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To make yourself an administrator on a standard Unturned server, use your 17-digit SteamID64—not your display name—in the server configuration. Stop the server, open the Commands.dat file in its Server folder, add an Owner line containing your SteamID64, save the file, and start the server again. Your account should have owner-level permissions after the next boot.

If you only need to grant administrator access to another player, you can use an Admin entry or the in-game /admin command. RocketMod installations use a different permissions file, so identify which server framework you are running before editing anything.

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What you need before changing the server

Have these items ready:

  • Access to the machine or hosting-panel file manager that stores the Unturned server files.
  • The server’s current stop and start controls. Do not edit configuration files while the server process is writing to them.
  • Your SteamID64, which is a 17-digit numeric identifier. Unturned permissions are tied to this identifier, not to your Steam display name, profile nickname, or character name.
  • A text editor that can save plain text without adding rich formatting.

Copy the SteamID64 carefully. A single missing or transposed digit gives the server a different identity and commonly results in a permission-denied message. If you are granting access to someone else, have that player provide the numeric SteamID64 rather than a name that could change or be duplicated.

Server files and labels are case-sensitive in the contexts described by the available guides. Keep the spelling and capitalization of Commands.dat, Server, Owner, and Admin exactly as shown.

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Method 1: make yourself the owner in Commands.dat

This is the clearest method for the person who owns or controls the server. An owner entry is read at server startup and gives the listed Steam account the highest built-in permission level.

  1. Stop Unturned completely. Use the host’s Stop button or stop the dedicated-server process from the console. Wait until the process is fully offline.
  2. Open the server’s Server folder. In that folder, locate the file named Commands.dat. If the host presents a virtual file tree, open the server configuration area rather than the game’s local client files.
  3. Back up the file. Download a copy or duplicate it before editing. This gives you a quick recovery path if a panel rewrites the file or a formatting mistake prevents the server from starting normally.
  4. Add one owner line. Put the following on its own line, replacing the example number with your actual SteamID64:
    Owner 76561198000000000
  5. Save as plain text. Do not put the number in quotation marks, do not add a username, and do not combine the entry with another command on the same line.
  6. Start the server again. The owner assignment is applied during boot. Join with the Steam account whose SteamID64 you entered and test an administrative action.

Commands in Commands.dat are entered one per line. The command keyword is case-sensitive, so Owner is not interchangeable with a differently capitalized spelling. A typical file can contain several settings, with the owner line simply occupying one additional line; do not delete unrelated settings unless you know what they control.

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Why Owner is preferable for the server owner

The owner line is attached to the server’s startup configuration. It survives ordinary restarts and does not depend on an administrator being present to run a command in chat. It also avoids the ambiguity around whether an in-game administrator grant is temporary or permanent.

Method 2: use Adminlist.dat

Unturned’s built-in admin list is stored in Adminlist.dat inside the same Server folder. Add one SteamID64 per line:

76561198000000000
76561198011111111

Save the file while the server is stopped, then restart the server. Each listed account is granted administrator access when the server boots. This method is useful when you want several administrators without assigning owner status.

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Use the exact filename Adminlist.dat, including the capital A. A file named owners.dat is not the built-in Unturned admin-list file; guides that direct you to create or edit it are pointing to the wrong location for this setup.

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Owner versus administrator

Configuration Where it goes When it takes effect Typical use
Owner SteamID64 Server/Commands.dat At server boot Primary server owner or the account that needs owner-level control
SteamID64 alone Server/Adminlist.dat, one ID per line At server boot One or more regular administrators
Admin SteamID64 Commands.dat when the command is processed Described by guides as immediate when applied to a running server; file edits still should be made offline and followed by a restart Granting administrator status without owner status

Because host panels can regenerate configuration files, the safest repeatable workflow is to stop the server, edit the intended file, save, and restart. If you enter a command through a live console, the server may process it immediately, but that does not guarantee a permanent file change.

Method 3: grant admin from inside the game

If you already have owner authority, guides commonly show this chat command:

/admin 76561198011111111

Some guides also show a player name in place of the SteamID64:

/admin PlayerName

The numeric SteamID64 is the safer choice because names can change and may not be unique. Open the server chat, enter the command, and submit it while connected as the owner. Depending on the server version and command implementation, a guide may describe this grant as temporary, while a separate /owner console command is described as permanent. Those behaviors are not consistently documented in the available material, so use Commands.dat or Adminlist.dat when you need a durable assignment.

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Instructions disagree about the default chat key: one set says Enter, another says J. Check your current key bindings and the on-screen chat prompt instead of assuming one key applies to every installation. Older forum instructions may also show the command without a leading slash; newer guides generally use the slash form. Follow the syntax accepted by your server’s current build.

RocketMod servers use a different permission system

A server running RocketMod does not use the vanilla file-only process in the same way. Admin access is granted through Permissions.config.xml. If you see RocketMod’s plugins, permission groups, or configuration files, edit that permissions file and place the player’s SteamID64 in the appropriate administrator group according to the server’s existing structure.

Do not mix the two systems blindly. Adding an Owner line to vanilla Commands.dat will not repair a RocketMod permission setup that denies the command, and changing RocketMod’s XML will not help if you are actually running an unmodified server. First identify whether the server starts with RocketMod and whether its panel exposes RocketMod configuration.

