Creating nest or importing egg without APP_SERVICE_AUTHOR defined in .env errors with 500.

[NorteX-dev]

Current Behavior

If the APP_SERVICE_AUTHOR .env variable is not defined (which it is not in .env.example), attempting to create a new nest or import an egg results in a Laravel 500 error:

The error is as follows, and implies the existance of an author field during creation of the nest, or egg:

[2026-02-19 15:01:12] production.ERROR: Could not save Pterodactyl\Models\Nest[]: failed to validate data: {"author":["The author must be a valid email address."]} {"userId":1,"exception":"[object] (Pterodactyl\\Exceptions\\Model\\DataValidationException(code: 0): Could not save Pterodactyl\\Models\\Nest[]: failed to validate data: {\"author\":[\"The author must be a valid email address.\"]} at /var/www/pterodactyl/app/Models/Model.php:50)

The form does not contain such field (for the account). I have narrowed down the error ro the NestCreationService:

// cat /var/www/pterodactyl/app/Services/Nests/NestCreationService.php
<?php

namespace Pterodactyl\Services\Nests;

use Ramsey\Uuid\Uuid;
use Pterodactyl\Models\Nest;
use Pterodactyl\Contracts\Repository\NestRepositoryInterface;
use Illuminate\Contracts\Config\Repository as ConfigRepository;

class NestCreationService
{
    /**
     * NestCreationService constructor.
     */
    public function __construct(private ConfigRepository $config, private NestRepositoryInterface $repository)
    {
    }

    /**
     * Create a new nest on the system.
     *
     * @throws \Pterodactyl\Exceptions\Model\DataValidationException
     */
    public function handle(array $data, ?string $author = null): Nest
    {
        return $this->repository->create([
            'uuid' => Uuid::uuid4()->toString(),
            'author' => $author ?? $this->config->get('pterodactyl.service.author'), // <-- $author is null here, and APP_SERVICE_AUTHOR is not defined in .env as fallback.
            'name' => array_get($data, 'name'),
            'description' => array_get($data, 'description'),
            'splitter_keep_nest' => array_get($data, 'splitter_keep_nest', false),
        ], true, true);
    }
}

Defining APP_SERVICE_AUTHOR remedies this error and makes the panel work as intended, albeit using the email from the .env and not $author (whereever that variable might be from, I'm not sure).

Tip: I do have my email defined in both the admin pane and the user (front-facing) pane.

Expected Behavior

The author is assigned from a form field or the user's email.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Attempt to create new nest using the "New Nest" button and form without APP_SERVICE_AUTHOR defined in the environment variables.

It should crash.

Panel Version

1.12.1

Wings Version

N/A

Games and/or Eggs Affected

N/A

Docker Image

N/A

Error Logs

N/A (inserted in main body)

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues before opening this issue. I understand that maintainers may close this issue without communication if I have not provided sufficient information.