Urban Terror RCON Commands: Kick, Ban, Map, Teams and Referees

Q: How do I find a player's slot number?

Type /rcon players or /rcon status. The first column is the slot number, which works with kick, slap, forceteam and the other player commands.

Q: How do I permanently ban someone on Urban Terror?

Use /rcon addip with their IP, which writes to banlist.txt, and make sure filterban is 1. For players who change IPs, ban their account with the auth ban command, or run an admin bot.

Q: Why does /rcon say "Bad rconpassword"?

The password you typed does not match the server's rconpassword exactly, or the server's is empty. Check case and spaces, and restart the server after changing it.

Q: What is the difference between maprestart and reload?

maprestart resets scores and time without reloading the map. reload loads the map again from scratch, which is needed after changing latched settings like ggametype.

To use RCON on an Urban Terror server, set rconpassword in q3ut4/server.cfg, then in game open the console and type /rconpassword yourpassword once, followed by any command with /rcon in front, such as /rcon players, /rcon kick 3, /rcon map ut4_turnpike or /rcon forceteam 5 blue. Every server console command works this way, plus a set of Urban Terror admin commands for slapping, muting, team control and match play.

Below is the list that covers day to day running of a 4.3 server, grouped by job, using the command names from FrozenSand's 4.3 release notes.

Logging in

/rconpassword long-random-password
/rcon players

rconpassword stays set for your session, so you only type it once. If you get "Bad rconpassword", check for a typo or trailing space in server.cfg and remember the password is case sensitive. An empty rconpassword on the server disables RCON completely.

Players are targeted by their slot number or by name. Slot numbers are safer, since names with color codes are awkward to type, and a partial name can match the wrong person. Get the numbers from:

Command	What it shows
`/rcon players`	Map, scores and, per player, slot, name, team, score, ping, IP and auth name
`/rcon status`	Engine view: slot, ping, address of everyone connected
`/rcon dumpuser 3`	Everything the server knows about slot 3

Kicking and banning

Command	Example	Notes
`kick`	`/rcon kick 3`	Also accepts `all` or `allbots`
`kickall`	`/rcon kickall red "Server restart"`	Kicks a whole team or everyone, with a reason
`addip`	`/rcon addip 203.0.113.50`	Bans an IP. Wildcards like `203.0.113.*` work
`removeip`	`/rcon removeip 203.0.113.50`	Lifts an IP ban
`auth-ban` / `auth-unban`		Bans by Urban Terror account rather than IP, when `auth_enable` is on

IP bans are stored in banlist.txt in q3ut4 and only apply while filterban is 1 in server.cfg. Since players can change IPs, auth bans are the stronger option for repeat offenders. For anything beyond a few bans a week, an admin bot like B3 or Spunky Bot keeps a proper ban database.

Punishments short of a kick

Command	Example	Effect
`slap`	`/rcon slap 4`	Knocks the player around and takes some health
`nuke`	`/rcon nuke 4`	Kills the player in a blast
`smite`	`/rcon smite 4`	Kills the player instantly
`mute`	`/rcon mute 4`	Toggles chat and radio mute (supports a time)
`bigtext`	`/rcon bigtext "Stop spawn camping"`	Big message in the middle of everyone's screen
`say`	`/rcon say Map changes after this round`	Chat message, prefixed with `sv_sayprefix`
`tell`	`/rcon tell 4 Last warning`	Private message to one player

Urban Terror tactical shooter

Maps

Command	Example	Effect
`map`	`/rcon map ut4_abbey`	Loads a map now
`cyclemap`	`/rcon cyclemap`	Skips to the next map in `mapcycle.txt`
`g_nextmap`	`/rcon g_nextmap ut4_turnpike`	Sets what loads after the current map
`map_restart`	`/rcon map_restart`	Soft restart: resets scores and time, keeps the map loaded
`reload`	`/rcon reload`	Hard restart: reloads the map fully

Use reload after changing settings the engine only reads on map load, such as g_gametype or g_matchmode. The release notes call these latched cvars. For example, to switch a public server from CTF to Team Survivor:

/rcon g_gametype 4
/rcon reload

The map has to exist in q3ut4 as a .pk3. A typo in /rcon map gives an error and the current map keeps running.

Teams

Command	Example	Effect
`forceteam`	`/rcon forceteam 6 spectator`	Moves a player to `red`, `blue` or `spectator`. Accepts `all`
`forceall`	`/rcon forceall red blue`	Moves a whole team somewhere else
`swap`	`/rcon swap 3 7`	Swaps two players between teams
`swapteams`	`/rcon swapteams`	Swaps red and blue
`shuffleteams`	`/rcon shuffleteams`	Randomizes teams. With `g_shuffleNoRestart 1` the map does not restart
`forceteamname`	`/rcon forceteamname red "Night Owls"`	Sets a team name for a clan match

Votes and pauses

/rcon veto cancels the vote in progress. Useful when someone calls a joke kick.
/rcon pause pauses the game; run it again to resume. g_pauselength limits how long a pause lasts.
/rcon forceready readies both teams in match mode, so a scrim can start without waiting for captains.

Which votes players can call at all is set by g_allowvote in server.cfg. Our Urban Terror server.cfg guide explains the bitmask.

Changing settings live

Any cvar can be set through RCON and takes effect right away, unless it is latched:

/rcon g_friendlyfire 0
/rcon timelimit 30
/rcon g_gravity 300
/rcon exec server.cfg

Live changes are lost when the server restarts. To keep them, write them into server.cfg.

Urban Terror cover art

Referees: giving match admins limited power

Handing out the RCON password to every clan captain is a bad idea. Referees are the built in middle ground. In server.cfg:

set  g_referee   "1"
set  g_refpass   "ref-password"
set  g_refnoban  "1"
set  g_refNoExec "1"

A referee logs in from the console with /reflogin ref-password and then sends commands with the /ref prefix instead of /rcon, for example /ref swapteams. The 4.3 release notes list what referees can run: swap, pause, reload, restart, nextmap, cyclemap, map, exec and veto. g_refnoban 1 blocks bans and g_refNoExec 1 blocks running config files, so a ref can run a match but cannot wreck your server.

For long term admins on a public server, 4.3's auth system offers another route: list auth group IDs in auth_owners and members can run admin commands from chat without knowing the RCON password at all.

Running commands from the GamezServers panel

On a GamezServers Urban Terror server the RCON password is a field in the control panel, so you set it there instead of in server.cfg, and the server picks it up on restart. You do not need RCON at all for many jobs: the panel's live console runs the same commands without the /rcon prefix (kick 3, map ut4_casa, bigtext "Restarting") and shows chat, kills and joins as they happen. If you have not set up the server yet, how to host an Urban Terror server covers the basics.

FAQ

How do I find a player's slot number?

Type /rcon players or /rcon status. The first column is the slot number, which works with kick, slap, forceteam and the other player commands.

How do I permanently ban someone on Urban Terror?

Use /rcon addip with their IP, which writes to banlist.txt, and make sure filterban is 1. For players who change IPs, ban their account with the auth ban command, or run an admin bot.

Why does /rcon say "Bad rconpassword"?

The password you typed does not match the server's rconpassword exactly, or the server's is empty. Check case and spaces, and restart the server after changing it.

What is the difference between map_restart and reload?

map_restart resets scores and time without reloading the map. reload loads the map again from scratch, which is needed after changing latched settings like g_gametype.