Call of Duty 4 RCON & Server Admin Commands: Complete Reference
Every RCON command a CoD4 1.7/1.8 server admin needs: logging in with /rcon login, kicking and banning by slot or name (and why there is no unbanClient), the GUID-based ban.txt, map rotation syntax with the full 20-map code table including the free Variety Map Pack, the six real gametype codes (TDM is "war", not "tdm"), reserved slots, server logging for B3, and what CoD4X actually adds - plus the folklore traps most guides repeat.
A Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare dedicated server (PC, patch 1.7/1.8) speaks the classic Quake3-family RCON dialect: plain UDP datagrams to the game port, no session, no separate RCON port. Every command below works from the in-game console or any Quake3-compatible RCON tool.
Logging in
Set the password on the server, in server.cfg:
set rcon_password "your_strong_password"
The cvar is rcon_password - guides that say sv_rconPassword are quoting the engine's internal C symbol, not the console name. Setting rcon_password is what actually works.
From the in-game console:
/rcon login <password>
/rcon status
After login, prefix any server command with
/rcon
. Dedicated RCON tools authenticate per-packet and skip the prefix.
Player management
Run status first: it lists each player's client number (slot), GUID, ping, and IP address. Slot-based commands are immune to color codes and name tricks; name-based ones are not.
Command
Syntax
Notes
status
status
Slot, GUID, ping, IP for everyone connected.
clientkick
clientkick <slot>
Kick by client number - the reliable one.
kick
kick <name> / kick all
Kick by exact name (color codes must match) or everyone.
onlykick
onlykick <name>
Kick by name ignoring color codes - handy against ^1-colored names.
banClient
banClient <slot>
Permanent ban by client number.
banUser
banUser <name>
Permanent ban by name.
tempBanClient
tempBanClient <slot>
Temporary ban (duration is server-configured).
tempBanUser
tempBanUser <name>
Temporary ban by name.
unbanUser
unbanUser <name>
Lift a ban by name.
Permanent bans write the player's GUID to ban.txt in the mod/main folder. Two traps:
There is no unbanClient. Once the player is gone, unbanUser <name> is the only command - and it removes every ban entry matching that name. If two different players were banned under the same name, edit ban.txt by hand instead.
CoD4's GUID derives from the CD key, not a Steam ID - a reinstalled pirate copy changes GUID, so persistent troublemakers are better handled with an IP-level tool (see MantaScope's enforced-by-IP bans below).
Talking to players
Command
Syntax
Notes
say
say <message>
Broadcast to all players, shown as server console chat.
tell
tell <slot> <message>
Private message one player by client number.
Maps and rotation
Command
Effect
map <mp_code>
Load a map immediately (ends the current game).
map_rotate
Advance to the next map in sv_mapRotation.
map_restart
Full reload of the current map.
fast_restart
Restart the round without reloading the map - much faster, keeps everyone connected.
Rotation is a single cvar listing gametype/map pairs; a gametype entry applies to every map after it until the next gametype:
set sv_mapRotation "gametype war map mp_crash map mp_backlot gametype sd map mp_strike map mp_crossfire"
sv_mapRotationCurrent holds the maps still pending in the current pass - the engine consumes it as it rotates, then refills from sv_mapRotation.
Stock map codes (all 20)
Patch 1.6 added the four Variety Map Pack maps free on PC, so a 1.7/1.8 server can rotate all twenty:
Code
Map
Code
Map
mp_backlot
Backlot
mp_overgrown
Overgrown
mp_bloc
Bloc
mp_pipeline
Pipeline
mp_bog
Bog
mp_shipment
Shipment
mp_cargoship
Wet Work
mp_showdown
Showdown
mp_citystreets
District
mp_strike
Strike
mp_convoy
Ambush
mp_vacant
Vacant
mp_countdown
Countdown
mp_broadcast
Broadcast (VMP)
mp_crash
Crash
mp_carentan
Chinatown (VMP)
mp_crossfire
Crossfire
mp_creek
Creek (VMP)
mp_farm
Downpour
mp_killhouse
Killhouse (VMP)
The names that trip everyone up: mp_convoy is Ambush (there is no mp_ambush), mp_carentan is Chinatown (a Carentan remake in name only), mp_citystreets is District, and mp_farm is Downpour.
Gametype codes
Set with set g_gametype <code> (takes effect on the next map load):
Code
Gametype
dm
Free-for-All
war
Team Deathmatch
sab
Sabotage
sd
Search and Destroy
dom
Domination
koth
Headquarters
TDM's code is war, not tdm - the stock config ships gametypes/war.cfg and rotations use gametype war. Guides listing tdm are wrong for stock CoD4; those six codes are the complete unmodded set.
Server cvars worth knowing
Cvar
Effect
sv_hostname
Server name in the browser list.
g_password
Join password (empty = public).
sv_maxclients
Player slots, 1-32 on a stock server.
sv_privateClients + sv_privatePassword
Reserve N slots for players joining with the private password.
g_allowvote
0/1 - player vote-kick/vote-map.
sv_voice
0/1 - in-game voice chat.
sv_pure
1 (default) rejects clients with mismatched .iwd files.
sv_fps
Server frame rate, stock default 20.
sv_wwwDownload + sv_wwwBaseURL
HTTP fast download for mods/maps - stock 1.7 features, despite often being credited to CoD4X.
PunkBuster (sv_punkbuster) is dead: EvenBalance ended CoD4 support around 2014, so enabling it today provides no real anti-cheat. Community servers rely on CoD4X or external tools instead.
Logging - the hook for admin bots
set logfile "1"
set g_logSync "1"
set g_log "games_mp.log"
games_mp.log is what external admin tools parse. B3 (BigBrotherBot) still works on today's servers via community-maintained CoD4X parser forks. Manu-Admin-Mod / GSManager, the other historically common choice, was discontinued in 2020 - fine on an existing install, but don't build a new server around it.
CoD4X and the big mods
CoD4X - the community server patch most surviving servers run. For admins it adds an in-game power-level admin system (!login, per-command power thresholds for kick/tempban/ban), anti-cheat hardening with reliable player identification, and raises the slot cap to 64 (stock tops out at 32). Fast download is not on that list - see above, it's stock.
ProMod - the competitive ruleset (weapon/perk restrictions, match modes). Match flow is driven by the promod_mode cvar, including knockout and overtime variants.
OpenWarfare - the general-purpose open-source mod extending stock gametypes and server controls.
Common mistakes
Setting sv_rconPassword - the real cvar is rcon_password; the other spelling is the engine's internal symbol and does nothing in your config.
Putting tdm in g_gametype or a rotation - the engine silently falls back; TDM is war.
kick <name> failing on colored names - match the ^1 codes exactly, use the slot with clientkick, or use onlykick.
Expecting unbanClient to exist - unban by name only, and it lifts every matching entry; edit ban.txt for surgical removals.
Rotating mp_ambush or mp_district - those map codes don't exist (mp_convoy / mp_citystreets).
Counting on PunkBuster - unsupported since ~2014; it's a placebo today.
Full map_restart between rounds - fast_restart does it in a fraction of the time without a reload.
Because CoD4 speaks the classic Quake3 RCON dialect, MantaScope's web RCON connects to your server straight from the browser - send every command on this page, watch the live player list with real pings, and kick or ban in one click - alongside population history, uptime tracking, scheduled messages, and Discord alerts. MantaScope's IP-enforced bans also cover the CD-key-GUID gap: evaders get auto-kicked on arrival even after a GUID change.
CoD4Server Admin
