Project Zomboid Server Admin Commands
The commands to grant yourself admin only take a few seconds once you know them. Almost everyone loses time on the same three traps first. All the commands below are verified — run and checked on a real server, not copied from a wiki.
Trap 1 — the server console does not take a slash
In-game chat commands start with /. The Console page in your panel is not chat — it is the server console, and typing /setaccesslevel there returns Unknown command. Drop the slash: setaccesslevel, not /setaccesslevel.
Trap 2 — the game's own error message tells you to use the slash that fails
Run setaccesslevel on a name that isn't whitelisted yet and Project Zomboid replies “not in the whitelist, use /adduser first” — recommending the exact slash form the console just rejected. Ignore the slash in that message. The fix it's describing is correct; the syntax it gives you is not.
Trap 3 — names are case sensitive, and adduser has to come first
cheese and Cheese are two different users to the console. A name has to be added with adduser before setaccesslevel will accept it, and whatever case you use has to match your in-game username exactly, both times.
How to do it
Grant yourself admin in two commands
- 1
adduser YourUsernameOpen the Console page (server must be running), and run this with your exact in-game username, no slash.
- 2
setaccesslevel YourUsername adminSame username, same case. You should see “User YourUsername is now admin.”
Verified console output
Every line below is real output from a real server console, not documentation guesswork.
Only commands we have run and verified ourselves appear on this page. We are not publishing a command list copied from the wiki.
Setting up a new server?
Admin access and picking the right plan are the two things a new Project Zomboid server owner deals with first. If you haven't chosen a tier yet, see how much RAM a Project Zomboid server actually needs before you provision.
Frequently asked questions
Why does /setaccesslevel say "Unknown command" in the Console page?
Because the Console page is the server console, and the server console does not use a leading slash. The slash is for in-game chat commands, typed while you are actually playing on the server. In the Console page in your panel, drop the slash entirely: setaccesslevel, not /setaccesslevel. This one difference is the most common reason admin setup fails.
setaccesslevel says "not in the whitelist, use /adduser first" — what do I do?
Ignore the slash in that message — it is the game telling you to do the right next thing in the wrong syntax. Run adduser YourUsername (no slash) first. Once that returns accepted, run setaccesslevel YourUsername admin again and it will succeed.
I ran setaccesslevel for my username but it still says not in the whitelist. Why?
Names are case sensitive. cheese and Cheese are treated as two different users by the console. Whatever case you use with adduser is the exact case you must use with setaccesslevel afterward — match your in-game display name exactly.
Does say work in the server console?
No. We tested it directly: say Server stopping in 30 seconds returns Unknown command in the Console page, the same as any other in-game-chat-only command. If you want to warn players before a restart, use an in-game admin chat command while connected, not the Console page.
How do I stop the server safely from the console?
quit works from the Console page and triggers a proper SaveAll before shutting down, which is safer than force-stopping the process. Give it a few seconds to finish saving before you consider the server fully stopped.