How to make yourself admin on FiveM: add_ace, add_principal, group.admin

You start your own server, join it, and the admin commands do nothing: no menu, no /car, the framework says you have no permission. You own the server, but the server does not know that yet. You have to tell it who you are.

FiveM has a permission system called ACE. This guide shows how to put yourself in the admin group, how to find your identifier, and what to set in ESX and QBCore on top.

#How ACE works

ACE (Access Control Entries) is built into FiveM. Two things matter:

• add_ace gives a permission to a group or a person, for example "the group admin may run any command".
• add_principal puts a person, or a group, into another group.

The usual pattern is: define what the admin group may do, then add players to it with their identifier. All of it goes in server.cfg.

#Step 1: define the admin group

add_ace group.admin command allow
add_ace group.admin command.quit deny

The first line lets the group admin run all commands. The second removes one dangerous command, so an admin cannot stop the server with quit. You can add more deny lines for commands you do not want in the group.

#Step 2: add yourself to the group

add_principal identifier.license:aabbccddeeff00112233445566778899aabbccdd group.admin

Replace the long value with your own identifier. You can add more than one player, one line each:

add_principal identifier.license:aabbccddeeff00112233445566778899aabbccdd group.admin
add_principal identifier.fivem:1234567 group.admin
add_principal identifier.discord:123456789012345678 group.admin

The identifier type goes before the colon, and you can use any of them. They all point to the same person, so one line per person is enough.

#Step 3: find your identifiers

You need your identifier from the server's point of view, so join the server once first.

• In txAdmin: open the Players page, click your name, and open the player info. The IDs are listed there (license, fivem, discord, steam and others).
• In the server console: type status. It lists every connected player with their identifiers.

Which one to use:

• license: tied to the Rockstar license of the player. Present for everyone, so this is the safe choice.
• fivem: tied to the Cfx.re account. Stable, and good for staff who use several PCs.
• discord: tied to the Discord account, and only present when the Discord app is open on the player's PC when they connect. Do not rely on it alone.

Warning: copy the identifier from the txAdmin player page, not from a screenshot someone else sent you. A wrong or old identifier gives admin to a different person or to no one.

#Step 4: apply it

server.cfg is read when the server starts, so restart the server. You can also paste the lines into the server console to apply them without a restart:

add_principal identifier.license:aabbccddeeff00112233445566778899aabbccdd group.admin

Reconnect to the server after that, because your permissions are checked when you join.

To test it, run a command that needs permission, or in the F8 console use a command that you know is restricted. If you can use it, the rule works.

#Admin in ESX

ACE controls commands. ESX also has its own player groups, stored in the group column of the users table in your database. A player is user by default, and an admin is admin.

From the server console you can set it with:

setgroup 1 admin

where 1 is your server ID (see the player list in txAdmin). You can also edit the group column directly with a database tool, then reconnect. Some admin scripts read the ACE group, some read the ESX group, so set both if one of them does not work.

#Admin in QBCore

QBCore reads its permissions from ACE. The default server.cfg in QBCore defines groups such as qbcore.god, qbcore.admin and qbcore.mod. Add yourself to the one you want:

add_principal identifier.license:aabbccddeeff00112233445566778899aabbccdd qbcore.god

If you do not see those group lines in your server.cfg, check the one that came with qb-core and copy them. Restart and reconnect, then try an admin command.

On QBox, permissions are also based on ACE. Follow the example in the qbx_core documentation or its default server.cfg, and use the same add_principal form with your identifier.

#If it still does not work

• No effect at all: the line is in a server.cfg that the server does not load, or it is commented out. Check the path at the top of the txAdmin console.
• A typo in the identifier: compare it character by character with the txAdmin player page.
• You did not reconnect: permissions are applied when you join.
• Wrong prefix: it is identifier.license: with a dot, not identifier:license: or license:.
• The framework still says no: set the ESX or QBCore group too, as above.

For access to the txAdmin panel itself, that is a separate login, see txAdmin forgot password.

#Checklist