How to Whitelist Players on Your Starbound Server

Aug 14, 2026 3 min read

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.

⚠️ 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.

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: Add A User Account For Each Player

Scroll through the file until you find the line that begins with "serverUsers", followed by an empty pair of curly brackets.

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.

📄 starbound_server.config

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

💡 Tip: Making Someone An Admin
Set "admin" to true for any account that should be able to use in-game admin commands, and false for regular players. Keep this list private since anyone with these usernames and passwords can log in as that player.

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.

Near the top of the same file, find the line "allowAnonymousConnections" : true.

Change true to false.

Save the file.

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.

Related Guides

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

🛠️ Troubleshooting Common Whitelist Issues

Player can't connect at all

Confirm their username in the config file exactly matches the character name they're entering in-game, including capitalization.

Server won't start after editing

Double check that every account block has matching curly brackets and commas, and that the very last entry in the list doesn't have a trailing comma after it.

Locked yourself out

If allowAnonymousConnections is set to false and no working accounts exist yet, nobody, including you, can join. Set it back to true temporarily while you fix your account entries.

Your server is now private to only your approved players.

Still stuck?

Our team is happy to help. Open a ticket through the live chat button in the bottom-right corner of our website, or join our Discord and open a ticket there.

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