Hytale Server Commands: The Admin List for Your Server

Hytale server commands are how you run your world as an admin: you OP yourself with /op add, give friends roles with /perm, lock the server with /whitelist, remove troublemakers with /kick and /ban, and keep the server current with /update. This list covers the admin commands, their exact syntax and the files behind them, checked against the official Hytale Server Manual and the server released with Chapter I in October 2026.

Hytale changes quickly between updates, so treat /help on your own server as the final word. Since Update 6 the server console has tab-completion, and /help prints the full list with the usage of each command.

How to run Hytale server commands

There are two places to type a command:

• The server console. This is the window or panel where the server prints its log. Commands go in with the slash, exactly as the official manual shows (/auth login device). The console is the safest place to run admin commands, because it works before anyone on the server has permissions.
• The in-game chat. Players type the same commands in chat. Each command checks the player's permissions first, so a new player can run /help or /who, but not /ban.

Three habits save time:

1. Type /help (or its short form /?) to see the commands you are allowed to use.
2. Add --help to any command or subcommand to see its arguments, for example /whitelist --help.
3. Press Tab in the console to complete commands, subcommands, arguments and flags.

On TheGameHosting you open your server in the panel and choose Console. Whatever you type there goes straight to the Hytale server.

First start: authenticate the server

A dedicated Hytale server must be signed in to a Hytale account before players can connect. If the console asks for it, run the device login and follow the link it prints:

/auth login device

The console shows a code and the address https://accounts.hytale.com/device. Open it in your browser, sign in, enter the code, and the console answers “Authentication successful!”. The code expires after 900 seconds (15 minutes), so do it right away.

According to the official Server Provider Authentication Guide, a signed-in server refreshes its own session and stays authenticated as long as it is online. It only needs a new login if it stays offline longer than 30 days.

OP commands: make yourself an admin

OP puts a player in the server's admin group. These are the three official subcommands:

/op self is meant for singleplayer worlds. On a dedicated server it only works when the server was started with the --allow-op launch argument. If it is off, the server tells you to OP yourself in permissions.json while the server is stopped. The simpler route is the console:

/op add YourName

The player sees “You have been made an operator.” Use the exact name of your Hytale profile.

Hytale permissions: roles instead of OP for everyone

Update 5 rebuilt the permission system. Permissions are no longer tied to the game mode, groups can inherit from each other, and the patch notes put it simply: you can give friends a role based on what you want them to do, instead of OPing them.

The server ships with built-in groups such as hytale:Adventurer, hytale:Builder, hytale:WorldEditor, hytale:ServerEditor and hytale:Admin. Basic commands like /help and /who belong to the Adventurer group, and /gamemode belongs to the Builder group. Admin tools sit higher up.

The /perm user commands take the player's UUID, not their name. Examples of real nodes are hytale.server.join (allowed to join the server), warp.go and hytale.command.give.armor.other. Run /perm list --all to see the nodes on your build, including those added by mods.

Editing permissions.json by hand

Everything you set with /perm and /op is saved in permissions.json, in the server folder. The manual warns that config files are read when the server starts and rewritten when someone changes permissions in game, so edits made while the server runs are likely to be overwritten. Stop the server, edit the file, then start it again. If you edited it while running, /perm reload reads it from disk.

Hytale whitelist commands

The whitelist keeps your world friends only. All of these accept a username or a UUID:

/whitelist add YourName
/whitelist add FriendName
/whitelist enable
/whitelist status

Add yourself before you turn it on. Since Update 6 the whitelist runs on the hytale.server.join permission: adding a player grants it and removing them takes it away. An older whitelist.json is migrated and renamed whitelist.json.migrated. That has a side effect. If a group or a wildcard also gives a player hytale.server.join, removing them from the whitelist will not stop them, and the server warns you that they can still join. Coming from Minecraft? Our Minecraft server whitelist guide shows how the two compare.

Kick, ban and unban

/ban and /unban accept a username or a UUID, so you can ban someone who has already left. Bans are stored in bans.json. Since Update 7, a kick or ban closes every connection that account has open, including Asset Editor sessions. The built-in ban has no timer; temporary bans need a plugin.

/ban PlayerName Griefing the spawn
/unban PlayerName

Everyday admin commands

View distance is the main driver of RAM use. In the current server, /maxviewradius accepts 1 to 32 chunks and /maxviewradius reset returns to the default of 32. The official manual recommends 12 chunks or less, because the default uses far more memory than a typical Minecraft server. If your server runs short on memory, lower this cap before you move to a bigger plan.

/backup also exists, but it only works if the server was started with --backup-dir.

Update commands

Client and server must run the exact same protocol version, so after a Hytale update players cannot join until the server updates too.

The updater keeps your config, saves and mods. Mods are the risky part: check that they support the new version before you restart a big world. Our guide on how to add mods to a Hytale server covers that.

Hytale server setup: files and port

If you are still at the Hytale server setup stage, these are the official requirements and the files your commands change:

• Requirements: at least 4 GB of memory and Java 25, on x64 or arm64.
• Port: 5520 by default, over UDP with the QUIC protocol. TCP forwarding is not required. You change it with --bind.
• Files: config.json (server name, MOTD, password, max players, view radius), permissions.json, bans.json, universe/ (worlds and player data), mods/ and logs/.

If you also run a Minecraft world, compare this with how to OP yourself on a Minecraft server.

Run Hytale admin commands from the TheGameHosting panel

Self-hosting means opening UDP 5520 on your router, keeping your PC on all night and losing the 30-day login window if the machine stays off. On TheGameHosting your Hytale server runs 24/7 on our own hardware in Dallas or Amsterdam, with AMD 9950X or 7950X3D CPUs up to 5.7 GHz for a smooth world tick, DDR5 RAM, NVMe storage and DDoS protection on every plan. Your friends join with the address and port shown in your panel, with no port forwarding.

Every command in this guide fits into the panel:

• Console to run /op add, /whitelist, /ban or /update without opening the game.
• Files to edit config.json and permissions.json with the server stopped.
• Backups to save a copy before an update, a new mod or a permissions change.
• Users to give a co-admin access to the panel without sharing your account.
• Schedules to restart or back up the server at a set time.

Hytale needs at least 4 GB of RAM, so it starts on our 4 GB plan at $3.69 USD per month on the Hytale server hosting page. There is no slot cap, your server is ready about 60 seconds after payment, and our team answers 24/7 by chat, email and tickets. Pick a size on Pricing and type your first /op add today.

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