Two questions come up on every new Valheim server within the first week: how do I make myself admin, and why don't the cheat commands work. They have different answers, and mixing them up wastes an evening. Being an admin on a dedicated server gives you moderation commands — kick, ban, unban. It does not give you devcommands, god mode or item spawning, and no setting on a vanilla server changes that. This guide covers both halves, including the ID change in 1.0 that quietly broke a lot of admin lists.
Step 1: make yourself an admin
Admin rights live in a plain text file in the server's save directory (the folder your -savedir argument points at, or the default Valheim save path if you did not set one). There are three of these files, and the server creates them on first start:
| File | What it does |
|---|
adminlist.txt | Players who may use admin commands |
bannedlist.txt | Players who may not join |
permittedlist.txt | An allow-list. If it contains even one ID, everyone not on it is locked out |
Add one ID per line, save the file, and restart the server so it re-reads the lists.
The ID is not a player name. Iron Gate's format is [Platform]_[User ID], and it is case sensitive — for a Steam player that looks like Steam_76561198000000000. Console players have their own platform IDs; a Steam ID will never match a PlayStation, Xbox or Switch 2 player.
The easy way to get it right: have the player join, press F2 to open the player list, and copy the ID exactly as it is shown next to their name. Do not retype it from a profile URL.
The 1.0 ID change
Valheim 1.0 introduced a new ID format (V_123456789). On the launch build, ban and allow lists only matched the new format, so a list written with old-style IDs could stop recognising the people on it — which, for a permittedlist.txt, means nobody gets in. Iron Gate fixed this in patch 1.0.12: lists now accept old-style IDs such as Steam_… as well. Iron Gate's note names the ban and allow lists; the safe move for adminlist.txt is the same. If admin rights or a ban stopped working after 1.0, update the server and re-copy the ID from the F2 list rather than trusting the old line.
Step 2: open the console
Admin commands are typed into the in-game console, on the admin's own game — not into the server's terminal.
- On PC, the console has to be enabled first. In Steam: right-click Valheim → Properties → General → Launch Options, and enter
-console. Then press F5 in game.
- On PlayStation, Xbox and Switch 2 we have not found any way to open the command console, so a console player can be listed as an admin but has nowhere to type the commands. In a mixed group, make at least one PC player an admin.
The admin commands
From Iron Gate's dedicated server guide — these work for anyone in adminlist.txt, on a vanilla server, with no cheats enabled:
| Command | What it does |
|---|
kick <player> | Removes the player from the server. They can rejoin |
ban <player> | Bans the player and writes them to bannedlist.txt |
unban <player> | Lifts the ban |
banned | Lists everyone who is banned |
Most hosts' documentation also lists save, which forces a world save — worth running before you stop a self-hosted server by hand. Useful for everyone, admin or not: info and ping show version and latency, which is the quickest way to tell a laggy server from a laggy connection.
None of these touch achievements. They are moderation tools, not cheats.
Why devcommands don't work on a dedicated server
devcommands is the switch that unlocks cheats in single-player: god, fly, spawn, goto, debugmode and the rest. On a vanilla dedicated server it is refused for everyone, admins included. That is not a permissions problem and no file fixes it; the server simply does not allow cheat commands from clients. If you type devcommands and nothing useful happens, the server is behaving as designed.
Your real options:
- Do the cheating somewhere else. Load the world in single-player (or host it from your own game), enable
devcommands there, make the change, and put the world back on the server. It is clumsy, but it is vanilla and it works. Copy the world out of worlds_local first — on 1.0 a world is a folder named after the world, and you move the whole folder.
- Use world modifiers instead. A lot of what people want cheats for is a server rule: free building is
-setkey nobuildcost, a peaceful world is -setkey passivemobs plus -modifier raids none, faster progress is -modifier resources more. All of it is vanilla and works for console players too — see Valheim world modifiers on a dedicated server.
- Install a server-side mod. Community mods exist that re-enable devcommands for admins on a dedicated server. That means running BepInEx on the server, which Iron Gate does not support, which broke widely at 1.0, and which does not mix with console players. Read why Valheim mods broke after 1.0 before you go down this road.
Cheats and achievements in 1.0
1.0 added achievements, and using devcommands blocks them. Two details from Iron Gate's patch notes matter here. Patch 1.0.12 added an opt-in command for players who want their achievements back anyway — yesiuseddevcommandsbutiwantmyachievementsanyway (Steam only at the time of writing). And patch 1.0.14 fixed a bug that wrongly flagged some characters as cheaters, which marked the items dropped by monsters they killed as cheated; if that happened in your group, it was a bug, not something a player did.
Troubleshooting
- "I added myself and I'm still not admin." In order: the server was not restarted after the edit; the ID was typed rather than copied from F2; the line has a trailing space or the wrong capitalisation (
steam_ is not Steam_); or the file you edited is not in the directory the server is actually using — check your -savedir.
- Nobody can join after I edited a list. Look in
permittedlist.txt. One ID in that file turns the server invite-only. Empty it unless you mean it.
- F5 does nothing. The
-console launch option is missing on that player's game.
- A console player needs to be banned. Use
ban with their name while they are connected, or copy their platform ID from the F2 list into bannedlist.txt.
devcommands does nothing. See above: on a vanilla dedicated server it never will.
Where the lists are on a Connect server
On a Connect server the three files sit in the saves/ folder and are edited from the Files tab in the dashboard — no SFTP needed, though you have that too. Edit, save, restart from the dashboard, and the new admins are live. World modifiers, the alternative to most cheat commands, are dropdowns on the Server Settings tab.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I make myself admin on a Valheim dedicated server?
Add your platform ID on its own line in adminlist.txt in the server's save directory, then restart the server. Copy the ID from the in-game F2 player list so the format and capitalisation are exact.
What admin commands work on a Valheim dedicated server?
kick, ban, unban and banned, typed into the F5 console by a player listed in adminlist.txt. They need the -console launch option on the admin's game, but not devcommands.
Why don't devcommands work on my Valheim server?
Vanilla dedicated servers refuse cheat commands for every player, including admins. Use world modifiers for rule changes, make cheat-assisted changes in single-player and move the world back, or run a server-side mod that re-enables them.
Can a PS5, Xbox or Switch 2 player be a server admin?
They can be listed in adminlist.txt by platform ID, but we have not found a way to open the command console on those platforms, so there is nowhere to type the commands. Keep at least one PC player as admin.
Where is adminlist.txt?
In the server's save directory — wherever -savedir points, or the default Valheim save path if it was not set — alongside bannedlist.txt and permittedlist.txt. On a Connect server it is in saves/, editable from the Files tab.
Do admin commands disable achievements?
No. Kicking and banning are moderation commands. It is devcommands and the cheats behind it that disable achievements in 1.0.
Would rather manage the server than the files? Valheim server hosting from Connect gives you the admin lists, world modifiers, backups and the crossplay join code in one dashboard, on a 1.0 server that is online in about a minute.