Palworld Admin Password: Setting It and Fixing It

Your Palworld admin password lives in one place: the Admin Password field on the Startup tab of your Palworld server. It is generated for you when the server is created, so you already have one — open the Startup tab and read it. To use it, join the server, press Enter to open chat, and type /AdminPassword YOUR_ADMIN_PASSWORD. That is the entire login. There is no admin account, no separate control panel to sign into, and — the part that catches most people — no admin password at all in single player or co-op.

What the Field Accepts

Two rows do more work than they look. No spaces or symbols means a password manager's default output is usually rejected. And read at server start only is why almost every "my admin password doesn't work" ticket resolves with a restart.

Do not set the admin password in PalWorldSettings.ini

The panel manages this value and rewrites it into the config on every start, so an edit made in the file is discarded the next time the server boots. The Startup tab is the only place that sticks.

One Password, Three Doors

The same value authenticates three different surfaces:

• In-game chat — /AdminPassword YOUR_ADMIN_PASSWORD, then commands with a leading slash.
• The panel console — the console reaches the server over RCON using your admin password, which is why commands typed there need no / and no separate login.
• The REST API — the admin password doubles as the REST API password, for example curl -u "admin:<admin-password>" http://<container-ip>:<rest-api-port>/v1/api/info.

There is also only one permission level. Anyone holding this password gets every admin command, including /Shutdown and /DoExit. Treat it as a full server credential rather than a moderator role.

Worked Example: Changing the Password

1. Open your server in the panel and go to the Startup tab.
2. Edit Admin Password — letters, numbers, dashes and underscores, up to 30 characters.
3. Restart the server. Saving the field is not enough; the value is read at boot.
4. Rejoin, press Enter, and run /AdminPassword YOUR_NEW_PASSWORD.

Admin sessions do not survive a disconnect, so everyone re-authenticates against the new value after that restart. Changing the password is the fastest way to revoke admin from someone who should no longer have it.

Why You Get "This Server Does Not Have an Admin Password Set"

This means the server has nothing to compare your input against — not that your password was wrong. In the order these actually happen:

1. You are in a single-player or co-op world. There is no password field in a client-hosted world, so this message is the expected outcome. See Palworld Single Player Admin.
2. The server has not been restarted since you changed the field. Palworld reads its configuration at startup only. On the panel this is usually the whole fix.
3. You edited the config by hand and picked the wrong file or folder. DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini is only a template, and a Linux server reads Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/PalWorldSettings.ini — not the WindowsServer copy. Either mistake looks identical to editing nothing.
4. AdminPassword is present but empty. Blank counts as unset.

/AdminPassword cannot create a password

It only submits one. There is no in-game way to set the admin password on a server that has none — the value has to exist server-side before you join, which is why every fix above happens outside the game.

Where This Goes Wrong

• The password contains a space or a symbol. The field rejects anything outside letters, numbers, dashes and underscores. Copy-pasting a generated passphrase is the usual culprit.
• You are typing it into the panel console with a slash. Console commands take no leading /, and the console is already authenticated — you never run AdminPassword there.
• You gave it to a moderator expecting limited rights. There are no tiers. To delegate start and stop without handing over in-game admin, use a panel sub-user instead — How to Add Sub-Users to Your Panel.
• You exposed the REST API port publicly. Because the admin password is the REST password, an open REST port is the same exposure as an open RCON port. Keep it firewalled or tunnelled.

Common Questions

What is the default Palworld admin password, and how do I find mine?

There is no universal default. On our panel a password is generated for your server at creation — open the Startup tab and read the Admin Password field; you do not need to reset it to see it. A stock self-hosted Palworld server ships with AdminPassword="", blank, meaning admin commands stay disabled until you set one.

How do I set an admin password for Palworld single player?

You cannot. A client-hosted world has no admin password field and no /AdminPassword command, because AdminPassword is a dedicated-server setting. Palworld Single Player Admin covers what to use instead.

Can I make someone else an admin without giving them my password?

No. Palworld has no command that grants admin, no moderator role and no per-command permissions — the password is the entire permission system. Panel access is the only thing you can delegate separately.

Does the admin password need to be different from the server password?

Yes. Server Password gates who can join at all; Admin Password gates who can run commands. Setting them to the same value hands every player full admin.

Do I have to re-enter it every time I play?

Yes. Admin access lasts for the session only and ends when you disconnect, so run /AdminPassword again each time you rejoin. Console and Game Pass players authenticate through the chat box in exactly the same way.

What to Read Next

• Palworld Admin Commands & Moderation Guide — the full command reference, and what to run once you have authenticated.
• Palworld Dedicated Server World Settings Explained — AdminPassword, BanListURL and every other key in PalWorldSettings.ini.
• Setting Up Your Palworld Dedicated Server — the Startup tab in context, and first connection.
• How to Add Sub-Users to Your Panel — delegating panel access without handing over the admin password.

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