkgs, hytale-launcher, ... }: {
    nixosConfigurations.yourhost = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
      modules = [{
        environment.systemPackages = [
          hytale-launcher.packages.x86_64-linux.default
        ];
      }];
    };
  };
}

Home Manager

{ inputs, pkgs, ... }:
{
  home.packages = [
    inputs.hytale-launcher.packages.${pkgs.system}.default
  ];
}

Available Packages

Package	Description
hytale-launcher	FHS-wrapped launcher (default) - supports self-updates
hytale-launcher-unwrapped	Raw binary without FHS wrapper

The default package uses an FHS environment, allowing the launcher's built-in update mechanism to function normally. When Hytale pushes an update, the launcher can update itself just like it would on a traditional Linux system.

How It Works

Automatic Updates

This repository checks for new Hytale Launcher versions every hour:

1. Detection: GitHub Actions fetches the latest Flatpak and computes its SHA256 hash
2. Comparison: If the hash differs from the current package, an update is available
3. PR Creation: A pull request is automatically created with the new hash
4. Auto-merge: After CI verifies the build succeeds, the PR merges automatically

Since Hytale doesn't publish semantic versions, we use date-based versioning (YYYY.MM.DD). Multiple same-day releases get a suffix like 2025.01.14.2.

Technical Details

The build process:

1. Fetch the official Flatpak from launcher.hytale.com
2. Extract using ostree to unpack the Flatpak's OSTree repository
3. Patch ELF binaries with autoPatchelfHook to use Nix store libraries
4. Wrap in an FHS environment with all required dependencies (GTK, WebKit, graphics drivers, audio)

The FHS wrapper ensures the launcher can:

• Write to ~/.local/share/Hytale for game data
• Self-update its binary when Hytale pushes updates
• Access system graphics (OpenGL, Vulkan) and audio (PipeWire, PulseAudio)

Requirements

• NixOS or Nix with flakes enabled
• x86_64-linux (the only platform Hytale supports)
• Graphics drivers configured (Mesa/NVIDIA)

Troubleshooting

Launcher crashes immediately

• Ensure you have graphics drivers installed (hardware.opengl.enable = true on NixOS)
• Check if Vulkan is available: vulkaninfo

No audio

• Verify PipeWire or PulseAudio is running
• The FHS environment includes both; your system just needs one configured

Self-update fails

• This is expected with hytale-launcher-unwrapped
• Use the default hytale-launcher package for self-update support

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome. The update mechanism is fully automated, but improvements to the packaging or documentation are appreciated.

Credits

• Hypixel Studios for Hytale
• Inspired by claude-code-nix's auto-update approach