Valheim RCON: remote admin without a built-in console

Vanilla Valheim has no RCON. The dedicated server does not open a remote console port, and it does not read commands typed into its own standard input either - so the console on a hosting panel shows the log but cannot run kick or save. Remote administration of an unmodded server is three things: admin commands typed in-game by a player listed in adminlist.txt, editing the three list files (which the server re-reads while running), and controlling the process itself - start, stop and restart - from a panel, SSH or Docker. If you need real remote commands, a BepInEx mod adds a password-protected Source RCON listener; RCON Next is the current one. It works, but it is an unencrypted admin backdoor on a TCP port, and should be treated that way.

This guide covers each option, what it can and cannot do, and how to choose.

What vanilla Valheim gives you#

People arriving from Minecraft or Rust expect a server console that takes commands and a remote protocol that does the same over the network. Valheim has neither. What it has instead:

Every admin action you will ever need on a vanilla server fits into one of those rows. The constraint is that the commands need a person in the game. There is no way to issue save or kick at three in the morning from a script without a mod.

That design has one benefit: there is no network service on a vanilla Valheim server that accepts commands, so there is nothing to brute-force. Every remote option you add opens something that was closed.

The in-game admin console#

The real admin console is on the client. A player whose ID is in adminlist.txt opens it with F5 - after adding -console to the game's launch options in Steam, which is what unlocks the key - and the commands run on the server they are connected to.

kick Ragnarban 76561198012345678unban 76561198012345678bannedsaveinfo

kick and ban take a character name, an IP or a user ID; the ID is the most reliable, because names are not unique. save forces a world save immediately, which is worth doing before anything risky. The full list, including what each command actually does on a dedicated server, is in the Valheim admin console commands reference.

The cheat commands - devcommands, god, fly, spawn - do not work on a vanilla dedicated server even for admins. Server Devcommands by JereKuusela enables them, adds commands of its own such as broadcast, and has permission controls for which admins can use what. It is still an in-game tool: someone has to be connected to type the commands. Server Devcommands on a dedicated server covers its setup.

Administering through the list files#

The list files are the closest thing vanilla Valheim has to remote administration, because you can change them from anywhere you can edit a file, and the server picks up the change while it is running.

// Griefed the shared smelter, 2026-10-0276561198087654321// Crossplay server: platform-prefixed IDXbox_2535412345678901

Lines starting with // are comments, which is the place to write down why someone is on the list. What each file lets you do from outside the game:

• Ban someone remotely: add their ID to bannedlist.txt. It blocks the next connection. If they are online now, also kick them in-game, or restart the server - do not assume an edit to the file removes a player who is already connected.
• Lock the server to known players: put IDs in permittedlist.txt. As soon as the file contains any ID, only those players can join. Empty it to reopen.
• Grant or revoke admin: edit adminlist.txt. A player who is promoted while connected may need to reconnect before the console accepts their commands.

On a crossplay server, IDs are platform-prefixed (Steam_, Xbox_), and the bare SteamID64 that works on a Steam-only server will not match. The reliable way to get the exact form is to have the player connect once and copy the ID from the server log. The admin, ban and permitted lists explains the formats and where the files live on each platform.

Panel consoles, SSH and systemd#

Whatever runs the server process can stop and start it, and that is a real admin tool: a clean stop saves the world, and a restart applies changed launch arguments or a new mod.

On a panel built on Pterodactyl and Wings, the console tab streams the server's output live and has power buttons. You can type into it, but vanilla Valheim ignores what you type - there is nothing on the server reading input. That surprises people the first time, and it is not a fault in the panel. The panel's stop button sends the interrupt the server needs to save before it exits.

On your own Linux machine, SSH plus systemd gives you the same controls:

$ sudo systemctl stop valheim        # clean stop, world saved first$ sudo systemctl restart valheim$ journalctl -u valheim -f           # live log$ nano ~/.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/bannedlist.txt

The last path is the default save directory for a server run as that user on Linux; if you start the server with -savedir, the list files are in that folder instead. Valheim save directory and file locations lists the defaults for every setup.

The unit must stop the server with SIGINT and allow it time to write, or a remote "restart" turns into a lost half-hour of play. Running Valheim as a systemd service has the settings.

Some people run the server inside tmux or screen so they can "attach to the console". That gives you the log in a terminal and Ctrl+C for a clean stop, but no commands, for the same reason as above. It is not worth the loss of automatic restarts that a service gives you.

Docker exec and the container#

In Docker, docker exec gets you a shell inside the container, which is useful for files and process control but not for game commands.

$ docker compose logs -f valheim                     # the server log$ docker exec -it valheim bash                       # a shell in the container$ docker compose restart valheim                     # clean restart

In the lloesche/valheim-server image, the server, the updater and the backup job run under supervisord, so inside the container supervisorctl status shows each one and supervisorctl restart valheim-server restarts only the game. The list files live in /config, which is bind-mounted from the host, so it is usually easier to edit them on the host directly. Check the image's README for the current process names if they do not match.

Set stop_grace_period on the service to a minute or two. Docker's default of ten seconds is not long enough for a large world to save, and docker compose down or a restart then ends in a kill. Valheim in Docker covers the compose file in full.

RCON mods: RCON Next#

If you need to run server commands from outside the game - from a script, a Discord bot or a web dashboard - you need a mod that adds a remote protocol. The current option on Thunderstore is RCON Next by ferrinius, a BepInEx plugin for the dedicated server that opens a password-authenticated Source RCON listener. It replaces the older rcon.dll from AviiNL's BepInEx.rcon project; do not run both, and remove the old one first.

