Your ARK: Survival Ascended server has an admin password from the moment it's created. With it you can fly, spawn items, tame on the spot and keep order: kicking, banning and saving the world. This guide covers where the password is, how to use it in game, the commands admins reach for most, and what the panel's Console can do without joining.
Find your admin password
- Open your server's Startup tab.
- Admin Password holds a password generated for your server.
To change it, type a new one (8 to 64 letters, numbers, dashes or underscores) and restart the server. The panel's Console uses the same password, so it keeps working after the change.
Anyone with this password can use every cheat on your server. Share it only with people you'd trust to run it. The game also prints it in the console on every boot, so anyone with Console access in the panel can read it.
Turn on admin in game
- Join your server.
- Open the in-game console. On PC it's the Tab key by default.
- Type
enablecheats yourpasswordand press Enter.
Nothing appears to happen, but you're now an admin until you leave the server. Type it again each time you join.
Admin commands start with cheat: for example, cheat fly. Some guides write admincheat instead, which does the same.
Commands for getting around
Commands for items, dinos and the world
destroywilddinos is useful after changing the wild dino level in Server Settings: the old dinos keep their levels until they respawn.
Keep order: kick, ban and message
ARK finds players by an ID, not by name:
- Type
cheat listplayers. Each line shows a number, the player's name and their ID. - Copy the ID of the player you want.
- Use one of these:
Use the panel's Console instead
The panel's Console runs admin commands without joining the game and without enablecheats: it's logged in with your admin password already. Type the command without cheat, such as ListPlayers, KickPlayer <ID>, Broadcast Restart in 5 minutes or SaveWorld. Use your server console and send commands explains the command box.
Commands that act on you in game, such as fly or gfi, only work in game: the console has no character to give them to.
Run SaveWorld before stopping or restarting the server by hand, so the last few minutes of play are on disk. The panel's scheduled restarts can run it for you first.
Frequently asked questions
I typed enablecheats and commands still don't work
Check the password against the Startup tab: it's case-sensitive. Then make sure you typed cheat before each command.
Can I give a friend access to the panel instead?
Yes. Give friends access to your server panel covers the Team tab. Remember that Console access lets them read the admin password.
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