How to Become an Admin on Your Starbound Server

Want to spawn items, warp around your universe, or kick a troublesome player? All of that requires admin permissions. Becoming an admin on Starbound is a two-part process: first you flag your account as an admin in the server's configuration file, then you activate admin mode in-game with a simple chat command.

⚠️ Important Warning
Always make sure your server is completely stopped on your MintServers panel before editing this file. It uses strict JSON formatting, so a single missing comma or bracket can stop it from starting. Only grant admin to players you trust, since admin commands can affect every player on your server.

Step 1: Accessing The Configuration File

Log into your MintServers panel and click Stop to safely shut down your server.

Navigate to the Files tab on the left-hand sidebar.

Open the storage folder and click on starbound_server.config to open it in the text editor.

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Step 2: Flag Your Account As Admin

Scroll through the file until you find the line that begins with "serverUsers".

If you already set up a user account for yourself while whitelisting players on your server, find your existing entry and change "admin" : false to "admin" : true.

If you don't have an account yet, add a new entry inside the serverUsers brackets using the format below, replacing YourUsername and YourPassword with your own details.

📄 starbound_server.config

"serverUsers" : {
    "YourUsername" : {
        "admin" : true,
        "password" : "YourPassword"
    }
},

💡 Tip
If you're adding this account alongside other players in the same serverUsers block, remember to add a comma after each closing bracket except the very last one.

Step 3: Save And Restart

Save the file.

Navigate back to the Console tab and click Start.

Step 4: Activate Admin Mode In-Game

Launch Starbound and connect to your server, using the username and password you just set up.

Once you're in, press Enter to open chat.

Type /admin and press Enter.

Admin mode unlocks every crafting recipe, stops you from taking damage or losing energy, and grants you access to admin-only commands. Type /admin again at any time to toggle it back off.

⚠️ Remember To Toggle It Off
Leaving admin mode on while playing normally makes you invincible and gives you unlimited energy, which usually isn't what you want during regular gameplay. Toggle it off with /admin once you're done with admin tasks.

A Few Commands To Get You Started

/list
Lists everyone currently connected to your server.

/kick <player>
Removes a player from the server.

/ban <player>
Kicks and bans a player.

/whoami and /serverwhoami
Show your local and server admin status. If admin commands aren't working, check /serverwhoami first, since that's the one that actually controls permissions.

/spawnitem <itemName> [count]
Spawns an item at your cursor. There is no /give command in Starbound.

Related Guides

How to Configure Your Starbound Server Settings
A closer look at starbound_server.config and its other settings.

How to Whitelist Players on Your Starbound Server
Set up accounts for your other players and lock the server to them.

How to Join Your Starbound Server
A refresher on connecting with your new username and password.

🛠️ Troubleshooting Common Admin Issues

"/admin" says you don't have permission

Double-check that you connected using the exact username and password from the account you flagged as admin, and that "admin" : true was saved correctly for that account.

Commands still don't work after using /admin

Make sure allowAdminCommands is set to true elsewhere in the config file. Without it, admin commands are disabled server-wide, even for flagged accounts.

Changes aren't taking effect

Confirm the server was fully stopped while you edited the file, and that you restarted it afterward. Config changes don't apply while the server is still running.

You're now ready to manage your Starbound server like a pro.

Still stuck?

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