Running a tShock Terraria server on Pterodactyl means you’re in control of a powerful toolbox packed with anti-cheat tools, server-side characters, groups, permissions, item bans, and limitless customization potential. This guide walks you through everything you need to know to manage user groups and permissions like a pro.
Understanding How tShock Groups Work
In tShock, there are no hard-coded ‘admins’ or ‘moderators’ — it’s a fully flexible system. You create groups, assign them permissions, and those permissions determine exactly what players in each group can and cannot do. For example, a group named ‘Moderator’ only has the powers you explicitly grant it, such as the ability to kick or ban players.
Default Groups in tShock
tShock automatically generates three predefined groups to get you started: guest, default, and superadmin. The guest group is the parent of the default group, meaning all registered players inherit guest-level permissions on top of their default ones. Never assign regular players to the superadmin group — doing so grants them all permissions without restriction, which will almost certainly lead to abuse.
Creating and Deleting User Groups
To create a new group, open your Pterodactyl console and use the command: /group add [GroupName] [optional permissions]. This creates the group with the name you specify and any initial permissions you want to apply. To remove a group, simply run /group del [GroupName]. You can view all existing groups on your server at any time using /group list.
Adding and Removing Permissions
Use /group addperm [GroupName] [permission] to grant a specific permission to a group. For instance, granting tshock.admin.kick allows that group to kick players from the server. To revoke a permission, use /group delperm [GroupName] [permission] — this immediately removes their access to all commands tied to that permission. You can also add a permission to all groups at once by using * in place of the group name.
Using Parent Groups for Permission Inheritance
tShock supports parent-child group inheritance, making it easy to build tiered permission structures. By setting a parent group with /group parent [ChildGroup] [ParentGroup], the child group automatically inherits all of the parent’s permissions. For example, you can set up a chain so Default users have basic permissions, Moderators inherit Default plus moderation rights, and Admins inherit everything from both tiers.
Managing Users and Assigning Groups via Pterodactyl Console