How to Add an Admin to Your Factorio Server

Admins are allowed to run commands such as /kick, /ban or /config on your server. A Factorio server initially starts with no admins at all – you define them via the server console or via the file server-adminlist.json.

Note

An admin is identified by the factorio.com username the player uses to join the server – not by a SteamID64. Players who bought Factorio via Steam also have a linked Factorio account.

Add an admin via the server console

1. Open the server console
   Open the console of your server via the dashboard.

2. Promote the player
   Enter the following command – the player should be on the server for this:

   /promote Username

3. Verify the result
   Use /admins to display all registered admins.

Tip

The command creates the file server-adminlist.json automatically and stores the change permanently. The admin status therefore survives a restart.

Add an admin via the file server-adminlist.json

1. Stop the server
   Stop your server via the dashboard.

2. Connect via SFTP
   Connect to your server via SFTP.

3. Open or create the file
   In the main directory of your server – the same directory that contains factorio-current.log – open the file server-adminlist.json. If it does not exist yet, create it.

4. Add the usernames
   Enter the usernames as a simple list:

   [
     "Player1",
     "Player2"
   ]

   Tip

   Check the file with a JSON formatter like JSONLint after editing — a single missing or extra comma is enough to keep the server from loading the admin list.

5. Start the server
   Save the file and start your server.

Warning

Do not add admins in the file data/server-settings.json. The admins field in that file is ignored by a headless server – only the server console and the file server-adminlist.json work.

Remove admin rights

Open the server console and enter the following command:

/demote Username

Command overview

Command	Description
/promote <Username>	Make a player an admin
/demote <Username>	Remove admin rights
/admins	List all admins

Note

By default allow_commands is set to admins-only on a Factorio server, so only admins can run commands.