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To make a player an administrator on a Sons of the Forest dedicated server, add that player’s 17-digit decimal SteamID64 to ownerswhitelist.txt, with one ID on each line. Stop the server before editing, save the file, and start the server again; the owner permission is read when the server launches. Hosting instructions from YorkHost and HostHavoc describe this same procedure.

The filename is easy to get wrong. It is generally ownerswhitelist.txt, not adminlist.txt; some host panels or older guides show misspellings such as ownedwhitelist.txt or ownerwhitelist.txt. Use the exact filename that exists in your server’s configuration.

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What you need before changing the server

  • Access to the server’s control panel, file manager, configuration editor, or the computer running the dedicated server.
  • The player’s SteamID64 in decimal format. It is normally 17 digits and starts with 7656.
  • A maintenance window long enough to stop and restart the server. Editing while the process is running can be overwritten or ignored.
  • A current backup of the server configuration or save data if your host provides one.

Do not use a Steam nickname, profile display name, in-game name, or a shortened Steam ID. Names can change and are not the identifier the whitelist reads. A SteamID lookup service can convert a player’s Steam profile URL into the decimal SteamID64 value; copy the decimal number, not a hexadecimal representation.

Which file controls owner access?

The owner list is normally stored in ownerswhitelist.txt. Put the SteamID64 itself in that file, with no label, punctuation, quotation marks, or additional text. Each administrator occupies one line:

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76561198012345678
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The example numbers above are formatting examples only. Replace them with the actual SteamID64 values of the players you want to authorize.

Hosting panels do not all expose the same directory. Guides place the file beside dedicatedserver.cfg, inside a /serverconfig/ directory, or in a server data or saves directory. The reliable rule is to use the configuration editor or file manager supplied by your host and look for the existing ownerswhitelist.txt. On a self-hosted installation, search the dedicated-server data directory rather than the game client’s ordinary installation folder.

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If your panel has an Admins or similar field in the server settings, it may write the owner list for you. That is a panel-specific interface to the same setting; follow the panel’s save and restart controls instead of editing a second, unrelated file.

How to add an admin step by step

1. Obtain the correct SteamID64

  1. Ask the player to provide their Steam profile URL, or open the profile you intend to authorize.
  2. Use a SteamID lookup service to identify the account’s SteamID64.
  3. Confirm that the result is a decimal number, normally 17 digits beginning with 7656. Do not paste a vanity name, account nickname, SteamID3 value, or hexadecimal ID.
  4. Check the digits with the player before applying the change. A typo can fail without an obvious error and will not grant access to the intended account.

2. Stop the dedicated server

In a hosting panel, use the Stop control in the Console, Service Settings, or server-management page. Wait until the status says the process has stopped and the console is no longer writing log entries. On a self-run server, close the dedicated-server process using the normal shutdown method and wait for it to exit.

Stopping first matters because the server may rewrite configuration files during shutdown. If you edit while it is running, your change can be lost when the process saves its current state.

3. Open the owner list

Open the panel’s file manager or configuration editor and locate ownerswhitelist.txt. If the panel has an Admins field, open that instead and check whether it accepts one ID per line. For a local installation, browse the dedicated server’s data folder and search for the filename.

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Do not silently substitute a similarly named file. If you see ownedwhitelist.txt or ownerwhitelist.txt, verify which file the server actually reads. Several hosting summaries use inconsistent spellings, while the commonly documented name is ownerswhitelist.txt. The filename visible in your server’s own configuration is more useful than a copied path from another host.

4. Enter one SteamID64 per line

Keep any existing authorized IDs and add the new value on its own line. The file should contain only decimal SteamID64 values:

76561198012345678
76561198123456789
76561198234567890
  • Do not add admin=, owner=, commas, brackets, quotes, or comments.
  • Do not put two IDs on one line.
  • Remove accidental spaces before or after an ID if the editor inserts them.
  • Use plain text and preserve the .txt extension.

Save the file in the panel. If the panel offers both Save and Save and restart, either save and restart in separate steps or use the combined action once; do not issue several restarts while the file is still being written.

5. Start the server again

Click Start and wait for the server to finish loading. The owner list is normally read during startup, so simply saving the file while the server is online is not enough. Existing players may need to disconnect and reconnect after the restart.

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6. Verify with the authorized account

Have the player join using the Steam account whose ID you entered. Test an owner-only action or the owner/admin tools available in your current server build. If the player can join but has no owner permissions, stop the server and work through the troubleshooting checks below rather than adding a nickname to the file.

If ownerswhitelist.txt does not exist

Some installations create the owner file only after the dedicated server has completed its first startup. Use this sequence:

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  1. Start the server once without editing a nonexistent file.
  2. Wait until the normal loading process completes and the server is ready.
  3. Stop the server cleanly.
  4. Refresh the panel file manager or inspect the dedicated-server data directory.
  5. Create or open ownerswhitelist.txt, enter one SteamID64 per line, save it, and restart.

