How to Whitelist Players on Your Starbound Server

Starbound doesn't have a whitelist in the traditional sense, but it gives you something even more secure: individual user accounts with their own passwords. Setting these up, combined with turning off anonymous connections, keeps your server private to only the players you approve.

Step 1: Accessing The Configuration File

1. Log into your MintServers panel and click Stop to safely shut down your server.
2. Navigate to the Files tab on the left-hand sidebar.
3. Open the storage folder and click on starbound_server.config to open it in the text editor. For a closer look at this file and its other settings, see our guide on configuring your Starbound server settings.

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Step 2: Add A User Account For Each Player

1. Scroll through the file until you find the line that begins with "serverUsers", followed by an empty pair of curly brackets.
2. Inside those brackets, add one block per player using the format below, replacing username with the exact name they'll enter when joining, and password with their chosen password.

"serverUsers" : {
    "PlayerOne" : {
        "admin" : false,
        "password" : "theirpassword"
    },
    "PlayerTwo" : {
        "admin" : true,
        "password" : "anotherpassword"
    }
},

Step 3: Turn Off Anonymous Connections

Adding accounts alone isn't enough. As long as anonymous connections are allowed, anyone can still join without a username or password at all.

1. Near the top of the same file, find the line "allowAnonymousConnections" : true.
2. Change true to false.
3. Save the file.
4. Navigate back to the Console tab and click Start.

Once your server restarts, only the accounts you added will be able to connect, each logging in with their own username and password.

Your server is now private to only your approved players. If you run into any trouble getting the formatting right, no worries! Just open a support ticket and our team will gladly help you get it sorted.