Valheim admin and dev commands

Valheim has two kinds of console command, and they behave differently on a dedicated server. Admin commands manage the server and work for anyone on the admin list. Cheat commands, the ones behind devcommands, are blocked on a dedicated server in the base game. This guide explains which is which, how to open the console, and what your options are.

Checked against Valheim 1.0.20 (patch of 15 October 2026), Iron Gate's dedicated server guide and the Valheim wiki, October 2026.

Where you type them

Commands are typed into Valheim itself, on your own computer or console while you are connected to the server. They are not typed into your panel.

Open the in-game console

1. Make sure you are on the admin list. Use the Players tab as in Add admins to your Valheim server, then restart the server.
2. Join the server and press F5. Iron Gate's guide names F5 as the key that brings down the console.
3. On Steam, if F5 does nothing, right click Valheim in your library, choose Properties, and add -console to Launch Options. On Xbox, the wiki says to hold LB, RB and MENU together, then press A for the keyboard.

Admin commands

These work once your ID is on the admin list. Iron Gate's guide lists the first four.

The wiki lists a few more for admins: save forces the world to save, setworldpreset [name] resets all world modifiers to a named preset, setworldmodifier [name] [value] sets one modifier, and resetworldkeys resets the modifiers to default. Changing modifiers this way works, but the cleaner route is the World preset and difficulty fields in the Startup tab; Change Valheim world settings on your server covers both. Kick and ban players walks through the moderation commands.

Cheat commands and devcommands

Typing devcommands switches cheat commands on in single player or in a world you host yourself. The wiki states plainly that they do not work on a dedicated server, and being on the admin list does not change that. That rules out spawn, god, fly and debugmode on your hosted world in an unmodded game.

If you need them, there is one mod built for this: Server Devcommands on Thunderstore (version 1.116.0 when checked), which describes itself as allowing devcommands and utilities for server admins. Its page says to install it on the admin's own computer and, for its full features, on the server too. It depends on BepInEx, so follow Install BepInEx and mods on your Valheim server and add the mod from the Mods tab. Spawn items on your Valheim server shows what to do next.

If a command does nothing

• An admin command does nothing. Check your ID is on the Admins list and that the server has restarted since you were added.
• A cheat command is refused. That is expected on a dedicated server without the mod above.