Console, kicks and bans

The console

A server started in a terminal takes commands right in its window. On Windows that’s the Node-Server.exe window, on Linux the terminal you started it from.

Command	What it does
help	Lists the commands.
status	Version, uptime, players, cars, resources, memory.
players	Everyone on the server: id, name, ping, cars and address (with its last part hidden).
kick <id|name> [reason]	Disconnects a player, who sees the reason. A name with spaces goes in quotes.
say <text>	A system line in every player’s chat.
reload <resource>	Runs a resource again.
stop	Stops the server. exit and quit do the same.

Resources can add commands of their own; help lists them under “from resources:”, each with the resource it comes from. A word nobody takes is answered unknown command, try help.

Without a reason, a kicked player sees Kicked by the server. Players can’t reach the console: a /kick 1 typed in chat is an ordinary chat line. It becomes a command only if a resource takes it as one.

Under systemd and in Docker without a terminal, the console is off. The Linux and Docker pages say how to turn it on.

The chat in the console

The console shows the chat as players write, with each player’s id:

17:51:12.345  Chat   › (0) Alice: hello
17:51:16.000  Chat   › System -> all: Restart in 5 minutes  [console]

A line that wasn’t sent says why, and a line a resource took as its command is marked [handled by a resource]. The arguments of commands that take a password (/login, /register and the others in [chat] masked_commands) show as ***. [chat] log = false keeps the chat out of the console and the log.

Kicks and bans

Kicking is the console command above. There is no ban command in the console: bans come from resources, such as a /ban command for moderators (example).

Bans

Bans are kept in bans.json in the working directory. It’s one JSON object: each key is a banned address or a NodeMP account as nodemp:<id>, and each value holds the reason, the time and the player’s name:

{
  "203.0.113.7": { "reason": "Spamming", "at": 1789558100, "name": "Bob" },
  "nodemp:108": { "reason": "Spamming", "at": 1789558100, "name": "Bob" }
}

A timed ban also has "until", the moment it ends in Unix seconds. When it comes, the server lifts the ban by itself.

Banning a player who is on the server bans their address and, if they’re signed in, their account, so the ban follows them to another network. A banned player trying to join sees the reason, or You are banned from this server when there is none.

To lift a ban, stop the server and run:

Node-Server --bans list
Node-Server --bans remove 203.0.113.7
Node-Server --bans remove nodemp:108

list shows every ban, remove lifts one: by address, by nodemp:<id> or by a bare account number. Editing the file by hand works too, also with the server stopped. A running server keeps the list in memory and overwrites the file on the next ban.

Restarting with a warning

stop sends everyone away at once. To warn players first, a resource schedules the stop: node.server.shutdown("Nightly restart", 5 * 60 * 1000) stops the server in five minutes. Players see that reason, resources save their data and the server exits with code 0. A systemd service with Restart=always or a container with restart: unless-stopped starts it again, so this is a restart. Timers and coroutines has an example with a countdown in chat.

The log

Everything the server prints also goes to logs/server.log, and the file has more. The console shows what you act on: joins and leaves, spawns, refusals, chat, warnings and errors. Statistics and housekeeping, such as the netstats lines, seat changes and failed connection attempts, go only to the file, unless [logs] details = true puts them on the console too. A new file starts at every start and when the old one grows past 50 MB. Five old ones are kept as server.1.log, server.2.log and so on ([logs] max_size_mb, keep).

Lines worth knowing:

Line	What it means
server is ready	The server started completely.
started, but … failed — what they do may not work	A part didn’t start. The lines above say why.
listed in the server browser	The server is in the list (Get listed).
<name> kicked — <reason>	The server refused a player or ended their session, in the words the player saw.
netstats id=… rtt=… loss=…	In the file, every 15 seconds for each player: ping, traffic, losses. Useful when a player says it lags.

A player can’t get in

The player usually sends you the launcher’s message. Every message is on Error messages. What to check on your side:

• The log has every refusal and kick under the Kick tag, in the words the player saw.
• Connection refused with nothing else: a resource turned the player away without a reason. Look for lines with that resource’s name.
• A ban: the entry is in bans.json, see above.
• Anything about game files: the [integrity] verify level (Strict file check).
• Several players from one place can’t get in: see When the server misbehaves.