How to be an Admin in a GMod Server

Being and admin is a big responsibility, if you have never been a Gmod admin before, you owe it to your server and its users to read this guide and start your endless journey to becoming a pro.

Throughout this guide we will talk about two of the most widely used administrative mods in GMod and DarkRP (ULX and FAdmin). We will start from the very begining and work all the way up to the advanced console commands. We will also discuss the meaning of admin abuse, and where you should use your powers.

Introduction

Throughout this guide we will learn a lot, from the basics of kicking a player to the advanced console commands. We will be learning about:

• ULX (Administration mod)
  
• FAdmin (DarkRP administration mod)
  
• Advanced DarkRP console commands
  
• How to deal with situations in DarkRP

ULX is the primary tool for dealing with players. This tool allows you to excecute over 70 commands. Dont worry though with ULX there is no need to remember long strings or even commands, we can just open the simple GUI.

ULX Mod - Starting up

The fastest way to use ULX is to first enable the ULX UI. This can be accessed by typing !menu in chat. However if you are going to be using this excesivley, it is best to follow these simple steps:

TIP: Any long term admin is advised to follow these first few steps!

Binding your ULX UI to a key

Step 1: Opening the console
1: Click settings on your GMod home screen.
2: Click advanced.
3: Make sure 'Enable Developer console' is ticked.


Step 2: Binding the key
1: Hit the tilde button on your keyboard

TIP: It looks like this '~' or '¬'. It will be to the left of number 'one' on your keyboard's numberline. Or, if you are not using a US layout keyboard you will sometimes have to use the actual tile button, this is usually located to the left of enter.

This opens the developer console.
2: Type the following into the command line:-
'bind <letter to bind> xgui
For instance if you wanted to bind your XGUI to the letter 'j' you would type:
'bind j xgui' (Don't include Apostrophes)

Using the UI in game

While in-game, pressing the button you binded will now open a fancy looking interface.
This interface will be explored in the next section of this guide.

ULX Mod - The commands - Punishment

In this section we will explore the most important commands in ULX.

After pressing your preffered key to open the UI or typing !menu in chat you can see this fancy looking UI. This UI is divided into 7-8 sections depending on your permissions.If you expand one of the sections you will see a list of possible commands.Clicking one of the commands will open more settings on the right side.

The commands

With the power of ULX you will never need to remember long commands and orders of their strings. Commands simply means the different sections in ULX.
The following are some of the most important commands (in my oppinion)
_____________________________________________________________________________

Kicking a player

Step 1: Open your ULX UI
Step 2: Expand the 'Utility section'
Step 3: Click the Kick option
Step 4: Select the name of the player you need to kick
Step 5: Press the ULX Kick Button

This seems a little tedious, right? This is because some commands are easier to excecute from the chat. This is one of those commands. To kick a player without using the ULX UI simply type:

!kick <player name>
TIP: You don't have to type out the whole player name. For instance if I was kicking 'Steve' I could type '!kick Stev' However if there is anyone else in the server with a similar name they might be kicked too. So be careful using this option.

Sometimes players can use deliberatley comlex names with an asterix (*) In ULX an asterix means all players. If you see someone with this, simply use your UI as shown previously.
____________________________________________________________________________

Banning a player

Banning a player is another command that is sometime easier to execute from the chat:-

!ban <player name> <Time> <reason>

Time: ULX makes it easy to ban quickly. Lengths of time are represented by letters, as follows:

Hour = h
Day = d
Week = w
Year = y

All you have to do is put a number in front, for example:
'!ban steve 1d'
'!ban steve 2d 12h Prop Block'

TIP: Using no letter will default to minutes.
____________________________________________________________________________

Muting a player (Chat and voice)

There are two option in this section-gag and gimp:

ULX gag: Disables the players microphone in-game.
ULX gimp Disables the players ability to use chat.

In your UI, these comand are found in the utility section. Or you can use the commands:
!gag <player name>
!gimp <player name>

To ungag or ungimp the players imply use:
!ungag <player name>
!ungimp <player name>
TIP: use an asterix (*) instead of a player name to ungag or ungimp all players.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ULX Mod - The commands - Teleporting

Admins can bring and teleport players. It is really rather easy:-

In the ULX UI All teleport related commands are listed in the 'Teleport' section.