If no file appears after a clean first start, check whether the panel manages admins through an Admins field. Also confirm that you are viewing the server’s data directory, not a client-side game folder or a different server instance.

Panel-managed servers versus self-hosted servers

Setup Where you make the change What to watch for
Host with a file manager Stop the service, edit ownerswhitelist.txt in the panel, save, then start the service. The host may place the file beside dedicatedserver.cfg, in /serverconfig/, or in another server-data directory.
Host with an Admins field Enter the SteamID64 in the server-settings field, save the settings, and restart if requested. The field may hide the underlying file and may require one ID per line.
Self-hosted dedicated server Stop the local process, edit the file in the dedicated-server data folder, save, and launch the server again. Make sure the launch configuration points to the folder you edited; custom data paths can put the active file elsewhere.

The procedure is the same in principle: identify the active owner list, enter decimal SteamID64 values, and restart the process that reads it.

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Troubleshooting: the new admin has no permissions

The wrong identifier was entered

Recheck every digit against the player’s Steam account. A nickname or an in-game name will not work. Make sure the value is the decimal SteamID64, not a hexadecimal or shorter Steam identifier. A malformed value can fail silently, so the absence of an error message does not prove that the ID was accepted.

The file name or location is wrong

Confirm the exact spelling ownerswhitelist.txt and verify that you edited the active server instance. If your host shows multiple configurations, identify the one attached to the port or service you actually start. A correctly formatted file in an unused directory has no effect.

The server was not restarted

Stop and start the service after saving. A live process generally does not reload owner permissions simply because the text file changed. Have the player reconnect after the restart so the session is established with the new permissions.

The file contains extra characters

Open the file as plain text and remove labels, commas, quotation marks, comments, and hidden copies of the ID. Keep one numeric value per line. If you copied from a formatted document, paste into a plain-text editor first to avoid smart quotes or nonbreaking spaces.

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The panel uses a managed setting

Some providers expose an Admins field and regenerate the underlying file. Editing a generated file directly may be overwritten the next time settings are saved. Enter the ID through the panel’s documented field, save, and restart from that same interface.

The player is using a different Steam account

Owner access applies only to the Steam account represented by the listed SteamID64. Family members, alternate accounts, or a second account logged into the same computer need their own entries.

Owner tools are not visible

Permission and interface activation are separate issues. Some hosting instructions report that an in-game developer console is disabled by default and can be enabled by typing cheatstick and pressing F1; this behavior is not consistently confirmed across current builds. If the owner list is correct but a particular tool is missing, check the game build’s current controls and your host’s documentation rather than changing the SteamID file repeatedly.

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Removing or changing an administrator

Stop the server, delete only that player’s SteamID64 line from ownerswhitelist.txt, save, and restart. Removing a name from a panel’s Admins field follows the same sequence. Keep a backup before editing so you can restore the previous list if you remove the wrong account.

Because the permission is tied to the SteamID64, changing a player’s display name does not require an owner-list update. Changing the account that should have access does.

Limits and version considerations

These steps are consistent across several hosting-provider guides, but host interfaces, directory layouts, and game builds change. The available guidance does not establish one universal default path for every Windows or Linux installation, so treat a path shown by another host as an example rather than proof of where your server stores its active data.

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No official, generally documented RCON workflow is established by the available instructions; the dependable administration method described here is the owner list and whatever owner tools the current game build exposes. If you need remote console automation, verify that your server software and host explicitly support it before relying on a third-party method.

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Keep the server software updated according to your host’s normal process, and retest owner access after a major game or server update. If an update changes the filename, panel field, or permission behavior, the host’s current configuration view is the authoritative place to confirm the new setting.

Quick checklist

  • Use the player’s decimal 17-digit SteamID64, not a name.
  • Stop the server before editing.
  • Open the active ownerswhitelist.txt or the host’s Admins field.
  • Enter exactly one ID on each line and no other text.
  • Save, start the server, and wait for it to finish loading.
  • Have the authorized account reconnect and test an owner action.
  • If it fails, check the ID, filename, location, restart status, and account before changing anything else.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I add a Steam nickname instead of a SteamID64?

No. The owner list is matched to the player’s SteamID64. A nickname, profile name, or in-game name is not a substitute.

Does adding an ID grant administrator access immediately?

Usually not. The server needs to be stopped and started so it reads the changed owner list, and the player should reconnect afterward.

Why did the file disappear or get overwritten?

You may have edited a generated panel file, the wrong server instance, or the file while the process was running. Use the panel’s Admins field when provided, or stop the service before editing the active file.

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