How to Set the Admin Password on Your Conan Exiles Server

The admin password is what turns a normal player into a server admin in Conan Exiles. Once it's set, you can join your own server, type the password in, and unlock the admin panel: spawn items, fly through the world, change the time and weather, teleport, and kick or ban players. It's usually the first thing a server owner sets up.

There's no in-game button to create the password from scratch. You set it once in a config file called ServerSettings.ini, and there's one catch that trips most people up: when the server shuts down, Conan writes its settings back to that file, which can overwrite an edit you made while it was running. So the order you do things in matters. Follow the steps below and it takes about a minute.

Quick Answer

1. Stop the server (don't just restart it).
2. Open ConanSandbox/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/ServerSettings.ini in the Files tab.
3. Under the [ServerSettings] line, add: AdminPassword=YourPasswordHere
4. Save the file and Start the server.
5. Join the server, open the pause menu, go to Settings, then Server Settings, and click Make Me Admin.

The rest of this guide explains each step and the reasons behind it.

Step 1: Stop the Server First

This is the step people skip, and it's the reason the password sometimes "won't save."

Conan Exiles holds its settings in memory while it runs and writes them back to ServerSettings.ini when the server shuts down. If you edit the file while the server is still running, that shutdown can overwrite your change and wipe out the line you just added.

So before you touch the file:

1. Open your server in the panel.
2. Click Stop and wait until the status shows the server is fully offline.

With the server stopped, nothing can overwrite your edit.

Step 2: Open ServerSettings.ini

1. With the server offline, click the Files tab.
2. Open the folders in order: ConanSandbox, then Saved, then Config, then LinuxServer.
3. Click ServerSettings.ini to open it in the editor.

If you prefer an FTP client, the full path is:

ConanSandbox/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/ServerSettings.ini

If the LinuxServer folder or the file isn't there yet, start the server once, give it a minute, then stop it again. Conan generates these files on its first boot.

Step 3: Add the AdminPassword Line

Find the [ServerSettings] section near the top of the file. It looks like a heading in square brackets. Add your password on its own line directly underneath it:

[ServerSettings]
AdminPassword=YourPasswordHere

A few rules:

• The line must sit under [ServerSettings]. Pasted at the very bottom of the file, outside that section, the game ignores it.
• No spaces around the = sign, and no quotation marks around the password.
• If an AdminPassword= line already exists (some files ship with an empty one), just type your password after the = instead of adding a second line.
• Pick something strong and unique. Anyone with this password gets full control of your server.

Step 4: Save and Start

1. Save the file. The panel editor has a Save button at the top.
2. Go back and Start the server.

The password is now live.

How to Become Admin In-Game

Setting the password doesn't make you admin automatically. You claim it from inside the game:

1. Join your server as you normally would.
2. Open the pause menu with Esc.
3. Click Settings, then open the Server Settings tab.
4. Click Make Me Admin.
5. Type the password exactly as you set it and confirm.

You'll get an on-screen confirmation, and the admin panel opens from the same Settings menu. Do this on any character you want to have admin rights.

AdminPassword vs ServerPassword

These two are easy to mix up, and they do completely different jobs:

For a fully private server, set both. For admin control on an otherwise public server, set only AdminPassword and leave ServerPassword empty.

Troubleshooting

The line disappeared after I restarted. The server was running when you edited, so the shutdown overwrote the file. Stop the server first (Step 1), then edit, then start.

Make Me Admin says the password is wrong. Open ServerSettings.ini again and check for a stray space, a typo, or quotation marks around the password. The game matches it exactly. Confirm the server fully restarted after the edit, too.

I can't find the LinuxServer folder. The server has to boot once to create it. Start the server, give it a minute, stop it, then look again.

The change still won't stick. Make sure the line is under [ServerSettings] and not another section, and that the server was stopped (not just restarted) when you saved.

Need Help?

For bigger jobs, like uploading a full config or a mod list, an FTP client is faster than the web editor. See our guide on how to connect via SFTP.

Still stuck? Our support team is available 24/7 from your Conan Exiles server panel and will get you sorted.