Valheim Server Admin Commands

Valheim's admin commands manage other players on a dedicated server: bans, kicks, save control, and the admin list itself. These are different from cheat commands — they require admin privileges on the server you're connected to, but they don't require devcommands to be enabled.

If you're hosting a dedicated server and want to use these, you have to add yourself to the admin list first.

Making yourself an admin

On a dedicated Valheim server, admins are listed by Steam ID in a plain text file at:

One Steam ID per line. To find your Steam ID, open Steam in a browser (steamcommunity.com) while signed in, then copy the long number from your profile URL. Add it to adminlist.txt and restart the server.

On a server you're connected to (not the one you host), you'll need the server owner to add you the same way.

Player management commands

ban — block a player

Bans a player by display name, IP address, or Steam user ID. Once banned they can't reconnect until you unban them. See the full ban command reference.

unban — remove a ban

Removes a previously-applied ban. Use the same identifier you banned with.

banned — list all bans

Prints the contents of the ban list to the console. Useful for auditing or finding out who you banned three weeks ago.

kick — disconnect a player

Disconnects a player without banning them. They can reconnect immediately, so kick is for "stop doing that" warnings, not long-term enforcement.

Save and world control

save — force a manual save

Triggers an immediate world save. Use before risky operations (mass-deleting structures, raiding, testing a build) so you can restore from the previous autosave if needed.

Observability and info

Several commands work for any player but become more useful in an admin context:

ping — shows your connection latency. Run on each client to find who's lagging.
info — toggles a debug overlay with FPS, position, and system info.
lodbias — set the level-of-detail bias. Lower values reduce graphics fidelity for distant objects, which helps low-end clients.

Things admin commands can't do

A few common asks aren't possible (or are harder than they seem):

You can't change another player's character. Admin commands manage the connection and the ban list — they don't touch other players' inventories, skills, or position.
You can't restart the server from in-game. Server restart is an OS-level operation (systemd, Docker, your hosting panel).
You can't promote another player to admin in-game. Admin list changes happen in adminlist.txt and require a server restart to take effect.

Common server admin recipes

Removing a griefer

kick PlayerName — disconnect immediately.
ban PlayerName — block reconnection.
save — flush the current state so the damage is captured.
Investigate the damage. If extensive, restore the world from the previous autosave (file backup, outside the game).

Audit recent bans

Run banned to print all current bans to the console.
Cross-reference with your server logs (typically in the same folder as your save files).