How to Kick and Ban Players on Your s&box Server

You remove players through the server console in the dashboard of your server. In the official sandbox mode, players with the admin claim can additionally kick and ban directly in the game – see Add Admin.

Use commands in the server console

1. Open the server console
   Open the dashboard of your server and switch to the server console.

2. List the players
   Display the connected players and their SteamID64:

   status

3. Run the command
   Enter the desired command, for example:

   kick 76561198012345678 Rule violation

Note

These commands only work through the server console. A regular player can type them into the in-game console, but they have no effect there.

Kick a player

kick <SteamID64 or part of the name> [reason]

As the target you pass either the exact SteamID64 or part of the display name. A kick disconnects the player immediately, but they can rejoin at any time.

Tip

Names with spaces or special characters are unreliable as a search term. When in doubt, use the SteamID64 from the status output.

Ban a player

ban <SteamID64 or part of the name> [reason]

A ban kicks the player immediately and prevents them from connecting again. If you do not provide a reason, Banned is used.

Note

Using a SteamID64 you can also ban players who are not currently connected. That lets you block someone before they ever join.

Important

The ban command belongs to the official sandbox mode (facepunch.sandbox) and is therefore not available in every game mode. kick, on the other hand, comes from the engine and works regardless of the game mode.

Lift a ban

s&box has no unban command. In sandbox mode, banned players are stored in a file on your server which you have to edit manually.

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

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

3. Open the ban list
   Open the following file:

   /data/facepunch/sandbox/bans.json

4. Remove the entry
   Delete the player's entry from the list and make sure the file remains valid JSON.

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

Warning

Never edit the file while the server is running. The server keeps the ban list in memory and rewrites the whole file on every change – your edit would be overwritten immediately.

Note

This path applies to the official sandbox mode. Other game modes store their data under /data/<organisation>/<package>/ and use their own file names there.

Command overview

Command	Description
status	Show server status, connected players and the lobby ID
kick <SteamID64 or part of the name> [reason]	Disconnect a player from the server
ban <SteamID64 or part of the name> [reason]	Ban a player (sandbox mode)
game <game mode> [map]	Switch the game mode and map
find <text>	Search the available commands and variables
quit	Shut down the server

Warning

quit terminates the server process. Use the dashboard to restart your server.