How do I make myself admin on my Valheim server?

Add your player ID to adminlist.txt in your server’s save folder, one ID per line, then restart the server. From then on, the admin commands in Valheim’s in-game console (F5) work for you. Valheim’s admin commands all run from inside the game, so the file is how your first admin gets made.

Find your player ID

A Valheim ID is your platform, an underscore and your account number, for example Steam_76561198000000000. It’s case-sensitive.

1. Join your server.
2. Press F2. Your ID is in the panel that opens.
3. Copy it down exactly, prefix and capitals included.

The server log shows each player’s ID as they connect, too. You can watch it in the live console in your Game Panel.

Add yourself to adminlist.txt

Download a backup from your Game Panel first, then:

1. Open your Game Panel’s file manager and go to your server’s save folder. It’s the one that holds worlds_local, along with adminlist.txt, bannedlist.txt and permittedlist.txt.
2. Open adminlist.txt.
3. Add your ID on a line of its own, with no spaces before or after it. Every other admin gets a line of their own.
4. Save the file and restart your server from the Game Panel.

Steam_76561198000000000
Steam_76561198000000001

Turn the console on

On Steam, the console stays shut until you switch it on. Turn on the developer console in Valheim’s settings, or add -console to Valheim’s launch options in your Steam library. Then press F5 in game.

The admin commands

• kick <name> throws a player off the server.
• ban <name> bans them, and unban <name> lets them back.
• banned lists everyone who’s banned.
• save saves the world now. Handy before a restart.

Admins can also change the world’s difficulty from the console with setworldpreset and setworldmodifier. See world modifiers and difficulty.

Admin doesn’t mean cheats

devcommands switches on Valheim’s cheat commands, such as god, fly and spawn. Being an admin doesn’t unlock them. The Valheim Wiki says they only work in singleplayer or in a game you host from inside Valheim. They don’t work on a dedicated server.

If you use them on your own copy of a world before you upload it, bear in mind Iron Gate’s 1.0 FAQ: most of them mark your character and the world as cheated. That locks them out of achievements.

If an admin, or anyone else, still can’t get in, see why nobody can join.