This guide covers how to set up and use admin commands on your ARK: Survival Ascended server, including in-game console commands, RCON access, and granting admin privileges to other players.

Prerequisites

• An active ARK: Survival Ascended server with Legion Hosting
• Access to GPanel
• A ServerAdminPassword configured in your GameUserSettings.ini (covered in Step 1 below)

Step 1 — Set the Admin Password

The admin password is set in GameUserSettings.ini under the [ServerSettings] section. If you already have an admin password configured, skip to Step 2.

1. Log in to GPanel and select your ARK: Survival Ascended server.
2. Stop the server from the Console tab and wait for the status to show Offline.
3. Click the Files tab and navigate to ShooterGame/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/.
4. Open GameUserSettings.ini in the file editor.
5. Find the [ServerSettings] section and locate or add the ServerAdminPassword line:

[ServerSettings]
ServerAdminPassword=YourSecurePassword

6. Save the file and start the server from the Console tab.

Step 2 — Enable Admin Mode In-Game

Every time you join your server, you must authenticate as admin before any admin commands will work. This is required once per session.

1. Join your ARK: Survival Ascended server.
2. Press the tilde key (~) to open the in-game console. On some keyboard layouts the key may be ` (backtick).
3. Type the following command, replacing YourPassword with the ServerAdminPassword you set in Step 1:

EnableCheats YourPassword

4. Press Enter. If the password is correct, no error message will appear and you now have admin access for this session.

Step 3 — Using Admin Commands

Once authenticated, you can run admin commands from the in-game console. Most commands require the cheat or admincheat prefix. The table below lists the most commonly used commands.

Most-Used Admin Commands

Giving Items — Quick Reference

The two main ways to give items are GiveItemNum (by item ID number) and GFI (by short name). The syntax for both is:

cheat GFI <ShortName> <Quantity> <Quality> <IsBlueprint>

Quality: 1 = Primitive through higher values for better quality
IsBlueprint: 0 = item, 1 = blueprint

Common item short names:

Step 4 — RCON (Remote Console) Access

RCON lets you run admin commands remotely without joining the server in-game. This is useful for managing the server from outside the game or running scheduled commands.

RCON via GPanel

GPanel includes a built-in console on the Console tab. You can type admin commands directly into the console input field while the server is running. Commands entered here are executed as if you had run them in-game with admin privileges — no EnableCheats required.

RCON via Third-Party Tools

If you prefer a dedicated RCON client, you can use third-party tools such as mcrcon, ARRCON, or RCONConsole. To connect, you will need:

To enable RCON on your server, make sure the following setting exists in your GameUserSettings.ini under [ServerSettings]:

[ServerSettings]
RCONEnabled=True
RCONPort=27020
ServerAdminPassword=YourSecurePassword

Granting Admin Access to Other Players

In ARK: Survival Ascended, admin access is controlled entirely by the ServerAdminPassword. There is no separate admin list or per-player admin role. To give another player admin access:

1. Share the ServerAdminPassword with the player privately.
2. The player joins the server and runs EnableCheats YourPassword in the console to authenticate.
3. They will have full admin privileges for that session.

Verification

1. Join your server and open the console with ~.
2. Run EnableCheats YourPassword — no error message should appear.
3. Test with a harmless command such as cheat Fly. If your character starts flying, admin mode is working correctly. Run cheat Walk to return to normal.
4. Run cheat ListPlayers to verify you can see the player list. This confirms full admin access.

Troubleshooting

EnableCheats does not work or returns an error

• Double-check that you are typing the exact password set in ServerAdminPassword in your GameUserSettings.ini. Passwords are case-sensitive.
• Make sure there are no trailing spaces in the password field in the config file.
• If you recently changed the password, the server must be restarted for the change to take effect.
• Confirm that the ServerAdminPassword line is under the [ServerSettings] section and not misplaced under a different section header.

Admin commands do nothing or return "no permission"

• You must run EnableCheats first every time you join. Admin mode does not persist between sessions.
• If you disconnected and reconnected, run EnableCheats again before trying any commands.
• Some commands require the cheat prefix. Try adding cheat before the command if it is not working (e.g., cheat Fly instead of just Fly).

RCON connection refused or times out

• Verify that RCONEnabled=True is set in your GameUserSettings.ini under [ServerSettings].
• Confirm the RCONPort in the config matches the port allocated in GPanel's Network tab.
• Make sure the server is fully running before attempting to connect — RCON is not available during startup.
• If no RCON port is listed in GPanel, contact support to request a port allocation.

GPanel console commands are not executing

• Ensure the server is in the Running state. Commands cannot be sent to a stopped or starting server.
• Try a simple command like ListPlayers first to verify the console connection is working.
• If the console shows no response, the server may have crashed silently. Check the Console tab output for errors and restart if needed.