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To become an administrator on a The Forest dedicated server, the server owner must set an administration password in serverPasswordAdmin (or pass one at launch with -serverpassword_admin <password>). You then enter that password in the Admin Password field in the server’s join dialog before connecting. The Forest does not have a documented Steam ID administrator whitelist.

How The Forest server administration works

The Forest uses a shared administrator password rather than a documented list of approved Steam IDs. The password belongs to the dedicated server. Anyone who knows it can request administrator access when joining, so it should be treated like a server credential, not a personal account setting.

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The complete sequence is:

  1. The server owner sets serverPasswordAdmin in the dedicated-server configuration, or supplies -serverpassword_admin <password> on the server’s launch command.
  2. The player joins through the normal server browser or direct connection flow.
  3. In the join dialog, the player enters the same value in the Admin Password field.
  4. After the connection succeeds, the player opens chat with Enter and runs administrator commands by placing / at the beginning of the command.

There is no supported way to type the password after you are already inside the game and gain administrator status on that connection. If you joined without the admin password, disconnect, rejoin, and supply it in the join dialog.

Set the administrator password on a self-hosted dedicated server

Find the dedicated-server configuration

A community setup guide places the dedicated-server files under:

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C:Users[USER]AppDataLocalLowSKSTheForestDedicatedServerds

Replace [USER] with the Windows account that runs the server. The same guide reports that running the dedicated server once creates the configuration files; it also describes errors during that first run as normal. Because this location and first-run behavior come from community documentation rather than a current official step-by-step guide, check the folder generated by your installed server build if the path is absent.

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Set serverPasswordAdmin in Server.cfg

Open the server configuration file named Server.cfg and locate the setting named serverPasswordAdmin. Set its value to a password that players who need administrator access can enter. The official wiki describes this setting as the server administration password and states that leaving it blank means there is no password.

Do not confuse this setting with an ordinary player password. The administrator value is specifically the credential entered in the Admin Password field of the join dialog. Save the file using the format already used by the generated configuration; do not rename the setting or create a second spelling of it.

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Use the launch option instead

You can provide the administrator password when starting the server with:

-serverpassword_admin <password>

The official server documentation states that command-line values override matching entries in the configuration file. Therefore, if the launch command contains -serverpassword_admin, changing serverPasswordAdmin in Server.cfg will not change the effective password until the launch argument is removed or updated.

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After changing either the configuration value or the launch command, fully stop and restart the dedicated server before testing. A running process will continue using the values with which it was started.

Set the password on a hosted server

Many game-server hosts do not expect you to edit Server.cfg directly. Their control panel normally exposes a startup setting labelled Admin Password. Enter the desired value there and submit or save the startup configuration, then restart the server from the panel.

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On these hosts, the panel may place the password on the server’s launch line. In that situation, a manual edit to a configuration file can appear to save successfully but have no effect because the launch argument takes precedence. If the password in the panel and the password in the file disagree, use the panel value when joining.

Labels differ between providers. Look specifically for an administrator-password or startup-parameter field, not a general server-password field. If no administrator field is available, ask the host whether it supports serverPasswordAdmin or the -serverpassword_admin launch option for the current The Forest server build.

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Join with administrator access

Enter the password before connecting

  1. Start The Forest and open the multiplayer server browser or the connection dialog you normally use for the dedicated server.
  2. Select the target server and open its join dialog.
  3. Find the field labelled Admin Password. This is separate from any ordinary server password field.
  4. Type the exact administrator password configured by the server owner. Passwords are case-sensitive if the server treats the supplied characters as distinct; avoid adding spaces before or after the value.
  5. Submit the join dialog and wait for the connection to complete.

The password must be supplied as part of the join request. If the dialog has no Admin Password field, you are likely in a different connection flow, using a server that is not running the dedicated-server administration feature, or playing a build whose interface has changed. Confirm the server type and current game build with the owner rather than assuming that a Steam ID file will grant access.

Confirm that you are an administrator

Once connected, press Enter to open chat. Administrator commands are entered there with a leading slash. Type:

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/help

The official server documentation identifies /help as the command that lists available administrator commands. If the command produces the command list, the server accepted your administrator credentials. If it is treated as ordinary chat or produces no administrator response, leave the server and repeat the join process with the password in the Admin Password field.

