How to Add and Manage Admins on Your Team Fortress 2 Server

Running a Team Fortress 2 server is a lot more enjoyable when you have trusted players who can help you moderate matches, kick troublemakers, and keep things fair. The RiverHosting panel includes a dedicated Admins page that makes it straightforward to add and manage admins without editing any files by hand.

This guide walks you through the whole process, from finding the right page to confirming your admins are active and working.

Before you start

• You need an active Team Fortress 2 server on RiverHosting. If you do not have one yet, visit riverhosting.com to get started.
• You need the Steam ID of each player you want to make an admin. A Steam ID looks like STEAM_0:1:12345678. Players can find their own Steam ID by visiting a site such as steamid.io and entering their Steam profile URL.
• Log in to the RiverHosting panel at panel.riverhosting.com before you begin.

1. Open the Admins page

1. Log in to panel.riverhosting.com.
2. Click on your Team Fortress 2 server from the server list.
3. In the left-hand menu, click Admins.

This page lists all the current admins on your server. If you have not added anyone yet, the list will be empty.

2. Add a new admin

1. On the Admins page, look for the option to add a new admin entry.
2. Enter the Steam ID of the player you want to promote. Make sure you copy it accurately, including the full format such as STEAM_0:1:12345678.
3. Choose the permission level or flag set you want to assign. Common options include full admin access or more limited roles such as kick-only. If you are not sure, start with a standard admin role and adjust later if needed.
4. Save or confirm the entry.

3. Restart your server to apply the changes

Admin changes usually take effect after a server restart. To restart your server:

1. In the left-hand menu, click Console.
2. Click the Restart button at the top of the page, or type quit into the console input and press Enter. The server will stop and start again automatically.

4. Confirm the admin is working in-game

1. Ask the newly added admin to join the server.
2. Have them open the in-game console and type sm_admin to check whether the SourceMod admin menu appears.
3. If the menu appears and shows admin options, the setup is working correctly.

5. Remove or update an admin

If you ever need to remove someone's admin access or change their permissions:

1. Go back to the Admins page in the left-hand menu.
2. Find the entry for that player.
3. Delete the entry to remove their access, or update the permission level if you just want to change what they can do.
4. Restart the server again for the changes to take effect.

Troubleshooting

• Admin menu does not appear in-game. Check that SourceMod is installed and running. Open the SourceMod page in the left-hand menu and confirm it is active. Also verify the Steam ID was entered in the correct format.
• The Admins page shows the entry but nothing changed in-game. The server may not have been restarted after saving the changes. Restart the server from the Console page and try again.
• The player says they have partial access only. Check the permission level assigned on the Admins page. You may need to grant additional flags or switch them to a higher permission tier.
• Changes keep reverting. If admin settings keep resetting, the server may be overwriting the admin config on startup. Contact RiverHosting support for help checking the startup configuration.

Need help?

If you run into any issues setting up admins on your Team Fortress 2 server, the RiverHosting support team is happy to assist.