Terraria server commandsThe console in Vanilla - and what TShock adds

Published on August 9, 2026 · last updated on November 3, 2026

The decisive difference

A Vanilla Terraria server has no in-game admin commands. There is no chat command for kicking, no permission management and no operator status. Everything runs via the server console in the web interface.

That has a practical consequence: to kick someone, you have to go to the console - not into the game. If you want admin functions from inside the game, you need TShock.

The Vanilla console commands

You enter these commands in the server console in the web interface - without a slash in front:

Particularly useful day to day are save before a backup and exit for a clean shutdown - see create backups. And settle, when water and lava keep flowing endlessly after a big building project and keep the server busy.

A note on password: the command only changes the password for the current session. Permanently, it belongs in the serverconfig.txt, see make your server private.

Entering commands correctly

The console expects the command without a leading slash - so kick, not /kick. The server's response appears directly below your input, among everything the server logs anyway: joins, disconnects and saves.

For anything that expects a player name, the spelling decides. Terraria allows spaces, accented letters and special characters in character names, and that is exactly where kick fails most often: if the name does not match exactly, the server reports no error but simply does nothing. So call playing first and copy the name character for character from the output.

• kick only disconnects - the player can rejoin immediately. Meant as a warning, not a ban.
• ban disconnects and additionally writes an entry to the ban list, which is defined in the serverconfig.txt via the banlist entry.
• say appears for everyone in the chat as a server message - the only way to speak into the game from the console.

In Vanilla, you lift a ban by removing the relevant line from the file referenced via banlist and restarting the server. Going via the file works regardless of which console commands your server version comes with. On a TShock server, the same runs via user management.

Three everyday procedures

Individual commands are quickly looked up - they become useful in combination. These three procedures cover most of what the console is needed for day to day.

1. Backup without a restart. Announce it briefly with say, then run save and only then download the world file via WebFTP or SFTP. Without the save, you catch the state of the last automatic save instead of the current one - backups are self-service throughout with us, see create backups.
2. Clean shutdown. say as a warning, wait briefly, then exit. The command saves the world and shuts down the server; you can then start it again in the panel. If you kill the process hard instead, you risk the state from before the last save.
3. Server becomes sluggish after a building project. Run settle, wait for the response, then save. Flowing liquids are calculated permanently, even when nobody is nearby.

Before a version change, the first two belong together: back up first, then shut down cleanly, then update - the complete order is in update the server. And if a different world is to run afterwards, upload it and enter it in the configuration, described under upload a world.

What TShock adds

TShock replaces the Vanilla server and brings a complete management system. There, you enter the commands in the game with a leading slash after logging in.

• User accounts instead of anonymous players - everyone logs in with their own account.
• Groups and permissions, finely graded down to individual commands.
• Regions that are protected against access by others.
• Whitelist - which does not exist in Vanilla at all.
• Plugins that bring further commands.

The first login and the way to superadmin are described in set up TShock. Important: on a TShock server, the server console remains usable as well - so you have both ways.

What applies on a tModLoader server

A tModLoader server behaves like Vanilla in this respect: console commands yes, in-game admin commands no. Individual mods can bring their own commands, but that is up to the respective mod and not part of the server.

TShock and tModLoader cannot be combined - they are two different server variants. If you want mods and extensive management, you have to choose. The distinction is explained in connection problems and in tModLoader & Calamity.

Frequently asked questions