Bringing a player to you:

!bring <player name>

Going to a player

!goto <player name>

Sending one player to another:

!send <player name> <player name>

Tip: Immagine there is a 'to' in the middle of the two player names:
!send Steve (to) Paul
This would teleport Steve to Paul


Using the UI is similar, except you will need to find the player in question, in a list of online users. This can be usefull for players with complex names.

ULX Mod - The commands - Full list

(This list was taken from the ULX website, and simply modified slightly by me.)

Category: Fun

o ulx armor <players> <armor: 0<=x<=255> - Sets the armor for target(s). (say: !armor)
o ulx blind <players> [<amount: 0<=x<=255, default 255>] - Blinds target(s). (say: !blind) (opposite: ulx unblind)
o ulx cloak [<players, defaults to self>] [<amount: 0<=x<=255, default 255>] - Cloaks target(s). (say: !cloak) (opposite: ulx uncloak)
o ulx freeze <players> - Freezes target(s). (say: !freeze) (opposite: ulx unfreeze)
o ulx god [<players, defaults to self>] - Grants god mode to target(s). (say: !god) (opposite: ulx ungod)
o ulx hp <players> <hp: 1<=x<=2147483647> - Sets the hp for target(s). (say: !hp)
o ulx ignite <players> [<seconds: 1<=x<=300, default 300>] - Ignites target(s). (say: !ignite) (opposite: ulx unignite)
o ulx jail <players> [<seconds, 0 is forever: 0<=x, default 0>] - Jails target(s). (say: !jail) (opposite: ulx unjail)
o ulx jailtp <player> [<seconds, 0 is forever: 0<=x, default 0>] - Teleports, then jails target(s). (say: !jailtp)
o ulx maul* <players> - Maul target(s). (say: !maul)
o ulx playsound* <sound> - Plays a sound (relative to sound dir).
o ulx ragdoll <players> - ragdolls target(s). (say: !ragdoll) (opposite: ulx unragdoll)
o ulx slap <players> [<damage: 0<=x, default 0>] - Slaps target(s) with given damage. (say: !slap)
o ulx slay <players> - Slays target(s). (say: !slay)
o ulx sslay* <players> - Silently slays target(s). (say: !sslay)
o ulx strip <players> - Strip weapons target(s). (say: !strip)
o ulx unigniteall - Extinguishes all players and all entities. (say: !unigniteall)
o ulx whip <players> [<times: 2<=x<=100, default 10>] [<damage: 0<=x, default 0>] - Slaps target(s) x times with given damage each time. (say: !whip)

Category: Rcon*

o ulx cexec* <players> {command} - Run a command on console of target(s). (say: !cexec)
o ulx ent* <classname> [{<flag>:<value>}] - Spawn an ent, separate flag and value with ':'.
o ulx exec* <file> - Execute a file from the cfg directory on the server.
o ulx luarun* {command} - Executes lua in server console. (Use '=' for output)
o ulx rcon {command} - Execute command on server console. (say: !rcon)

Category: User Management*

o ulx addgroup* <group> [<inherits from>] - Create a new group with optional inheritance.
o ulx adduser* <player> <group> - Add a user to specified group.
o ulx adduserid* <SteamID, IP, or UniqueID> <group> - Add a user by ID to specified group.
o ulx groupallow* <group> <command> [<access tag>] - Add to a group's access.
o ulx groupdeny* <group> <command> - Remove from a group's access.
o ulx removegroup* <group> - Removes a group. USE WITH CAUTION.
o ulx removeuser* <player> - Permanently removes a user's access.
o ulx removeuserid* <SteamID, IP, or UniqueID> - Permanently removes a user's access by ID.
o ulx renamegroup* <current group> <new group> - Renames a group.
o ulx setgroupcantarget* <group> [<target string>] - Sets what a group is allowed to target
o ulx userallow* <player> <command> [<access tag>] - Add to a user's access.
o ulx userallowid* <SteamID, IP, or UniqueID> <command> [<access tag>] - Add to a user's access.
o ulx userdeny* <player> <command> [<remove explicit allow or deny instead of outright denying: 0/1>] - Remove from a user's access.
o ulx userdenyid <SteamID, IP, or UniqueID> <command> [<remove explicit allow or deny instead of outright denying: 0/1>] - Remove from a user's access.
o ulx usermanagementhelp* - See the user management help.

