Limiting Access to your Server via userlist.txt

As a server operator, you can control who plays on your server. You can set up your server to be a public server which anyone can use, or you can set it up as a private server, and only allow specific individuals to log in. Alternatively, you may wish to run a public server, but ban certain individuals. You can also set up specific people to have "admin" status, which will allow them to remotely reset the server, change scenarios, modify victory conditions, etc., on the run. The key to all access questions is the userlist.txt file in the /user/ folder.

Public Versus Private

To set the status of your server, look for the "Public = x" line in the [User List] section of userlist.txt. Anyone can join a public server. Specific permission is required to join a private server. The default setting is public, "Public = 1". To make your server private, change this to "Public = 0". Note that for a private server, each user to be given access must be listed in the [Users] section, or no one will be able to log in.

Specifying Users

The [Users] section of userlist.txt lets server operators specify which users can have access, and which cannot. For a private server, each user to be allowed in must be listed and have a value of 1. For example, "Alice = 1", means Alice can play on the private server. Anyone not listed with a "1" will be unable to log in. For a public server, it is not necessary to specifically allow users by name because the server will be open to anyone.

You can also ban players from both private and public servers. To do so, list their name with a 0: "Bob = 0" will ban "Bob" from your server. Note that all Targetware account names are unique, and unspoofable, so you just have to make sure you type their name correctly.

Administrator Status

Finally, the [Admins] section of userlist.txt allows you to specify which players will have admin status and can use the admin commands to control your server while they are logged in. Simply list their name and set the value to one, e.g., "Charlie = 1".