The in-game console is the fastest way to diagnose a misbehaving server, run an event, or test a balance change without grinding. This page walks through the commands that are actually useful on a multiplayer server, with verified syntax and the warnings that matter. The full alphabetical reference lives at Admin Commands; this guide is a "what do I use this for" view.
Press F1 to open the console on most layouts (on some keyboard layouts the console is bound instead to the key above Tab, e.g. tilde or backtick). On dedicated servers, only players in serveradmin.xml can run privileged commands; permission level 0 is full access, higher numbers are more restricted. Players without admin access see the console as a chat-only window.
For headless dedicated servers, you can also run admin commands via telnet (default port 8081) or the web control panel - useful when the in-game client is unavailable.
When the server is lagging or memory is climbing, these are the first commands to run before reaching for a restart.
| Command | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
mem | - | Prints memory information and calls the garbage collector. Run this first when a player reports lag or rubber-banding. |
memcl | - | Like mem but for client memory; calls GC on the client side. |
chunkcache | cc | Lists chunks currently loaded in the server cache. Useful for spotting runaway chunk loading near a problem POI. |
listents | le | Lists all entities currently spawned (zombies, players, animals, vehicles). Quick way to confirm if you're hitting MaxSpawnedZombies. |
listplayers | lp | Lists all currently-connected players. |
lpi | - | Lists all players who have ever played, with their entity IDs and Steam/EOS IDs. Use this to find the right ID for ban / kick. |
gettime | gt | Prints the current in-game day and time. |
The bread-and-butter of running a public server.
| Command | Syntax | Notes |
|---|---|---|
kick | kick <name | entity id | steam id> [reason] | Removes a single player; they can rejoin. |
kickall | kickall [reason] | Drops every connected player. Useful before a reboot or settings change. |
ban add | ban add <name | id> <duration> <duration unit> [reason] | Duration unit is e.g. minutes, hours, days, years. |
ban list | ban list | Lists all active bans. |
ban remove | ban remove <name | id> | Removes a ban by player identifier. |
say | say <message> | Broadcasts a server message to every connected client. Sender shows as "Server". |
shutdown | shutdown | Saves and exits cleanly. Always preferred over killing the process. |
For events, testing, or rolling out a temporary tweak.
| Command | Syntax | Notes |
|---|---|---|
settime | settime day | settime night | settime <hhmm> | settime <day> <hour> <minute> | Warning from the in-game help: "Using this command runs a high risk of breaking everything timer related on your save game." Use sparingly and back up your save first. |
weather | weather (run help weather for parameters) | Controls weather settings. Specific subcommands change between patches - help weather in your version's console is the source of truth. |
spawnentity | se <player id> <entity id> | Spawns the named entity at the named player. Look up entity IDs with listknownentities. |
spawnwh | spawnwh <number> | Spawns a wandering horde of the given size. Use for live events, but watch your spawn caps - see Blood Moon balancing. |
settempunit | stu <C | F> | Sets temperature display unit. Cosmetic but useful when running an event for an international audience. |
setgamepref | setgamepref <preference name> <value> (shortcut sg) | Adjust any game preference at runtime. View current values with getgamepref. |
debugmenu | debugmenu [on | off] (shortcut dm) | Toggles Debug Mode. Enables creative menu, fly mode, no-clip, and the entity spawner. Don't leave on for production servers. |
For testing balance changes or running scripted events without making players grind.
| Command | Syntax | Notes |
|---|---|---|
giveselfxp | giveselfxp <amount> | Awards XP directly to the executing admin. Useful for testing Game Stage transitions without playing through. |
buff | buff <buff name> | Applies the named buff to the executing admin. |
buffplayer | buffplayer <name | id> <buff name> | Applies a buff to another player. |
debuff / debuffplayer | Same syntax as buff / buffplayer | Removes a buff. |
For server operators who tail the log or run remote tools (CSMM, BotMan, custom scripts).
loglevel <level> <true | false> - toggles a log level on or off. Levels: INF, WRN, ERR, EXC, ALL. Telnet/web-only command.gfx af <0 | 1> - toggles anisotropic filtering. Mostly client-side relevance.settime can break time-based mechanics on your save. Bedroll expiry, land-claim decay, and questing timers may misbehave after a forced jump. Back up before using.debugmenu + creative menu = save corruption risk if you spawn quest-related items in unusual quantities. Always test on a copy of the save.serveradmin.xml with level 0 lets that player ban anyone, including you.shutdown, not the OS kill. The save flushes on graceful shutdown; killing 7DaysToDieServer mid-tick can corrupt the world chunk file currently being written.shutdown from cron / systemd