Vintage Story Server Commands: Full List and Privileges

Vintage Story gates commands behind a role-and-privilege system rather than a simple admin flag, so most "command not working" problems are really permission problems. This guide covers that model, how to grant yourself admin on a fresh server, and the server and client command sets.

1. Where Commands Are Typed

The prefix tells you which command set you are in.

Both are typed into the in-game chat window (default key T). Server commands also run from the server console — the terminal the dedicated server runs in — and from StartupCommands in serverconfig.json.

The console is a caller, not a player

Console commands run as "Console Admin" and skip privilege checks, but no player is attached. Anything the game marks RequiresPlayer — most of /weather, all of /waypoint, /whenwillitstopraining, and anything using the s[] self-selector — fails there. Run those from in-game chat as an admin.

/help lists every server command your role can run, and /help <command> gives its syntax. .chb opens the in-game command handbook, which is generated from the running build — the official wiki's command list is still tagged for version 1.15, so .chb wins any disagreement.

2. Roles and Privileges

Vintage Story has no numbered admin levels. It has roles, each a named bundle of privileges, defined in the Roles array of serverconfig.json. DefaultRoleCode sets what new players get, and it ships as suplayer.

Privilege level is not a command rank — it is the level at which a player may build in protected areas. The -1 roles cannot touch protected ground at all; admin at 99999 overrides everything, and is the only default role with AutoGrant: true, so any privilege registered at runtime by the engine or a mod is granted to it automatically.

These are the privileges the engine defines:

grantrevoke cannot promote anyone above its holder

A player with grantrevoke may only assign a role at their own privilege level or lower, and only hand out privileges they already hold. That is what stops a moderator quietly making themselves admin.

Mods extend this list — the vanilla survival mod itself registers denybreakreinforced at runtime. /list privileges and /list role show the live set on your own server.

3. Granting Yourself Admin

Nobody becomes admin automatically

There is no "first player to join is the owner" rule. On your own new server you get suplayer, which cannot manage privileges, so the first grant must come from the console or serverconfig.json — never from in-game chat.

/op <playername> is an alias for /player <playername> role admin. On a dedicated server, run it from the console:

/whitelist add YourPlayerName
/op YourPlayerName

Dedicated servers enforce the whitelist by default (WhitelistMode 0 means on for dedicated, off for singleplayer-open-to-LAN), so on a new box you usually need the whitelist line before you can connect at all. With no interactive console, put the commands in serverconfig.json instead — they run on next boot, separated by line breaks:

"StartupCommands": "/whitelist add YourPlayerName \n /op YourPlayerName",

On the GameServerKings panel

The Console tab in your panel is a live server console, so /op YourPlayerName there is the fastest route — no file edit, no restart.

There is no /deop

Demote with /player <playername> role suplayer. Revoking single privileges from admin will not stick either, because AutoGrant re-grants them.

4. Player and Entity Selectors

Most player-targeting commands accept a selector instead of a name, which turns one-at-a-time moderation into a single command.

Bracketed selectors take filters: role, name, group, namematches (glob wildcard) and range (max distance from the caller). So o[namematch=b*,range=10,role=admin] selects online admins within 10 blocks whose name starts with b.

/entity uses its own filters — s[] self, l[] the entity you are looking at, p[] all players, e[] all entities — narrowed by name, type, class, alive, range and minx/maxx-style volume bounds, e.g. e[type=gazelle,range=3,alive=true].

5. Managing Players and Roles

/player acts on one player; /role edits the role definition and so affects everyone holding it.

/role crplayer privilege grant buildblockseverywhere
/role crplayer landclaimallowance 2621440
/role crplayer landclaimmaxareas 12
/autosavenow

6. Moderation, Bans and Whitelist

Enforcement is a server setting, not a per-player one: /serverconfig whitelistmode default|off|on (or 0|1|2). The old OnlyWhitelisted key no longer controls enforcement and can be ignored.

7. Game Mode, Teleporting and Items

Mode names shorten to any unambiguous length, so /gm cr works, and recipients of /giveitem need a free inventory slot or the stack is lost. /waypoint needs only the chat privilege, so ordinary players get it; deathwp toggles an automatic waypoint where you die, and colours may be any .NET colour name or hex code.

8. Land Claims, Groups and Reinforcement

Claims are the main anti-griefing tool, built from one or more adjacent cuboids.

/bre and /gbre need only the chat privilege — reinforcement permissions are managed by players, not admins.

9. Time, Weather and Temporal Storms

Time commands can damage a world

The official wiki carries an explicit warning that modifying time with commands frequently has unwanted side effects. Test /time on a throwaway world, or take a /genbackup first.

/weather setprecip is permanent until you undo it — the server stays in that rain state indefinitely and it survives a restart. Clear it with /weather setprecipa.

10. Entities

Entity ids are revealed by the client command .clientconfig showEntityDebuginfo 1 — that is how you target one specific trader for removal.

11. Server Control and Configuration

Most /serverconfig changes are written immediately but need a world restart to take effect: /autosavenow, then /stop, then start the server again.

World settings are a separate namespace — /worldconfig <name> reads a value, /worldconfig <name> <value> sets one, and keys that do not exist yet must be created with /worldconfigcreate <bool|int|float|double|string> <name> <value>. Keys are case-sensitive. The full list is in Vintage Story Server Settings and World Config.

12. World Generation, Chunks and Debug Tools

/debug has many more subcommands for mod and engine development — code exports, held-item attributes, network benchmarking — which /help debug enumerates. /macro priv is the useful one for delegation: set it to controlserver to keep a macro admin-only, or build to expose it to ordinary players.

/wgen regen and /wgen delrock are destructive

Regenerating chunks discards everything players built in them, and delrock clears a large box around you and can stall the server for minutes. Take a /genbackup first.

13. Client Commands

These start with a dot, change only your own game, and need no privileges.

14. FAQ

How do I become admin on a Vintage Story server?

Run /op YourPlayerName from the server console, or the Console tab of your hosted Vintage Story server. There is no automatic owner — everyone joining a new server gets suplayer, which cannot manage privileges, so the first grant has to come from the console or from StartupCommands in serverconfig.json.

What is the difference between / and . commands?

/ commands are server commands: they change the world, other players or server settings, and are subject to privilege checks. . commands affect only your own game — view distance, camera, GUI, debug overlays — and need no permissions.

Why does my command say I lack permission when I am an admin?

First check that /player YourName role really returns admin. If it does, you are probably running a RequiresPlayer command from the server console, which has no player attached — run it from in-game chat instead.

How do I remove someone's admin rights?

There is no /deop. Set the role explicitly with /player <name> role suplayer. Revoking individual privileges from admin will not stick, because that role has AutoGrant: true and re-acquires engine and mod privileges automatically.

Can I let players build without giving them creative mode?

Yes. Grant build and useblock, and land claims still protect other people's plots. buildblockseverywhere is the privilege that overrides claims, and it only takes effect in creative mode anyway. For a trusted builder, /player <name> role crplayer is usually right.

How do I let players claim more land?

Raise it per role with /role <rolename> landclaimallowance <cubic metres> and /role <rolename> landclaimmaxareas <n>. For one person, /player <name> landclaimallowance <n> adds extra on top of whatever the role grants.

Why can't anyone connect to my new dedicated server?

Dedicated servers enforce the whitelist by default. Add yourself with /whitelist add YourPlayerName from the console, or turn enforcement off with /serverconfig whitelistmode off and restart the world.

15. What to Read Next

• Getting started with your Vintage Story server
• Vintage Story Server Settings and World Config - the full /worldconfig and serverconfig.json key list
• How to install mods for Vintage Story

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