GMod admin commands: ULX and ULib setup

ULX and ULib are the standard admin tools for Garry's Mod (GMod). ULib handles permissions and storage in the background, ULX adds the commands admins actually type, plus a graphical menu. Both are free, both come from the same team, and you need both: ULX does nothing without ULib. This guide covers installing them, making yourself superadmin, and the commands you'll use every session.

Install ULib and ULX

Workshop route (recommended). Add both items to the Workshop collection your server already uses:

1. Subscribe to ULib and ULX on the Steam Workshop, then add both to your collection. New to collections? How to add a Steam Workshop collection to your GMod server builds one from scratch and covers the Workshop tab in full.
2. Open your server's Workshop tab and check your collection is linked. The server rereads the whole collection on boot, so a fresh restart is what actually picks up the two new items.
3. Restart the server. The Workshop tab adds ULib and ULX to the players' download list by itself, so joining players get them too.

File Manager route. Download the ULX and ULib archives (ulyssesmod.net, or by extracting your own Workshop subscriptions), then in your server's File Manager upload the zip into garrysmod/addons and press Extract here. You should end up with garrysmod/addons/ulx and garrysmod/addons/ulib folders sitting next to each other.

Make yourself superadmin

Superadmin is the top usergroup: every command, plus the ability to override other admins' immunity. Nobody starts as superadmin, so you have to set the first one yourself from the panel.

The quick way. Join your server, then open its Players tab in the dashboard. Once ULX is installed, each player on the server has a shield button: press it on your own name, leave Superadmin picked and press Make superadmin. The panel sends the command for you by your SteamID, so there is nothing to type or quote. The same button gives a friend the Admin group.

From the console. Open your server's Console tab and type one of these, then press enter:

ulx adduser "YourName" superadmin

Quote the name if it has a space in it; ULX matches it against a currently connected player. If you're not connected, use your SteamID instead:

ulx adduserid STEAM_0:1:12345678 superadmin

Both are console-only commands (there's no chat version), and both need superadmin access to run, which is why the first one has to come from your own server console. After that, your new superadmin can promote anyone else the same way, in-game, or through the menu.

Finding your SteamID: join the server, then in the panel's Console run status. Your name appears in the player list next to an ID in the STEAM_0:X:Y form. That's what adduserid wants.

The default groups

ULib ships with four groups, each inheriting everything the one before it has:

Because each group inherits from the last, putting someone in admin also gives them everything operator and user already have.

Open the admin menu

ULX has a graphical menu (XGUI) for most of this, if you'd rather click than type:

• In chat: !menu
• In the game console (the ~ key): ulx menu

The menu's Groups tab can add a connected player to a group without typing a command, and is a quick way to see who holds what.

Everyday commands

Every command works two ways: as a chat message starting with !, or typed into a console (the panel's Console, or your own in-game console) starting with ulx. <player> matches a connected player by name.

For ban and banid, a minutes value of 0 bans permanently. Leave the reason off and the ban just isn't logged with one.

Give a group more power

Rather than making everyone a full admin, hand operator (or a group of your own) exactly the commands it needs:

ulx groupallow operator "ulx kick"
ulx groupallow operator "ulx slay"

To create your own group instead of using the built-in ones:

ulx addgroup moderator admin

That creates moderator, inheriting everything admin has. Leave the second word off and a new group inherits from user instead. Both commands are console only and need superadmin.

Back up your admin lists

ULib keeps who's in which group in two plain text files:

• garrysmod/data/ulib/users.txt, one entry per player and their group.
• garrysmod/data/ulib/groups.txt, the groups themselves and what each is allowed.

Open your server's File Manager, go to garrysmod/data/ulib, and press Download on both before a big change, especially before removing someone's access. If a change goes wrong, upload the old copy back over it and restart.

Common mistakes

1. Only one of the two addons installed. ULX with no ULib, or the reverse, does nothing. Check garrysmod/addons for both folders, or that both are in your Workshop collection.
2. A name with a space, left unquoted. ulx adduser John Smith superadmin reads "Smith" as the group name and fails. Use ulx adduser "John Smith" superadmin.
3. Adding yourself while disconnected. adduser only matches a connected player. If you're not on the server, use adduserid with your SteamID instead.
4. Another admin addon fighting ULX. Running a second admin mod alongside ULX usually leaves both half-working, with commands silently refused. Pick one admin mod for the server.

Our Garry's Mod plans run ULX and any other Workshop admin mod with no extra setup. Still setting up the server itself? GMod server: connect, Workshop, gamemodes covers the basics.