DayZServer AdminDayZ RCON Commands: BattlEye RCon Admin Reference
How DayZ administration really works: BattlEye RCon setup, listing players, kicking and banning by player number or BE GUID, broadcasting, ban-list management, and the player-ID-vs-GUID and config-vs-live distinctions that trip up new admins.
DayZ has no in-game admin menu for serious moderation - live administration is done through BattlEye RCon (BERCon), the same UDP protocol used across Bohemia/BattlEye titles. Tools like BEC, BattleWarden, and browser RCON clients all speak it. This reference covers the live commands plus the config settings admins constantly conflate with them.
How DayZ RCON works
Enable BattlEye RCon in <ServerRoot>/profiles/BattlEye/BEServer_x64.cfg:
RConPassword yourSecret
RConPort 2306
RestrictRCon 0
RConPort is UDP and must differ from the game port. RestrictRCon 0 is required for kick/ban commands to work. Once the server is running, BattlEye renames the file to BEServer_x64_active_*.cfg - that confirms RCon is live.
Native BE commands (players, kick, ban, say) have no prefix. Commands with a # prefix (#shutdown, #lock) are Bohemia server commands routed over the same connection. Most tools accept both.
Listing players
| Command | What it returns |
|---|---|
players | Every connected player: session player#, name, IP, ping, and BE GUID. |
admins | Connected RCon clients (who else has access). |
The player number is session-ephemeral - it changes on reconnect. The BE GUID (a 32-char hex string) is stable and is what you ban permanently. The GUID is derived from the SteamID; you cannot reverse it, but your RCon tool shows it in the players output.
Messaging
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
say <player#> <message> | Message one player. |
say -1 <message> | Broadcast to everyone (-1 is the all-players sentinel). |
Moderation
| Command | Syntax | Notes |
|---|---|---|
kick | kick <player#> [reason] | Removes the player; they can rejoin immediately. |
ban | ban <player#> <minutes> <reason> | Bans the online player's GUID. 0 = permanent. |
addBan | addBan <GUID|IP> <minutes> <reason> | Ban a player who is not online by GUID or IP. |
removeBan | removeBan <ban#> | Remove a ban by its index (run bans first). |
bans |
players # find the player# and GUID
ban 5 0 Cheating # permanent ban of player 5
addBan 5c7d9d6ec60869824ae5f1e6cadd1111 0 Duping # offline GUID ban
bans # check ban indexes
removeBan 3 # lift ban #3
Kick is not ban. A kicked player reconnects instantly. Ban indexes shift after each removal - re-run bans before each removeBan. After editing bans.txt by hand, run loadBans to apply it live.
Server control
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
#shutdown | Stop the server process immediately (warn players first with say -1). |
#lock | Block new joins (current players stay). |
#unlock | Allow joins again. |
maxping <ms> | Kick players above a ping threshold. |
RConPassword <new> | Change the RCon password live (update the cfg too, or it reverts on restart). |
Config file vs live RCon
Most "gameplay" settings live in serverDZ.cfg and apply only at restart - they are not RCon commands. Common ones admins look for:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
hostname | Server name in the browser. |
password | Join password. |
passwordAdmin | In-game #login admin password (separate from RConPassword). |
maxPlayers | Player capacity. |
serverTimeAcceleration | Day-cycle speed multiplier. |
disable3rdPerson | 1 forces first-person only. |
disableVoN | 1 disables voice chat. |
passwordAdmin (in serverDZ.cfg) and RConPassword (in BEServer_x64.cfg) are two different things: the first is for in-game #login, the second for external RCon tools. Keep them distinct.
Automation with BEC
Raw BE RCon has no scheduler. BEC (BattlEye Extended Controls) is the common third-party companion that adds scheduled restarts, recurring say -1 announcements, autobans, and whitelisting via Scheduler.xml. Times are either absolute (hh:mm:ss) or countdown (hhmmss). One XML syntax error silently disables every scheduled job, so validate after editing.
Quick reference
players # player# + GUID
say -1 Server restart in 5 min # broadcast
kick 5 High ping # kick player 5
ban 5 0 Cheating # permanent ban
addBan <GUID> 0 Duping # offline GUID ban
bans # list bans
#shutdown # stop server
Running these in MantaScope
MantaScope's web RCON speaks BattlEye RCon, so you can run these commands from the browser - with live player lists that surface BE GUIDs, persistent bans, scheduled restarts and messages, and chat alerts, without juggling a separate desktop controller.