It comes in two parts. RCON Next itself handles the connection and the login, but adds no Valheim commands on its own - it exposes commands that other plugins register. The companion plugin, RCON Next Valheim, adds the server's own console commands such as save. Other mods can register commands of their own through it. Exactly which commands are available depends on the versions and plugins you install, so read the mod pages for the current list rather than assuming a command exists.

Installation follows the usual BepInEx pattern: put the plugins in BepInEx/plugins, start the server once to generate the config, stop it, edit, start again. The config file is BepInEx/config/com.github.ferrinius.rcon-next.cfg:

[rcon-next]enabled = trueport = 2458password = a-long-random-string-nobody-will-guess

If an old nl.avii.plugins.rcon.cfg from the previous plugin is present, RCON Next imports its settings on the first start. Check the result rather than assuming the old password carried over.

Any Source RCON client can connect. With gorcon/rcon-cli, for example:

$ rcon -a 203.0.113.10:2458 -p 'a-long-random-string-nobody-will-guess' save

The port is TCP, while Valheim's own ports are UDP, so it needs its own firewall rule and forwarding. On a hosted server it needs its own port allocation: use the port the host gives you and put that number in the config, rather than assuming 2458 is free. On RE:NODE, extra ports are added on the Network tab.

Securing an RCON mod#

Treat an RCON listener as full admin access to the server, because it is. The mod's own documentation says as much, and adds the detail that matters most: Source RCON is not encrypted. The password and every command travel in clear text.

1. Use a long random password. Generate it; do not reuse the server password, which every player knows.
2. Do not expose it to the internet if you can avoid it. Restrict the port to the addresses that need it in the firewall, or reach it through a VPN or SSH tunnel.
3. Prefer local connections. A bot or script on the same machine can connect to 127.0.0.1, and then the port does not need to be open at all.
4. Remove it when you stop using it. An unused admin port is all risk and no benefit.

An SSH tunnel keeps the traffic encrypted and the port closed to the world:

$ ssh -N -L 2458:127.0.0.1:2458 valheim@203.0.113.10$ rcon -a 127.0.0.1:2458 -p 'the-password' save

The general rules - and why RCON on its default port gets scanned within hours of going live - are in running RCON safely.

Also remember the maintenance cost. Every BepInEx plugin can break on a game update, and an RCON plugin that fails to load takes your remote admin with it on exactly the day you might want it. Keep the in-game console and the list files as the fallback that always works.

When remote admin does not work#

`F5` does nothing in game. The console is not enabled on the client. Add -console to Valheim's launch options in Steam (right-click the game, Properties, Launch Options) and restart the game. Game Pass and Xbox players have no equivalent, so give admin rights to someone on Steam.

The console opens but says you are not an admin. The ID in adminlist.txt does not match the form the server sees. On a crossplay server it needs the Steam_ or Xbox_ prefix; on a Steam-only server, the bare SteamID64. Copy it from the connection line in the server log rather than typing it from a profile page, then reconnect.

A ban did not stick. Either the ID was in the wrong form, as above, or the file was edited in the wrong save directory - a server started with -savedir reads its lists from there, not from the default location. Check which folder holds the world the server is actually loading; the list files sit beside the worlds_local folder.

The RCON client cannot connect. Work outwards. Is enabled = true and has the password been changed from the default? The listener will not start otherwise, and the BepInEx log says so. Is the plugin loaded at all - look for it in BepInEx/LogOutput.log. Is the port open for TCP, not just UDP, and is it the port your host actually allocated? Try from the server itself to 127.0.0.1 first; if that works, the problem is the network, not the mod.

RCON connects but a command is unknown. RCON Next only knows the commands that installed plugins register. Without RCON Next Valheim, even save is missing. Check that both plugins are present and at versions that match each other.

A remote restart lost progress. The stop was a kill. Whatever sends the restart must send an interrupt and wait for World saved in the log before the process exits. This is a host or service setting, not something RCON fixes.

Which option to use#

Most groups need no RCON at all.

Scheduled restarts are the case people most often think needs RCON, because other games run save before restarting. Valheim does not need it: the clean stop saves. Valheim scheduled restarts covers building that without any mod.

On RE:NODE, the server runs in its own container with the panel console streaming its output, power buttons that stop cleanly, the file manager and SFTP for the list files, and per-server subusers - so a co-admin can be given the console and files without access to billing. The console section of the guides shows the controls.

FAQ#

Does Valheim have RCON?

Not in the vanilla game. The dedicated server has no remote console protocol and no console input. RCON comes only from a BepInEx mod such as RCON Next.

Why can I not type commands into my panel's console?

Because the vanilla Valheim server does not read commands from its input. The panel shows the server's output and can stop and start it, but commands have to be typed in-game with F5 by a listed admin, or sent through an RCON mod.

Do players need to install an RCON mod?

No. RCON Next runs on the dedicated server only. Players join with an unmodified game, so it is compatible with crossplay.

Can I ban someone without joining the game?

Yes. Add their ID to bannedlist.txt, which the server re-reads while running. That blocks them from connecting again; if they are online at the time, kick them in-game or restart the server so the ban applies to their session too.

Is RCON safe to expose to the internet?

Not really. Source RCON is unencrypted, so the password crosses the network in clear text. Restrict the port to known addresses, tunnel it over SSH or a VPN, or connect from the same machine.