WARDOGS RCON & admin tools

What RCON is in WARDOGS

WARDOGS RCON is not the old Source-style socket protocol. The dedicated server runs a small HTTP API, versioned under /v1, that answers JSON. Every request carries the RCON password as a bearer token, and the same token authorises reads and writes: there is no read-only role, so give the password to admins you trust and put a panel with its own logins in front of it for everyone else.

The listener is off by default. It is switched on in the server’s ServerSettings.ini under the WDRCONSettings section, with a bind address, a port (7776 by default, also settable with a launch argument) and either a plaintext password or a password hash. A listener bound to anything other than loopback must use TLS, so a host that exposes RCON to you will hand you an https address, a port and a password.

What admins can do with it

The API exposes around 35 endpoints. The ones that matter day to day:

• Status and the connected player list, with Steam IDs.
• Kick, kill, message and move a player between factions; broadcast to everyone.
• Ban and unban by Steam ID, with a ban list that persists; reserved slots the same way.
• Change map now, end or restart the match, set lighting and weather live.
• Read and edit the map rotation and save it; catalogue endpoints list the maps, modes and lighting presets the server accepts.
• Get, validate and replace the whole server config document, and read the admin action audit log.

Getting access from your host

Only the three approved hosts run WARDOGS servers, so RCON access is whatever their panels expose. Before you rent, ask:

There is no official developer documentation yet. The most complete reference is an unofficial one maintained by the community at wardogs.tech, which documents every endpoint and config key and ships an OpenAPI file you can generate a client from.

• Is the RCON listener enabled and reachable from outside the box, over TLS, and can I set the password myself?
• Can I edit ServerSettings.ini directly, or only through the panel?
• Does the panel keep bans and the rotation across restarts and reinstalls?
• Can I point a third-party panel at the server, or must I use theirs?

Unofficial WARDOGS RCON API reference (wardogs.tech) ↗

BattleMetrics

BattleMetrics has added WARDOGS to its RCON service, so if your community already manages other games there you can add a WARDOGS server with its RCON address and password and get its player list, kick and ban tools, and logs in the same place.

It is a paid service after the free tier and it holds your RCON password, which is a full-access credential here. That is the trade-off for not running anything yourself.

BattleMetrics: WARDOGS RCON support ↗

Warcon: an RCON panel you can host yourself

We built Warcon, an open source RCON panel for WARDOGS dedicated servers. It sits between your admins and the server’s RCON listener, so each admin gets their own login and role instead of the shared RCON password. It handles multiple servers, keeps an audit log of who did what, and covers the player, ban, map and rotation endpoints above.

It runs on Linux or Docker, the code is MIT licensed on GitHub, and there is a hosted console at warcon.app if you do not want to run it yourself. You still need RCON access from your host; ask them before you rent.

Warcon: open source RCON panel for WARDOGS ↗

Running a server before you have tooling

Have admins in game at your peak hours. Take reports in one Discord channel with one person triaging. Keep the rules short. A kick or ban from the API takes seconds once someone has the password and a way to send a request, so set that up on day one rather than after the first griefer.