Terraria

How to Give Admin on a Terraria Server

Why vanilla Terraria has no admin, and the exact TShock commands to claim your server and promote your friends.

TheGameHosting Team 4 min read
Give Admin on Terraria
Background: Terraria © Re-Logic

To give admin Terraria server powers to someone, you need TShock: the vanilla Terraria server has no admin or operator rank, only a server console. On TShock, join the game, type /setup with the code the server prints in its console, create your account with /user add <name> <password> owner, log in and run /setup again to close setup. Then promote others with /user group <name> admin.

This trips up a lot of new server owners: they look for an /op command like in Minecraft and find nothing. Here is what you can do on each kind of server and the exact steps for TShock. If you do not have a server yet, read how to host a Terraria server first.

Vanilla vs TShock: who can be admin

Vanilla serverTShock
Admin ranksNone. Only whoever controls the consoleGroups with permissions: guest, default, vip, newadmin, admin, trustedadmin, owner
Where you run commandsServer console, without a slashIn-game chat with /, plus the console
Kick and bankick <player>, ban <player>/kick, /ban add with reason and duration
What players needThe normal gameThe normal game

So on vanilla the honest answer is: you cannot give anyone admin. You can only share access to the console, and on TheGameHosting you do that safely with Users, which gives a co-admin access to your panel without your password.

Admin on a vanilla server: the console commands

These are the commands of the official dedicated server, from the Terraria Wiki. Type them in the server console (on TheGameHosting, the Console tab), without a slash:

Code
playing
kick PlayerName
ban PlayerName
password NewPassword
say Server restarts in 5 minutes
save
exit

ban writes the player name and IP into banlist.txt. To unban, stop the server, delete that line in Files and start again. exit saves and shuts down; exit-nosave shuts down without saving.

How to give admin Terraria server rights with TShock

TShock is a community server built on the vanilla one. Version 6.2.1 supports Terraria 1.4.5.8. The first time it starts, it prints a setup code and also saves it to tshock/setup-code.txt.

  1. Find the setup code. Look in the console for the yellow line To setup the server, join the game and type /setup <code>, or open tshock/setup-code.txt in Files.
  2. Join the server with your character and type in chat:
    Code
    /setup 1234567
    That gives you temporary superadmin access for one command.
  3. Create your permanent account in the owner group:
    Code
    /user add YourName YourPassword owner
  4. Log in with that account:
    Code
    /login YourName YourPassword
  5. Close setup by typing /setup again. TShock turns the setup system off, deletes setup-code.txt and creates tshock/setup.lock, so nobody else can use the code.

Heads-up: use a password you do not use anywhere else. Anyone who logs in to that account is the owner of your server.

Give admin to friends

Your friends create their own account and you move it to a staff group:

  1. Your friend registers in game with /register TheirPassword (the account takes the character name).
  2. You promote them:
    Code
    /user group FriendName admin
    Use newadmin for a trial moderator, admin for a regular one and trustedadmin for someone you trust almost like yourself. Each group inherits the one below it.
  3. They log in again with /login TheirPassword to get the new rights.

Other useful commands: /user del FriendName removes an account, /user password FriendName NewPass resets a password, /group addperm admin <permission> adds a permission to a group, /kick PlayerName reason and /ban add PlayerName "Griefing" 1d handle trouble. /ban help add explains the duration and flags.

Common problems

  • “The initial setup system is disabled”: an account already exists, so setup is closed. Log in with that account. If nobody remembers it, ask our support team before deleting anything.
  • Commands say you lack permission: you are not logged in. Run /login again after you reconnect.
  • Players on phones or consoles: mixing platforms has limits; read Terraria server crossplay before promising anything.
  • Modded server: admin tools for tModLoader are a different topic; see how to make a tModLoader server.

Running TShock on TheGameHosting

On Terraria server hosting from TheGameHosting, the setup code shows up in the panel Console, setup-code.txt opens in Files, and Backups → Create backup saves your world before you switch builds. TShock can also keep users and bans in MySQL, and every plan includes two databases. Ask our 24/7 support team which builds are ready on your server and how to switch.

Terraria needs 1 GB of RAM, so all nine plans run it, from $1.90 USD a month, online 24/7 with no PC left on. Pick yours on the game server plans page and use code FULL2026 for 15% off for life.

FAQ

How do I give admin on a Terraria server?

Vanilla Terraria has no admin rank. Install TShock, claim the server with /setup <code> and /user add YourName YourPassword owner, then promote others with /user group FriendName admin.

Is there an /op command in Terraria?

No. The vanilla server only has console commands such as kick, ban and password. Admin ranks come from TShock.

Where is the TShock setup code?

In the server console the first time TShock starts, and in tshock/setup-code.txt. It disappears once you finish setup.

How do I make myself owner in TShock?

After /setup <code>, run /user add YourName YourPassword owner, log in with /login YourName YourPassword and type /setup to close setup.

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Written by TheGameHosting Team, the people who run our servers in Dallas and Amsterdam and answer your tickets.

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