How to Set Admins and Moderators on Your Rust Server

 

    Admins and moderators keep a Rust server running — kicking cheaters, handling disputes, and using the F1 admin tools. Granting those rights is a one-line console command on gamever. This guide shows how to add owners and moderators, the difference between them, and how to remove access.

 

Owner vs. moderator

 

    Rust has two admin levels:

 

Level	Command	Can do
Owner (auth level 2)	ownerid	Full control — all admin/F1 commands, noclip, god mode, spawning, everything.
Moderator (auth level 1)	moderatorid	Most moderation commands (kick, ban, teleport) but not the highest-level owner commands.

 

    Give owner to people you fully trust (co-owners); give moderator to helpers who police the server.

 

You'll need the player's SteamID64

 

    Both commands take a SteamID64 (the 17-digit ID), not a display name. Get it from the player's Steam profile (via a SteamID lookup site) or from your server's player list / playerlist in the console.

 

Add an admin from the console

 

    Open the Console tab (or connect via RCON) and run:

 

ownerid <SteamID64> "<name>" "<reason>"
moderatorid <SteamID64> "<name>" "<reason>"
server.writecfg

 

    For example:

 

ownerid 76561198000000000 "Alex" "co-owner"
server.writecfg

 

    server.writecfg is essential — it saves the change to disk (cfg/users.cfg) so it survives a restart. The player must reconnect for their new rights to take effect.

 

Remove an admin

 

removeowner <SteamID64>
removemod <SteamID64>
server.writecfg

 

What admins get

 

    Once someone is an owner, they can open the F1 console in-game and use admin commands — noclip, god, teleport, ban, spawning items, admin radar and more. Moderators get the moderation subset. (These are separate from Oxide/Carbon plugin permissions — see managing plugins for plugin-based roles like VIP.)

 

Additional Tips

 

• Always server.writecfg after adding/removing — otherwise it's lost on restart.
• Use SteamID64, not nicknames — names can be copied by impostors.
• Reconnect to apply — a player's new rights kick in on their next join.
• Owner = full trust — an owner can do anything on your server; hand it out sparingly.
• For "staff perks" without full admin, use a plugin group (e.g. a mod/vip Oxide group) rather than ownerid.

 

Conclusion

 

    Setting admins on Rust is quick: ownerid for full owners, moderatorid for helpers, always followed by server.writecfg, and the player reconnects. Keep owner rights to people you trust completely, and use moderators and plugin groups for everyone else.

 

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