Add TShock Plugins to Your Terraria Server

TShock is the admin layer on a standard Terraria server, and it is built to take plugins that add commands and features. TShock's own documentation shows its core plugin as TShockAPI.dll in a ServerPlugins folder, and other plugins go in the same place as .dll files. Players join a TShock server with normal Terraria, so there is nothing for them to install.

Checked against TShock 6.2.1 for Terraria 1.4.5.8, October 2026.

Plugins or mods

Plugins and mods are different things on a Terraria server:

• TShock plugins add server features. This guide covers them.
• tModLoader mods add new items, bosses and blocks, and players need them too. If that's what you want, see Add tModLoader mods to your Terraria server.

The two don't mix. The panel's Mods tab belongs to tModLoader, so a TShock server doesn't show it. The Server software card on the Startup tab shows which one you have.

Pick a plugin that suits your version

TShock's own documentation points to GitHub's tshock-plugin topic as the place to find plugins. Plugins are made by other people, so read the plugin's page before you download:

1. Check which TShock version it supports. Our TShock 6.2.1 is built for Terraria 1.4.5.8. TShock checks plugins against its API version, and its command-line documentation describes that check as the thing that stops old plugins running, so look for a build made for your version.
2. Download the plugin's .dll. If it comes in a zip, unzip it on your PC.
3. Read its README for any extra files it needs.

Install it

1. Stop the server from the Console tab.
2. Open File Manager and open the ServerPlugins folder. It sits in the server's main folder, beside TShock.Server, and already holds TShock's own TShockAPI.dll.
3. Upload the plugin's .dll into ServerPlugins. Leave TShockAPI.dll alone.
4. Start the server again.
5. Use the plugin's README to check it is working. In one test, an invalid .dll in ServerPlugins was skipped with no message in the Console or in the tshock/logs folder.

Give your players access to its commands

A new plugin's commands usually need a permission, and the permission names are in the plugin's README. Give a group the permission with a TShock command, in game chat (with a /) or in the panel's Console (without one):

/group addperm vip plugin.permission.name

Swap vip for the group and use the permission from the README. Terraria TShock admin commands and groups explains groups and has the full set of permission commands.

Remove or update a plugin

• Remove: delete the .dll from ServerPlugins in File Manager, then restart the server.
• Update: upload the new .dll over the old one, then restart the server.

When you update TShock itself, your plugin files stay where they are, because the installer unpacks TShock over the existing folder and doesn't delete the rest. A new TShock release can still leave a plugin behind, so check the plugin's page after each update. Update your Terraria server shows how.

If a plugin doesn't work

• It isn't working. An invalid file can be skipped with no message, so there may be no error to find. Check the plugin supports your TShock version and that you uploaded the real .dll.
• The command says you don't have permission. Your group needs the plugin's permission. Log in with /login first, then check your group.
• The server won't start after adding one. Stop it, remove that .dll from ServerPlugins and start again to confirm the plugin was the cause.