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Setting Up Whitelist and Admin Lists in Sons of the Forest

Sons of the Forest Guide โ€ข Updated Feb 27, 2026

Setting Up Whitelist and Admin Lists in Sons of the Forest

By default, a public Sons of the Forest dedicated server is open to anyone who knows the IP or can find it in the server browser. The whitelist system restricts access to a list of approved Steam IDs, making your server friends-only or clan-exclusive. The admin list grants specific players elevated server permissions, such as the ability to kick players or use admin commands.

๐Ÿ”’ Whitelist (Access Control)

Only allows Steam accounts whose 64-bit Steam IDs appear in userwhitelist.txt to join. All other connection attempts are silently rejected.

๐Ÿ›ก๏ธ Admin List (Permissions)

Players in ownerswhitelist.txt have elevated permissions and can use server admin commands without needing the server password.

Finding a Player's Steam64 ID

Both the whitelist and admin list use 17-digit Steam64 IDs. There are two easy ways to obtain them:

  • Visit steamidfinder.com and enter the player's Steam profile URL
  • In Steam, right-click the player's profile โ†’ Copy Steam URL, then paste into the finder tool
  • Via a running server RCON: playerlist returns each connected player's Steam64 ID

A valid Steam64 ID looks like: 76561198012345678

Configuring the Whitelist

Locate or create the file userwhitelist.txt in your server's root directory (same folder as SonsOfTheForestDS.exe). Add one Steam64 ID per line:

# userwhitelist.txt โ€” One Steam64 ID per line
# Lines starting with # are comments

76561198012345678
76561198087654321
76561199001122334

Enable Whitelist Mode

In dedicatedserver.cfg, set the server to use whitelist-only access:

{
  "IsPublic": false,
  "WhitelistEnabled": true,
  ...
}

With IsPublic set to false, the server won't appear in the public browser. Players must connect via direct IP. Combine this with WhitelistEnabled to enforce the access list even for those who know the IP.

Configuring the Admin (Owner) List

Create or edit ownerswhitelist.txt in the same server root directory. Admins listed here can use all in-game server commands without needing the server password:

# ownerswhitelist.txt
# List Steam64 IDs of trusted admins

76561198012345678    # Main admin
76561198087654321    # Co-admin

Admin Commands Available to Whitelisted Owners

CommandDescription
/kick [SteamID]Immediately kick a player from the server
/ban [SteamID]Ban a player permanently (adds to banlist.txt)
/unban [SteamID]Remove a player from the ban list
/saveForce an immediate world save
/weather [type]Override weather: clear, rain, storm
/time [hour]Jump to a specific in-game hour (0โ€“23)
/playerlistDisplay connected players and their Steam64 IDs

Managing the Ban List

Banned players are automatically added to banlist.txt. You can pre-populate this file before launching your server. The format matches whitelist files โ€” one Steam64 ID per line.

# banlist.txt
76561198099999999    # Banned for griefing

Applying Changes Without a Full Restart

The whitelist and admin list files are hot-reloaded when you send the RCON command:

/reloadconfig

This refreshes userwhitelist.txt, ownerswhitelist.txt, and banlist.txt without restarting the server or disconnecting players.

Security Tip: Always set a strong ServerPassword in dedicatedserver.cfg as a second layer of access control, even if whitelist is enabled. This prevents unauthorised access in the event the whitelist file gets accidentally cleared during a server update.

Professional Hosting

Manage whitelists and admin permissions from a clean web interface. Host your Sons of the Forest server with Supercraft and control server access without touching config files directly.

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