To kick griefers, change settings mid-game, or run admin commands on your Barotrauma server, you need admin permissions. Barotrauma handles this through a permissions file tied to each player’s Steam ID. This guide shows how to make yourself an admin and use the console.
How permissions work
Server permissions are stored in clientpermissions.xml, found in the Barotrauma/Data folder on your server. Each player who needs elevated access gets a <Client> entry with their name, their SteamID64 (the 17-digit number starting with 7656), and a permission preset.
Step 1: Get the player’s SteamID64
You need the 17-digit SteamID64 for each admin. Look it up from a player’s Steam profile URL using any SteamID lookup site — it always begins with 7656.
Step 2: Add the client entry
Stop the server, open clientpermissions.xml, and add a line inside the <ClientPermissions> block:
<Client name="YourName" steamid="7656119XXXXXXXXXX" preset="Admin" />The two common presets are Admin (full control) and Moderator (kick/ban without deep settings access). Save the file and start the server.
Permission types
If you want fine-grained control instead of a preset, you can grant individual permissions: ManageRound, Kick, Ban, ManagePermissions, ConsoleCommands, ManageSettings, ManageCampaign, SelectSub, SelectMode, ServerLog, and KarmaImmunity.
Step 3: Use the console
With admin access, press F3 in-game to toggle the console. On a server you control you can type enablecheats to unlock the full command set. Useful commands include kick, ban, give, spawn, heal, and revive. You can also hand out permissions live without editing the file using giveperm, givecommandperm, revokeperm and revokecommandperm.
Step 4 (optional): Manage from the lobby
Admins can also open the in-game server settings panel to change difficulty, respawn rules, and other live options between rounds — no file editing required for those.
Run it on managed hosting
On XGamingServer Barotrauma hosting you get File Manager and SFTP access to edit clientpermissions.xml and a one-click restart. Step-by-step instructions are in our adding admins guide, and the full command list is in our console commands guide.
FAQ
Where is clientpermissions.xml? In the Barotrauma/Data folder on the server.
My admin rights don’t work after editing. Make sure the SteamID64 is exact (17 digits, starts with 7656) and that you stopped the server before editing — it can overwrite config on shutdown.
How do I open the console? Press F3 in-game; type enablecheats to unlock cheat/admin commands on your own server.
