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How to make yourself admin on a Valheim server

Make yourself admin on a Valheim dedicated server: find your player ID with F2, add it to adminlist.txt, restart, then kick and ban from the F5 console.

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Short answer

Add your player ID to adminlist.txt in the server's save folder, on a line of its own, and restart the server. The ID is written as platform, underscore, ID, and it's case sensitive: copy it from the game's F2 panel exactly as shown. Once you're on the list, F5 opens the console, where you can kick and ban.

1. Find your player ID

Iron Gate, the developer, name two places to read it: the F2 panel inside the game, and the server's log. Join the server, press F2 and copy your ID.

The ID has the form [Platform]_[User ID]: the platform's name, an underscore, then your ID on that platform. Capitals matter, so copy it character for character. For a Steam player the ID part is the 17-digit Steam ID.

2. Add it to adminlist.txt

The file sits in the server's save folder, beside the worlds. The server creates it at its first start.

Where a Valheim dedicated server keeps adminlist.txt
Server onFolder
WindowsFolder%USERPROFILE%/AppData/LocalLow/IronGate/Valheim
LinuxFolder~/.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim
A server started with -savedirFolderThe folder that option names
  1. Stop the server.
  2. Open adminlist.txt in a text editor. The line that starts with // is a comment; leave it.
  3. Add your ID on a line of its own. One ID per line, one line for each admin.
  4. Save the file and start the server.

3. Use the console

Join the server and press F5 to bring down the console. Iron Gate's guide lists four admin commands:

Valheim admin console commands, from Iron Gate's guide
CommandWhat it does
kick PLAYERNAMEWhat it doesKicks a player from the server
ban PLAYERNAMEWhat it doesBans a player from the server
unban PLAYERNAMEWhat it doesUnbans a player
bannedWhat it doesLists all banned players

Admins type these in the game while they are connected to the server.

The other two lists

Two more files sit beside adminlist.txt and take the same one-ID-per-line form.

The three Valheim player list files
FileWho's on it
adminlist.txtWho's on itPlayers who can use the admin commands
bannedlist.txtWho's on itPlayers who are kept out
permittedlist.txtWho's on itThe only players let in. Leave it empty to let in anyone with the password

Take care with permittedlist.txt. Iron Gate say that adding one person to it bans everyone else, so add the whole group or leave it empty.

If the commands do nothing

  • The ID is a character out. Compare the line in the file with the F2 panel, capitals and underscore included.
  • The server hasn't restarted. Restart it after every change to a list.
  • The file is in another folder. A server started with -savedir reads its lists from that folder.

Making yourself admin on one of our servers

On our Valheim servers the three lists are in the panel, and you edit them there.

  1. Open your server's Game tab, then Player lists.
  2. Under Admins, choose Add an admin and enter your 17-digit Steam ID. It is the number in the ID the F2 panel shows.
  3. Choose Review and save, then Stop, save and start. The server stops, the list is saved and the server starts again with you on it. Anyone online is disconnected while it restarts. If the server is already stopped, choose Save and start.

Banned players and Allowed players are on the same page and work the same way.

New to running a server? Start with How to host a Valheim dedicated server.

Checked against Iron Gate's dedicated server guide on 12 November 2026, with the game at version 1.0.21.

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