Category: Utility

o ulx ban <player> [<minutes, 0 for perma: 0<=x, default 0>] [{reason}] - Bans target. (say: !ban)
o ulx banid <steamid> [<minutes, 0 for perma: 0<=x, default 0>] [{reason}] - Bans steamid.
o ulx debuginfo - Dump some debug information.
o ulx help - Shows this help.
o ulx kick <player> [{reason}] - Kicks target. (say: !kick)
o ulx map <map> [<gamemode>] - Changes map and gamemode. (say: !map)
o ulx noclip [<players, defaults to self>] - Toggles noclip on target(s). (say: !noclip)
o ulx resettodefaults [<string>] - Resets ALL ULX and ULib configuration!
o ulx spectate <player> - Spectate target. (say: !spectate)
o ulx unban <steamid> - Unbans steamid.
o ulx who - See information about currently online users.

Category: Chat

o ulx asay {message} - Send a message to currently connected admins. (say: @)
o ulx csay {message} - Send a message to everyone in the middle of their screen. (say: @@@)
o ulx gag <players> - Gag target(s), disables microphone. (say: !gag) (opposite: ulx ungag)
o ulx gimp <players> - Gimps target(s) so they are unable to chat normally. (say: !gimp) (opposite: ulx ungimp)
o ulx mute <players> - Mutes target(s) so they are unable to chat. (say: !mute) (opposite: ulx unmute)
o ulx psay <player> {message} - Send a private message to target. (say: !p)
o ulx thetime - Shows you the server time. (say: !thetime)
o ulx tsay {message} - Send a message to everyone in the chat box. (say: @@)

Category: Voting

o ulx veto - Veto a successful votemap (say: !veto)
o ulx vote <title> {options} - Starts a public vote. (say: !vote)
o ulx voteban <player> [<minutes: 0<=x, default 1440>] [{reason}] - Starts a public ban vote against target. (say: !voteban)
o ulx votekick <player> [{reason}] - Starts a public kick vote against target. (say: !votekick)
o ulx votemap [{map}] - Vote for a map, no args lists available maps. (say: !votemap)
o ulx votemap2 {map} - Starts a public map vote. (say: !votemap2)

Category: Teleport

o ulx bring <player> - Brings target to you. (say: !bring)
o ulx goto <player> - Goto target. (say: !goto)
o ulx return [<player, defaults to self>] - Returns target to last position before a teleport. (say: !return)
o ulx send <player> <player> - Goto target. (say: !send)
o ulx teleport [<player, defaults to self>] - Teleports target. (say: !tp)

Category: Menus*

o ulx motd - Show the message of the day. (say: !motd)
o xgui <show, hide, toggle> - Opens and/or closes XGUI. (say: !xgui, !menu) (alias: ulx menu)
o xgui fban <player> - Opens the add ban window, freezes the specified player, and fills out the Name/SteamID automatically. (say: !fban)
o xgui xban <player> - Opens the add ban window and fills out Name/SteamID automatically if a player was specified. (say: !xban)

*Please note that many servers will allow theese comands only to Super-admin

DarkRP - FAdmin, the understated DarkRP admin mod

This mod simply utilizes your TAB menu. When you hold TAB to see a list of players, you can click on the player to view more options.

Once you click on the player you will see more information on the player as well as options on them.
You can see their steam ID and their real steam name.

In DarkRP, when you're admin on duty it can often be helpfull to vanish as not to disrupt the RP.
ULX gives this option however it is flawed as it can often not vanish you completely.
To use the FAdmin Vanish, simply click your player name in the TAB listing and hit the 'vanish' option. The button will now change to a red cross and you will be vanished.
Another very usefull feature is the ability to give yourself weapons with the 'give weapons' option. (Note that you will ussually require admin priverlages to enable this feature)

Other usefull options

Clicking at the top right of the TAB menu on the 'server options' button will bring you to a new page where you can do things such as enable a FAdmin MOTD. And other commands. (Note that in most servers you will require super-admin or higher to activate most of the commands on this page)

DarkRP Administration Tips

Returning a player to previous their location

If you have just brought a player to speak to them, simply type '!return <playername>' after you have finished with them. This will return them to their previous location before they were teleported. This is handy as you are causing less impact on their RP experiance this way.