RocketMod permission-denied checklist

  • Confirm the SteamID64 is the account’s numeric identifier, not a display name.
  • Confirm you edited the active RocketMod Permissions.config.xml, not a backup or a different server instance.
  • Preserve the XML structure already used by the installation; malformed XML can stop permissions from loading.
  • Restart the server after saving, unless the particular permission plugin documents a live reload command.

Cheats and command capabilities

Administrator status and cheat access are related but not identical. According to the available command guidance, spawn and give commands require cheats to be enabled in Commands.dat as well as administrator rights. A player can therefore be recognized as an admin and still be unable to spawn items if cheats are disabled.

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Teleport-style commands require administrator rights but do not carry the same stated cheats requirement. This distinction matters when you want moderation or movement tools without enabling every cheat-based command.

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Some hosting panels do not show a literal text setting for cheats. Instead, they expose a Server Cheats checkbox. If your panel provides that control, use it rather than adding an unfamiliar line manually, then restart the server so the setting is loaded consistently.

Choosing whether to enable cheats

  • Leave cheats disabled when you only need moderation, teleportation, or administrative management and want to limit item-spawning commands.
  • Enable cheats when the server’s operators deliberately need spawn or give commands. Tell players that this changes the command set available to administrators.

Exact restart workflow for a hosting panel

  1. Open the panel for the correct Unturned instance and press Stop.
  2. Wait for the status to show that the process has exited. Editing while it is still running risks having your changes overwritten during shutdown.
  3. Open the file manager and navigate to Server.
  4. Select Commands.dat for an owner entry or Adminlist.dat for a list of administrators. For RocketMod, open Permissions.config.xml instead.
  5. Save the file, close the editor, and verify that the file name and capitalization have not changed.
  6. Press Start and watch the console for a normal startup.
  7. Join using the account whose SteamID64 you entered. Run a low-impact administrative check before attempting spawn or give commands.

If the panel has separate instances, profiles, or worlds, confirm that you edited the instance your players actually join. A correct line in an inactive profile has no effect on the live server.

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Troubleshooting: permission denied or no admin powers

1. Recheck the SteamID64

Compare every digit in the configuration with the player’s SteamID64. The number must be 17 digits and must belong to the Steam account currently joining the server. A display name, account nickname, or shortened identifier will not substitute for it.

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2. Check the file and location

For a vanilla owner assignment, the path is Server/Commands.dat. For the vanilla admin list, it is Server/Adminlist.dat. If the server uses RocketMod, check Permissions.config.xml instead. The similarly named owners.dat file is not the built-in admin-list location.

3. Confirm syntax and capitalization

Use one command per line. The owner form is Owner SteamID64; an admin-list file contains only the numeric ID on each line. Remove quotation marks, extra punctuation, and trailing text. Keep Owner, Admin, and file names capitalized as expected.

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4. Restart after saving

Boot-time settings are not guaranteed to change while the process is running. Stop the server, save the file, and start it again. A running process can also overwrite edits made during shutdown.

5. Check whether the command needs cheats

If teleportation works but spawn or give does not, the permission assignment may be correct and cheats may simply be disabled. Enable the server’s cheat setting only if those commands are required.

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6. Verify that you are testing the right server

Multiple installations, profiles, or host-panel instances can have separate Server folders. Make sure the address and instance you join correspond to the files you edited.

7. Consider a framework mismatch

RocketMod permission handling can override expectations from a vanilla setup. If the server reports permission errors despite a correct SteamID64 in the vanilla files, inspect the RocketMod configuration and its permission groups.

Safe editing and recovery practices

  • Keep a dated backup of Commands.dat, Adminlist.dat, or Permissions.config.xml before each change.
  • Make one permission change at a time, restart, and test. This makes it clear which edit caused a problem.
  • Do not paste rich text from a web page into a configuration file; plain text prevents hidden formatting characters.
  • Do not expose your SteamID64 as a password. It identifies the account for permissions, but it does not replace account security.
  • Limit owner-level access to trusted operators. Give regular staff administrator entries when owner privileges are unnecessary.

If the server fails to start after an edit

  1. Stop the process if the panel has left it in a crash loop.
  2. Restore the backup of the edited file.
  3. Start the server and confirm it returns to a healthy state.
  4. Reapply the permission line carefully, preserving the original file’s formatting and one-command-per-line structure.

Which method should you choose?

Your situation Recommended method Reason
You run the server and need permanent top-level control Owner in Commands.dat Explicit owner assignment loaded at boot
You need to authorize several moderators One SteamID64 per line in Adminlist.dat Simple list maintained separately from other commands
You are already online as owner and need to grant a player access quickly /admin SteamID64 Can be processed in-game; permanence may vary by implementation
The server uses RocketMod Permissions.config.xml RocketMod’s permission system is separate from the vanilla file method

Version and documentation caveat

Unturned server guides do not agree on every command detail. In particular, the default chat key, whether an in-game admin grant persists, and the exact handling of an Admin entry can differ between guides or server versions. The file locations and SteamID64 requirement described above are the consistent parts of the available guidance, but version-specific behavior should be checked against the controls and console output of your own installation.

The practical rule is to make permanent changes in the configuration file used by your server framework, always restart after saving, and treat live chat commands as convenience operations unless your current build explicitly confirms that they persist.

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