How to become an Admin in your Factorio Server

This knowledge-base article explains how to grant admin privileges to yourself or other players on a Factorio server hosted on CloudNord. Admin access allows full control over player management, moderation commands, and server administration.

Overview

On a CloudNord-hosted Factorio server, admin permissions can be assigned in two supported ways:

1. Using the server Console (recommended and simplest method)

2. Manually editing the server-adminlist.json file

Both methods are safe and officially supported by Factorio.

Method 1: Promote a Player Using the Server Console (Recommended)

The easiest and fastest way to grant admin access is through the CloudNord Console.

Steps

1. Log in to your CloudNord Dashboard

2. Navigate to Servers

3. Select your Factorio server

4. Click Console in the left sidebar

5. Make sure the player you want to promote has joined the server at least once

6. Enter the following command:

/promote username

Replace username with the exact in-game Factorio username.

Confirmation

If successful, the console will display a message similar to:

username was promoted to admin by <server>

This command will also automatically create or update the server-adminlist.json file.

Method 2: Manually Edit server-adminlist.json

Admins can also be added manually by editing a configuration file. This method is useful if the server is offline or if you want to predefine admins.

Steps

1. Open your Factorio server in the CloudNord Dashboard

2. Go to File Manager

3. Navigate to the main server directory

4. Locate the file named:

server-adminlist.json

• If the file does not exist, create it manually

File Format Example

[
  "AdminUsername1",
  "AdminUsername2"
]

Important Notes

• Usernames are case-sensitive

• Each username must be enclosed in quotes

• Commas are required between entries

• Save the file after editing

After saving, restart the server for changes to take effect.

Admin Commands (Commonly Used)

Once a player has admin privileges, they can use various administrative commands in-game or through the console.

Full List of Commands

Factorio provides a wide range of console and admin commands.
For the complete and official list, refer to the Factorio Wiki:

https://wiki.factorio.com/Console

Best Practices

• Promote only trusted players to admin

• Avoid editing admin files while the server is running

• Keep a backup of configuration files before making changes

• Use the console method whenever possible to prevent formatting errors

Troubleshooting

Player Not Promoted

• Ensure the username is correct and case-sensitive

• Make sure the player has joined the server at least once

Admin File Not Working

• Verify the JSON format is valid

• Restart the server after editing the file

Need Help?

If you experience issues assigning admin permissions or managing your Factorio server, CloudNord Support is available to assist.

Join our Discord

Best regards,
- Senior