Setting Up Admins and Player Permissions
How to designate server admins, use the admin command list, and manage player permissions on a Factorio dedicated server.
Overview
Factorio admins can kick, ban, mute, and promote players, run console commands, and execute Lua scripts via /c. Admins are defined in a JSON file that is read at server startup.
server-adminlist.json
The canonical admin list lives at:
factorio/config/server-adminlist.json
Format is a JSON array of Factorio account usernames:
["Player1", "Player2", "AdminUser"]
These must be exact Factorio.com account usernames (case-sensitive). The deprecated admins array in server-settings.json should not be used — it is ignored in recent Factorio versions.
Edit this file while the server is stopped, then restart for changes to take effect. Or use the in-game /admin command to grant admin status without restarting (see below).
Granting Admin In-Game
From the server console (the panel's console tab) or as an existing admin in-game:
/admin PlayerName
This grants admin immediately without a restart, but is not persisted across restarts unless the player is added to server-adminlist.json.
To make the grant permanent, add the username to the JSON file as well.
Admin Commands Reference
These commands run from the server console or by an in-game admin:
/kick PlayerName - Kick a player from the server
/ban PlayerName - Ban a player (persisted)
/unban PlayerName - Remove a ban
/mute PlayerName - Mute a player's chat
/unmute PlayerName - Unmute a player
/admin PlayerName - Grant admin status
/demote PlayerName - Remove admin status
/time - Show elapsed game time
/evolution - Show biter evolution factor
/perf - Show server UPS and performance stats
Lua Console Scripting
Admins can run Lua commands with the /c prefix. The allow_commands field in server-settings.json controls this:
{
"allow_commands": "admins_only"
}
Valid values:
"admins_only"(or"true") — Only admins can use/c."false"— Nobody can use/c. Use this on public servers to prevent grief.
Example Lua command (give resources to a player):
/c game.player["PlayerName"].insert({name="iron-plate", count=1000})
RCON for Remote Admin
RCON lets you run any admin command remotely without the panel console. See Remote Administration with RCON for setup details.
Bans
Bans are stored in factorio/config/server-banlist.json (auto-created). You can edit this file directly to add or remove bans. Format matches the admin/whitelist files — a JSON array of usernames.