Installing and Configuring IW4MAdmin for IW4x
IW4MAdmin is the standard server management tool for IW4x. It connects to your server via RCON and log tailing, provides a web panel for player management, tracks player stats and chat history, enforces bans across all your servers, and enables in-game admin commands via chat. This guide walks through a complete setup.
What IW4MAdmin Does
- Web panel at
http://[server-ip]:1624— player list, ban management, server stats - In-game chat commands — admins type
!kick,!ban,!map, etc. in chat - Cross-server ban sync — a ban on one server bans the player from all your IW4MAdmin-managed servers
- Player stats — tracks kills, deaths, KDR, time played
- Automated actions — auto-kick for name masking, VPN detection (with API key), etc.
Prerequisites
Before installing IW4MAdmin, confirm your server has these settings in server.cfg:
set rcon_password "YourPassword" // Must be non-empty
set g_log "logs/games_mp.log" // Log file path
set g_logsync "2" // Must be 2 for real-time log reading
set logfile "2"
Also make sure the userraw/logs/ directory exists on your server and that the log file is being written (start the server once and check).
Runtime requirement: IW4MAdmin requires .NET 8 Runtime (not the SDK — just the runtime). Download it from https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet/8.0 and install it on the machine that will run IW4MAdmin. On Linux, install via your package manager:
# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install -y dotnet-runtime-8.0
# Or use Microsoft's package feed:
wget https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/22.04/packages-microsoft-prod.deb -O packages-microsoft-prod.deb
sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y dotnet-runtime-8.0
Downloading IW4MAdmin
Go to https://github.com/RaidMax/IW4M-Admin/releases and download the latest release ZIP (e.g., IW4MAdmin-2025.x.x.x.zip).
Extract it to a dedicated folder:
- Windows:
C:\IW4MAdmin\ - Linux:
~/iw4madmin/
The folder should contain IW4MAdmin.exe (Windows) or IW4MAdmin (Linux), plus a Configuration/ directory.
First Run and Initial Configuration
Run IW4MAdmin once to generate the configuration file:
# Windows
IW4MAdmin.exe
# Linux
./IW4MAdmin
It will create Configuration/IW4MAdminSettings.json and prompt you with an interactive setup wizard. You can answer the wizard's questions or cancel it and edit the JSON directly.
Editing IW4MAdminSettings.json
Open Configuration/IW4MAdminSettings.json in a text editor. The key settings:
{
"WebfrontBindUrl": "http://0.0.0.0:1624",
"Servers": [
{
"IPAddress": "127.0.0.1",
"Port": 28960,
"Password": "YourRconPassword",
"AutoMessages": [],
"Rules": [],
"Parser": "IW4x Parser",
"ManualLogPath": null,
"UseT6ServerLogParser": false
}
],
"WebfrontUsers": [],
"EnableMultipleOwners": false,
"EnableSteppedHierarchy": true
}
Critical values:
| Field | What to set |
|---|---|
IPAddress |
127.0.0.1 if IW4MAdmin is on the same machine as the server; otherwise the server's public/LAN IP |
Port |
Must match net_port in your server launch parameters (default 28960) |
Password |
Must exactly match rcon_password in server.cfg |
Parser |
Must be "IW4x Parser" — do not use a generic MW2 or IW4 parser |
Adding Multiple Servers
To manage multiple IW4x instances, add additional entries to the Servers array:
"Servers": [
{
"IPAddress": "127.0.0.1",
"Port": 28960,
"Password": "PasswordServer1",
"Parser": "IW4x Parser"
},
{
"IPAddress": "127.0.0.1",
"Port": 28961,
"Password": "PasswordServer2",
"Parser": "IW4x Parser"
}
]
Configuring the Log Path
By default, IW4MAdmin reads the game log over UDP (via RCON). For more reliable event capture, point it directly at the log file using ManualLogPath:
"ManualLogPath": "C:\\GameServers\\MW2-Server\\userraw\\logs\\games_mp.log"
On Linux:
"ManualLogPath": "/home/gameserver/mw2server/userraw/logs/games_mp.log"
Using a direct log path is recommended when IW4MAdmin runs on the same machine as the server.
Starting IW4MAdmin
# Windows
IW4MAdmin.exe
# Linux
./IW4MAdmin
IW4MAdmin will connect to your server, print connection status in the console, and start reading the log. If it connects successfully, you'll see your server listed in the console output.
Access the web panel at http://[your-server-ip]:1624.
Claiming Ownership
The first time you set up IW4MAdmin, you need to claim owner status:
- Connect to your IW4x server with the IW4x game client.
- In in-game chat, type:
!owner - IW4MAdmin will confirm in chat and on the web panel. Your account is now at rank Owner (the highest level).
This can only be done once. If EnableMultipleOwners is false in the config (the default), subsequent players who try !owner will be rejected.
Running IW4MAdmin as a Service
Windows (NSSM)
Use NSSM (Non-Sucking Service Manager) to run IW4MAdmin as a Windows service:
nssm install IW4MAdmin "C:\IW4MAdmin\IW4MAdmin.exe"
nssm set IW4MAdmin AppDirectory "C:\IW4MAdmin"
nssm start IW4MAdmin
Linux (systemd)
Create /etc/systemd/system/iw4madmin.service:
[Unit]
Description=IW4MAdmin Server Manager
After=network.target
[Service]
Type=simple
User=gameserver
WorkingDirectory=/home/gameserver/iw4madmin
ExecStart=/home/gameserver/iw4madmin/IW4MAdmin
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable iw4madmin
sudo systemctl start iw4madmin
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| "Could not connect to server" | Verify IP, port, password; ensure server is running |
| Events not triggering (kicks/bans not working) | Check g_logsync "2" and logfile "2" in server.cfg; verify log file path |
| Web panel not accessible | Ensure TCP 1624 is open in your firewall |
| "Invalid parser" errors | Set Parser to exactly "IW4x Parser" in settings |
.NET runtime not found |
Install .NET 8 Runtime from Microsoft |