Palworld: become adminSet the admin password and log in in the game

Published on August 9, 2026 · last updated on October 21, 2026

Setting the admin password

Access depends on a single value in PalWorldSettings.ini:

AdminPassword="yourAdminPassword"

The file is in the server's configuration folder and is edited via WebFTP or SFTP. The order matters - otherwise the server overwrites your change when it shuts down:

1. Stop the server.
2. Set AdminPassword.
3. Save and start the server.

Make sure not to break the long bracketed line: all values are on one line in brackets, and a missing comma makes everything after it ineffective. The other parameters are explained in PalWorldSettings.ini explained.

Logging in in the game

After joining, you log in via the chat:

/AdminPassword yourAdminPassword

From that moment on, the admin commands are available to you for the current session - kicking and banning players, sending messages, saving and shutting down the server. The complete overview is in Admin commands & RCON.

The login only applies to the current session. After a disconnect or a restart, you have to repeat it - that is intentional and not a malfunction.

When the login does not work

The most common feedback is not an error message at all, but simply: nothing happens, and the commands have no effect. Check four points in this order:

• Restarted? Without a restart, the server does not read the configuration again - the new value is then in the file, but does not apply yet.
• Was the server running while you saved? Then it overwrote the file with its own state when shutting down.
• Is the bracketed line intact? A missing comma or quotation mark resets all values to default. You can tell because other settings are back to default too - the server name, for example.
• Checked your choice of characters? Spaces, commas and quotation marks have a meaning of their own in the OptionSettings line. Stick to letters and digits, and this source of error disappears.

If it still does not work, a counter-test helps: briefly enter a short, unambiguous password, restart and log in with it. If that works, the old value was the problem, not the procedure. Further cases in which settings seem to be ignored are collected in Connection problems.

The same password also opens RCON

Palworld has no separate RCON password. If you activate RCONEnabled=True, the same AdminPassword also serves as access to the remote console - which runs on a port of its own, 25575 by default; here, too, the value shown in the panel is what counts.

That has two consequences in practice. First, the length of the password matters more than it seems in the game: a value you would like to type comfortably in the chat also protects an interface that can be used to stop the server. Second, more than the group depends on every change - RCON clients, Discord bots and monitoring tools carry the same value and stop working afterwards until you update them.

If you do not need RCON, simply leave it deactivated; then the admin password is only worth something in the game. If you use it, you will find the setup and the command set in Admin commands & RCON, and the other parameters of the file in PalWorldSettings.ini explained.

The weakness of the model

Unlike Minecraft with its ops.json or DayZ with Steam IDs, Palworld has no list of individual admins. There is exactly one password, and whoever has it has full rights.

• Rights can only be revoked globally - to take the rights away from one person, you have to change the password and give the new one to everyone else.
• No levels - there is no moderator right below admin.
• No traceability - the server does not distinguish who executed which command.

The practical consequence: pass the password on as sparingly as possible, and for routine operations, prefer RCON from outside over logging in in the game.

Sensible habits

• A password of its own - not the same as the server password. There is no separate RCON password: the same value also opens the remote console.
• Do not enter it in the public chat while others are watching - the command itself is not visible, but caution does not hurt.
• Change it when a co-admin leaves - that is the only way to revoke rights.
• Back up before larger interventions - especially before transferring or resetting worlds, see Transfer a world.

If you want to restrict access to the server itself, that is a different value - that is what the server password is for, see Whitelist & server password.

Frequently asked questions