Three files in the save folder
Valheim's access control on a dedicated server is three plain text files, and the official dedicated-server guide names them and their job in one sentence: "You can edit three separate text-files to set 1) who has admin privileges, 2) who is banned from your server, and 3) who is permitted on your server. These three files, located in the default save path, are called adminlist.txt, bannedlist.txt, and permittedlist.txt." That default save path is %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim on Windows and ~/.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim on Linux - the same place the worlds are stored - unless the -savedir [PATH] launch argument overrides it. A Docker install keeps everything together too: "The worlds, adminlist.txt, bannedlist.txt, and permittedlist.txt are all located inside this directory," the valheim_server_data volume, configurable via DOCKER_DATA_VOLUME in docker_start_server.sh.
One version note before the details: as of today the current stable patch is 1.0.16, published 25 September 2026, and everything below is the behavior its official documentation describes.
What goes in a list file: one platform ID per line
Each line of the three files is one person, identified the way the game identifies them: "Add one Platform User ID per line to set desired roles. The Platform User ID can be obtained from the Server log or from within the game using" the in-game F2 screen, and it "follows the format [Platform]_[User ID] (case sensitive)." So a line is a platform prefix, an underscore, then that player's user ID - and because the format is case sensitive, the ID has to be copied exactly as the server log or the F2 screen shows it, not retyped from memory.
Both prefix spellings are official, and both work on the current patch. Hotfix 1.0.10 & 1.0.12 (11 September 2026) "Fixed a problem with banlist and whitelist that made them only compatible with new IDs (e.g. V_123456789) even though they should work with old IDs too (e.g. Steam_123456789)." Those are Iron Gate's own examples: the newer V_123456789 form and the older Steam_123456789 form. An entry carried over from an older server that still reads Steam_... is not a mistake.
The platform prefix exists because a server can sit on either of two backends. The -crossplay launch argument "Runs the Server on the Crossplay backend (PlayFab), which lets users from any platform join. If you do not include this argument, the Steam backend is used" - and on the crossplay backend the people joining arrive from any platform, each identified by their own platform's ID. The list files take the platform-qualified form for the same reason: one line is one person on one platform, unambiguously, whichever backend the server runs on.
permittedlist.txt is a strict whitelist
The permitted list is the whitelist, and the official guide attaches one warning to it in so many words: "Please note that adding a person on the permitted list will ban everyone else from the server." That is the whole documented deal - the file is not described as a filter some players can slip past, and there is no separate server setting documented to turn the behavior on. The dedicated-server guide describes the file and that side effect, and nothing more, so treat the file itself as the mechanism and add names to it only if you mean it. One neighbouring argument is worth separating from this on purpose: -public 0 makes the server invisible in the server list, "only joinable via the 'Join IP'-button" - that is visibility, not access control, and it does nothing the permitted list does.
Opening the console: F5, and -console first on PC
The admin commands live in the in-game console, and on a current PC copy there is one step before the key. Officially, "Once you enter a Valheim world, to open the console window, press the F5 key on your keyboard, or if using a controller, press the LB + LT + Start button combination." On PC the console must be enabled first, and the official developer-mode page gives each platform's way in:
| Where you play | How the console is enabled |
|---|---|
| Steam | Add -console to the game's launch options in the Steam library. |
| Microsoft Store | Add -console to the shortcut target, e.g. start shell:appsFolder\CoffeeStainStudios.Valheim_496a1srhmar9w!Game -console. |
| Mac App Store | Launch /Applications/Valheim.app/Contents/MacOS/Valheim -console. |
| Xbox | "On Xbox, the console is enabled by default." |
Two footnotes from the same page: launch the game through the same shortcut the argument was added to, and if F5 still does nothing, check the keyboard's Function/Fn mode. None of this is new - the console has been off by default on PC since patch 0.148.6 (23 March 2021), whose notes read "Ingame console disabled by default (add launch argument '-console' to enable)," and the same patch replaced the old master switch: "The console command for enabling developer/debug commands has been changed to 'devcommands' from 'imacheater' and a warning message has been added."
devcommands: the gate before most commands
With the console open, in a world, the first command for anything beyond the basics is devcommands: "Most console commands become eligible only after typing and executing devcommands command." That rule is still maintained on the current version - patch 1.0.14 (17 September 2026) moved one command "behind the devcommands toggle and not available in the console by default" - so the gate is not a relic. What devcommands does not do is make you an admin. Admin powers come from the first of the three files: the lists exist to "set 1) who has admin privileges," and patch 0.217.24 (6 October 2023) names the exercise of those powers "using the console as an admin." Your ID in adminlist.txt is what makes the console an admin console; devcommands only unlocks the command set.
The admin console commands
The dedicated-server guide documents four admin commands, under the heading "In-Game: Admin console commands (F5 to bring down console)":
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
Kick PLAYERNAME |
"Kicks a player from the Server." |
Ban PLAYERNAME |
"Bans a player from the Server." |
Unban PLAYERNAME |
"Unbans a player." |
Banned |
"Lists all banned players." |
Note what the syntax is not: these commands take a player's name, not a platform ID. The division of labor is exact - the three files take [Platform]_[User ID] lines, and the console commands take the name of a player. Banned takes no argument at all; it lists. A ban placed with Ban and a line in bannedlist.txt are the two halves of the same system, and the guide documents both without describing one as feeding the other.
Two further commands are official and worth an admin's attention. save saves the world on demand - patch 0.210.6 (30 August 2022) wired it into the save cadence, noting "the timer is reset when using the manual save console command," and patch 0.213.4 (7 February 2023) extended what it writes: "Using the console command 'save' will now also save your local character file when playing on a multiplayer server." help lists commands with their descriptions - the 1.0 launch notes point to it for the new developer commands ("descriptions found in console 'help' command"). One honest limit belongs here: Iron Gate publishes no consolidated command reference, and the developer-mode page refers readers to a community wiki for the rest of the list. This page sticks to the commands the official pages document themselves.
Admins can also set world modifiers and presets from the console: patch 0.217.24 (6 October 2023) added "World modifiers and presets can now be set to dedicated servers using parameters in the startup batfile (see manual) or using the console as an admin." The presets the guide names are Normal, Casual, Easy, Hard, Hardcore, Immersive and Hammer, and the same settings can be fixed at startup with the -preset, -modifier and -setkey launch arguments - the console route is the one that lets an admin change them without touching the launch script.
Editing the lists: stop the server with CTRL+C first
The startup script is where a server's other settings live: the launch arguments sit on line 7 of start_headless_server.bat on Windows and start_server.sh on Linux, and Iron Gate recommends editing a copy, "since the original file will be reset each time it is updated in Steam." Alongside -savedir and -crossplay, the arguments an admin of a private server most often touches are -name, -port (default 2456-2457) and -password, plus -public 1|0 for the visibility switch described above.
To stop the server before you touch any file, the official instruction is CTRL+C in the command window: "it is important that you close it by pressing CTRL+C in the Command-window. If you close it by clicking the X in the window frame the Server may keep running in the background." When it starts again and is ready for players, the window shows "Game server connected."
Where to read next
Access control is one job of several. How to set up a Valheim dedicated server walks the full install and startup script, the crossplay guide covers the PlayFab backend and join codes behind those platform IDs, the move-your-world guide covers the save folder these list files live in, password-protecting a game server covers the neighbouring access question, and Valheim server hosting availability shows the current plans and whether orders for them are open.
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