ARK:SAServer AdminARK: Survival Ascended RCON Commands: Server Admin Reference
ASA server admin over RCON: enable it with RCONEnabled and ServerAdminPassword in GameUserSettings.ini, why you drop the admincheat prefix over RCON, the EOS ID trap (kick/ban/chat commands take the 32-character Account ID, not a Steam64 ID), permanent-only native bans, the AllowedCheaterAccountIDs.txt admin whitelist, and the commands that actually work - ListPlayers, Broadcast, ServerChat, SaveWorld, DoExit, DestroyWildDinos.
ARK: Survival Ascended kept the genuine Valve Source RCON protocol from ARK: Survival Evolved - any standard Source RCON client connects unchanged. What it did NOT keep is the ID system: ASA moderation commands address players by their EOS ID, not a Steam64 ID, and getting that wrong is the single most common reason a kick or ban silently does nothing. This reference covers what actually works over RCON on ASA.
This guide is for ARK: Survival Ascended. Running legacy ARK: Survival Evolved? Its commands differ (Steam64 IDs, Workshop mods) - see the ARK: Survival Evolved RCON reference.
Enabling RCON
RCON is configured in GameUserSettings.ini under [ServerSettings] - the file lives in ShooterGame/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/ (the path says WindowsServer even when you run the server under Wine or Proton on Linux, because ASA ships Windows server binaries only):
[ServerSettings]
RCONEnabled=True
RCONPort=27020
ServerAdminPassword=YourSecretPassword
ServerAdminPassword is the RCON password - there is no separate RCON credential. Changes apply on restart.
Two things worth knowing:
- These are the same ini keys ASE used. ASA introduced a new
-Flag=Valuecommand-line style for some settings (-WinLiveMaxPlayers,-mods), but the RCON settings never moved - keep them in the ini (or chain them onto the map string as?RCONEnabled=True?RCONPort=27020, which still works). - Only open the RCON port to networks you trust (ideally just your own IP, or keep it firewalled and tunnel in). Anyone who can reach the port and guess the password owns the server.
Over RCON, drop the admincheat/cheat prefix. The RCON connection is already authenticated as admin, so you send bare commands - SaveWorld, not cheat SaveWorld. EnableCheats is an in-game-only command (it unlocks the cheat prefix for your character's session); it has no meaning over RCON.
The EOS ID trap
ASA identifies players by an EOS ID - a 32-character alphanumeric string (Wildcard calls it the Account ID), e.g. 01139694fbcc481b8a11f4d6ea667bd2. This replaces the Steam64 ID everywhere in moderation:
KickPlayer,BanPlayer,UnbanPlayer, andServerChatToall take the EOS ID on ASA.ListPlayersoutput includes each connected player's EOS ID - that is where you copy it from.- A player can find their own ID by opening the console in single-player and running
whoami.
Watch out for stale documentation. Several third-party command databases still list the argument for kick/ban as "SteamID (Integer64)" - that is copied from the ASE-era dataset. On ASA, a Steam64 ID in those commands simply does not match anyone.
Listing players
| Command | What it returns |
|---|---|
ListPlayers | Connected players with their EOS IDs - the ID that kick/ban/chat-to use. |
On a busy server the output can be long; if your client shows it truncated, that is the standard Source RCON multi-packet split - use a client that reassembles multi-packet responses (MantaScope's console does).
Moderation
| Command | Syntax | Notes |
|---|---|---|
KickPlayer | KickPlayer <EOSID> | Disconnect (no ban). |
BanPlayer | BanPlayer <EOSID> | Ban + kick; persists to the server ban list. |
UnbanPlayer | UnbanPlayer <EOSID> | Remove a ban. |
Native bans are permanent. If you have seen BanPlayer <id> 10d with a duration - that syntax comes from a paid third-party plugin (Ark Server API), not the stock server. The built-in command has no duration parameter; to time-limit a ban you unban manually later or let a tool do it.
Messaging
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
Broadcast <message> | On-screen message to all players. (Failed over RCON in early ASA builds; long since patched - if it does nothing on your version, use ServerChat.) |
ServerChat <message> | Message to all players in chat. |
ServerChatTo "<EOSID>" <message> | Private chat to one player by EOS ID (quoted). |
ServerChatToPlayer "<Name>" <message> | Private chat to one player by name (quoted). |
GetChat | Recent chat buffer - polling tools use it to mirror in-game chat. |
Server control
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
SaveWorld | Force an immediate world save. |
DoExit | Shut the server down. It is meant to save on the way out, but operators conventionally send SaveWorld first - cheap insurance, and Wine/Docker setups have reported the exit-save not firing. |
DestroyWildDinos | Wipe all wild creatures map-wide (they respawn; standard after raising level caps or changing spawn/mod config so new-tier dinos appear). |
ShowMessageOfTheDay | Display the MOTD. |
Many commands return an empty response even on success - ASA's RCON is terse by design. Don't treat a blank reply as a failure; verify in-game or with ListPlayers. Some servers also answer RCON slowly under load - if your client times out, raise its timeout rather than assuming the server is down.
Whitelisting admins
Instead of sharing ServerAdminPassword, whitelist trusted admins in ShooterGame/Saved/AllowedCheaterAccountIDs.txt - one EOS ID per line. Whitelisted players get cheat/admin privilege automatically, no EnableCheats needed. (This file replaces ASE's AllowedCheaterSteamIDs.txt - same mechanism, EOS IDs instead of Steam64s.)
A note on ports
ASA still accepts a QueryPort setting, but it is a vestigial holdover from ASE: the in-game server browser discovers servers through Epic Online Services sessions, not Steam's A2S query protocol. You do not need to forward the query port for visibility - only the game port and (for remote admin) the RCON port matter.
Quick reference
ListPlayers # connected players + EOS IDs
KickPlayer 01139694fbcc481b8a11f4d6ea667bd2
BanPlayer 01139694fbcc481b8a11f4d6ea667bd2 # permanent - no duration arg
ServerChat Welcome! Type /rules in chat.
Broadcast Server restarting in 10 minutes
SaveWorld
DoExit # shutdown (SaveWorld first)
DestroyWildDinos # wild dino wipe
Running these in MantaScope
MantaScope's web RCON speaks Source RCON - the protocol ASA uses - so you can administer your ARK: Survival Ascended server from the browser: list players with their EOS IDs ready to copy, kick and ban with one click, broadcast and chat, and schedule SaveWorld/restart commands with automations instead of keeping a desktop RCON tool open.