How to Add an Admin to Your Terraria tShock Server

tShock manages permissions through accounts and groups. An admin is therefore not an entry in a file but a user account consisting of a user name and a password that belongs to a group with far-reaching permissions. You do not need a SteamID or any other player ID for this.

Note

The accounts are stored in the database /tshock/tshock.sqlite. Passwords are stored encrypted there and cannot be read back – a forgotten password is reset through the server console.

Create an admin via the server console

This is the fastest way because it requires neither a setup code nor an existing account. The server console always has the highest permissions on a tShock server.

1. Start the server
   Start your server via the dashboard.

2. Open the console
   Open the server console in the dashboard.

3. Create the account
   Enter the following command:

   user add <username> <password> owner

   Replace <username> and <password> with your own values and keep owner as the group.

   Note

   In the server console you enter commands without a leading forward slash. In the in-game chat you always need it, so /user add ....

4. Join the server
   Join your server: Join server.

5. Log in
   Log in through the in-game chat:

   /login <username> <password>

   You now have admin rights and can use all commands of your group.

   Turn off the setup code

   If tShock printed a setup code on startup, that code stays valid until the next server start – even if you created your account through the console. So after logging in, enter /setup once in the in-game chat. This disables the setup system immediately and deletes the code.

Create an admin via the setup code

Alternatively you can use the setup assistant that tShock provides on the first start.

1. Read the setup code
   Open the server console in the dashboard. On startup you will find a message like this:

   To setup the server, join the game and type /setup <code>

   Tip

   The code is also stored in the file /tshock/setup-code.txt, which you can open via SFTP.

2. Enter the setup command
   Join your server and enter the following in the in-game chat:

   /setup <code>

   Caution

   This command only works in the game, not in the server console.

3. Create the account
   Now create your account:

   /user add <username> <password> owner

4. Log in
   Log in with your new account:

   /login <username> <password>

5. Finish the setup
   Finally, enter once more:

   /setup

   This permanently disables the setup system and deletes the setup code.

   Important

   Always finish the setup. As long as the setup system is active, anyone who knows the code can grant themselves full permissions on your server.

Manage accounts

All commands work in the in-game chat (with /) and in the server console (without /).

Command	Description
user add <user> <password> <group>	Create a new account
user del <user>	Delete an account
user password <user> <new password>	Change the password
user group <user> <new group>	Move an account to another group

Note

By default passwords have to be at least four characters long. This value is controlled by MinimumPasswordLength in the file /tshock/config.json.

Automatic login

After your first login tShock remembers the device identifier of your client and logs you in automatically whenever you join the server. This behaviour is controlled by the value DisableUUIDLogin in the file /tshock/config.json.

Groups and permissions

tShock ships with several groups whose permissions increase from bottom to top:

Group	Role
guest	Guests without a login
default	Logged-in players without special rights
vip	Players with individual extra rights
newadmin	Entry-level moderation, e.g. kicking
admin	Full moderation including bans
trustedadmin	Additional administrative rights
owner	Almost all rights – the right choice for you as the operator
superadmin	Unrestricted rights, hard-coded into tShock

You manage your own groups and permissions with the following commands:

Command	Description
group list	Show all groups
group listperm <group>	Show the permissions of a group
group add <name> [permissions]	Create a new group
group del <name>	Delete a group
group addperm <group> <permission...>	Add permissions
group delperm <group> <permission...>	Remove permissions
group parent <group> <parent group>	Inherit the permissions of another group
group prefix <group> <text>	Set a chat prefix
group color <group> <R,G,B>	Set a chat color

Caution

Only assign the owner group to people you fully trust. For moderators newadmin or admin is usually enough.

Tip

To learn how to remove players from your server as an admin, see Kick & Ban Players.