Vanishing to Improve user's RP - The Secrets

Always stay vanished. This can help you to see the true colours of players. But When a player speaks they will still be notified you are listening, so, spectating players throuh FAdmin spectate (FAdmin - The Understated DarkRP Admin mod) is far better as you can hear and see them and they will never know. In this mode you can even no-clip around simply by right clicking.

DarkRP - abusing powers

When someone says 'admin abusing' they simply mean that and admin is using their powers in a RP situation. For instance:

• No-cliping without being admin on duty
  
• Deleting props during a raid.
  
• Teleporting your buddies into a printer filled base

Most servers give their own rules about administritive powers and where to use them.

Another form of admin abusing would be putting printers in a ussually unreachable location and no-clipping to them to recieve their money.
If you want to abuse to get yourself rich, simply execute the command from the console:

rp_setmoney <ammount> [Player Name]**

**Note that these commands are often super-admin privileges.

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ

This is the Frequently Asked Questions section.
If you want to submit your own question simply ask in the comments bellow and I will do my best to answer!

I just got RDA (Random Arrest) as Admin on Duty, how can I get justice?

Many people are unaware that it is really rather simple to unarrest yourself, or in fact other players that have been RDA. All you need to do is open your console with tilde and type:
RP_unarrest <Player Name>
Click here to see a full list of all DarkRP commands (Note that most require owners privileges)[deadeye.comule.com]

What is the best way to catch and deal with a prop killer?

If you can see many players being killed by 'physics props' then you will need to:
1: Open your dev console with the tilde key (see section 1)
2: In your console you will see something like this:
For the purposes of this example, Steve will be the prop killer and Paul, the victim.

Steve gm_spawn models/props_junk/sawblade001
Paul was killed by gm_spawn models/props_junk/sawblade001

As soon as you work out who the prop killer is you need to freeze them with !freeze or by using FAdmin. This will prevent them for causing any further damage before you can get to them. Next you need to teleport them onto a building. From here you can choose to give them a chance or ban depending on teh severity of what they did.
Now you can use:

3: !ban steve 1w

Summary:
1: Check who prop killed
2: Freeze player
3: Ban or warn player

Thank You!

Thanks for reading, if you liked this guide then why not give it a thumbs up rating? Or even a favorite so your friends can read to!
If you are stuck and don't understand something, feel free to comment bellow!

Need some assistance with managing your server? Take a look at this simple, informative guide:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=189462595
Use Exsto? Read this guide:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=190129589#-1

Need to learn how to install ULX Mod? Use this tutorial(note you need your own GMod server):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIDRJ48QSI8

I Don't play GMod anymore, so I won't be able to help you with issues due to recent updates.

[seezy]

DISCORD MOD

[🟢GreasyWeezy-λ]

None of this works at all

[Michael Collins]

Folks - can anyone help me here? I purchased admin after playing for many hours - but it's prompting me to authenticate with a password when I try to run a command. I'm not sure what that is, is there a way to reset it?

Please help if you can - I'm at a complete loss here.

[Alikku]

una pregunta- sin querer me saque el super admin como puedo volverlo a poner, ya probe en la consola y no me deja

[Sglod]

@Bruson2017666 I'll have to talk with the other super admins, however, personally, I think you could be the next great admin (the next Doodleh, if you will) that DarkRP needs. Send me your email address and phone number and I'll speak with the other admins.

Keep your hopes up
-Wheatmap

[SulukaYT]

can i please become the admin i have read it all any thing i will do it to become an admin

[never2nv]

xgui does work. Doing it wrong?
Try
bind <letter to bind> "ulx menu" this will work as well

[bad at the videogame]

xgui dosent work

[Monty]

My gosh, a guide that is serious for once.

[Soul]

Yea but after that how do you BECOME a admin/mod?