Command reference and syntax limits

The available command set can depend on the server build. Use /help on the server as the authoritative list for your session rather than copying a command list from a different game.

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Command or setting Purpose or status What is established
serverPasswordAdmin Dedicated-server administrator password The official wiki describes a blank value as meaning no password.
-serverpassword_admin <password> Launch-time administrator password Command-line values override matching configuration entries.
/help Lists administrator commands in chat Type it after joining with administrator access.
/ban (steam id) Ban command listed by the official wiki The wiki notes that more information is required; exact syntax is not verified here.
/kick (steam id) Kick command listed by the official wiki The wiki notes that more information is required; exact syntax is not verified here.

Do not infer additional arguments for /ban or /kick from the examples above. The parenthetical text indicates that the command requires a player’s Steam ID, but the precise format and any other required parameters should be obtained from /help on the running server or from current official documentation.

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Troubleshoot a failed administrator login

The password is rejected or you have no admin commands

  • Check where the effective value is set. A launch argument overrides the value in Server.cfg. Update or remove -serverpassword_admin if it contains an old password.
  • Restart the server. Stop the dedicated-server process after changing the password, then start it again before testing.
  • Rejoin instead of trying to promote yourself in-game. Administrator status is granted during the join request; it cannot be added after you have connected.
  • Check the field used. Enter the value in Admin Password, not only in a normal server-password field.
  • Check for whitespace and spelling. Compare the value character by character with the panel or launch configuration.

A hosted panel change does nothing

Verify that you saved the startup settings and restarted the instance. Some hosts regenerate configuration files whenever the server starts, so a hand-edited file can be overwritten or ignored. Ask the host to show the effective startup parameters and confirm whether the panel is passing -serverpassword_admin.

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The configuration file or folder is missing

Use the server’s own generated data directory rather than creating a similarly named folder elsewhere. The community guide cited above reports that the files appear after the dedicated server has been run once. If the directory still does not appear, confirm that you installed and launched the dedicated-server software, that it runs under the Windows account whose AppData you are checking, and that your current build has not changed the storage location.

A copied command from the internet fails

Start with /help and the commands shown by the server itself. Several popular command lists use commands associated with Sons of the Forest, a different game. Those commands are not evidence that the same syntax works in The Forest. If an administrator command is not listed by /help, do not assume that a third-party guide is compatible.

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What not to use for The Forest administration

Steam ID owner-whitelist files

Some guides recommend a Steam64 ownerswhitelist.txt file. The documented method belongs to Sons of the Forest, not The Forest. The available The Forest documentation describes the administrator password instead, and no documented Steam ID administrator whitelist is established here. Do not copy the whitelist procedure unless current The Forest documentation specifically adds it for your build.

serverSteamAccount

serverSteamAccount is a Steam game-server login token for app 242760. It identifies the server account used for Steam services; it is not an administrator list and does not grant a player admin rights.

cheatstick, cs:teleport, and similar lists

Command lists containing cheatstick or cs:teleport appear to describe Sons of the Forest. They should not be treated as The Forest administrator commands. The server’s own /help output is the safer compatibility check.

Security and day-to-day administration

  • Give the administrator password only to people who should be able to run server commands. Anyone who can enter it at join time may receive the same privileges.
  • Do not publish the password in a public chat, server description, launch script shared with players, or screenshot.
  • When access should end, change the configured password, restart the server, and provide the new value only to current administrators. Players using the old value will need to reconnect with the new one.
  • Keep a record of whether the active value comes from Server.cfg or a launch argument. This prevents an apparently successful file edit from being masked by an overriding startup option.
  • After a game update, test the login flow and run /help. The configuration names and command behavior may change between builds.

Version and documentation caveats

The configuration guides available for this setup are several years old, while the current date is October 2026. The core password workflow is documented, but exact file locations, interface labels, and command syntax can change with game or server updates. The official wiki’s descriptions of /ban and /kick explicitly indicate that more information is required, so this guide does not invent a complete syntax for either command.

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A forum report connects the F1 developer console with serverPasswordAdmin, developermodeon, and the server’s allowCheats setting, but that behavior is not confirmed by an official source. Treat it as unverified and do not enable it merely because you need ordinary server administration. For supported administration, set the administrator password, enter it before joining, and use the commands exposed by /help.

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