VS Tools: server settings, whitelist, bans and roles

What this is about

VS Tools lets you change your Vintage Story server's settings with simple forms instead of editing serverconfig.json by hand. It has five tabs:

Tab	What it's for
Server Config	Server name, password, player limit, and all the world and gameplay settings
Mod Filters	Control which client-side mods players are allowed to use
Player Roles	Edit roles (e.g. suplayer, admin) and what each one can do
Whitelist	Who's allowed to join
Banlist	Who's banned

Open your server and click VS Tools in the sidebar.

Server Config

Stop your server before saving. Vintage Story rewrites serverconfig.json when it shuts down, so changes saved while it's running are lost. The panel warns you with "Server is running". Mod Filters and Player Roles are saved into the same file, so this applies to those tabs too.

1. Stop the server.
2. Change what you need. The settings are grouped into sub-tabs: Server, Player, Spawn and Death, Survival Challenges, Temporal Stability, World Generation and Multiplayer. Hover over any label to see what it does.
3. Click Save, then start the server.

Useful settings on the Server tab:

Setting	What it does
Server Name	The name players see in the server list
Welcome Message	Shown to players when they join
Player Limit	Maximum number of players
Password	Players need this to join. Leave empty for none.
Whitelist Mode	On: only whitelisted players can join. Off: anyone can join. Default: the game's default (on since 1.20).
Server Advertising	List your server on the public server browser

Fields marked with * only take effect when a new world is created, for example world size, climate and landforms. Changing them on an existing world does nothing.

Presets and importing

• Playstyle Preset: start from Standard, Exploration, Wilderness Survival, Homo Sapiens or Creative, then click Reset to Preset to apply it.
• Import Playstyle: paste a world configuration you copied from single player (Singleplayer → ✏ → copy button next to Playstyle). This is the easy way to use your own singleplayer settings for a new server world. Also see How to use custom game settings from singleplayer.
• Import JSON / Export JSON: load or download a whole serverconfig.json. Tick World only to export just the world settings.

Whitelist

Since Vintage Story 1.20, servers are whitelisted by default: only players on the list can join.

• Adding players needs the server running. Type the exact player name and click Add. The panel sends /whitelist add <name> for you.
• Removing works whether the server is running or not.
• Names can only contain letters, numbers and underscores.

Want anyone to be able to join? Set Whitelist Mode to Off in Server Config.

Banlist

Works like the whitelist: ban while the server is running, unban any time. You can also Export your banlist, and Import one from another server while yours is stopped. Switch on Append to existing list to merge it instead of replacing the whole list.

Player Roles

Roles decide what players can do: build, use chat, claim land, kick or ban others, and more. New players get the default role (usually suplayer).

• Pick a role on the left to edit its Privilege Level, Default Game Mode, Color, Land Claims allowance and Privileges (hover any privilege for a description).
• Add, Duplicate or Delete roles. The admin role can't be deleted.
• Stop the server first and click Save.

To give a player a role in game: /player <name> role <rolecode>, e.g. /player Steve role admin.

Mod Filters

Choose which client-side mods players may have when they join.

• Mod ID Whitelist: only the listed mods are allowed. Add all installed mods fills it in for you. Players with any other mod are refused.
• Mod ID Blacklist: the listed mods are blocked, everything else is allowed. It's ignored while the whitelist is active.

Not a security measure. A determined player can hide which mods they have. Use filters to stop accidental mismatches (e.g. a minimap you don't want), not to stop cheaters.