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Authority Management: The TShock Hierarchy

TShock uses a sophisticated grouping architecture that enables you to delegate administrative power and reward community loyalty with high precision. By defining specialized permission nodes, you can architect a granular hierarchy where “Guests” are restricted to exploration, “Citizens” can build and collaborate, and “Staff” possess the tactical tools required for moderation. This guide ensures your server’s authority structure is secure, scalable, and correctly synchronized with your community goals.

Difficulty

Intermediate

Time

6 Minutes

Technical Core Group Hierarchy

By default, the TShock framework initializes with a balanced set of roles. Understanding these baseline groups is essential before creating custom variants.
The entry point for all new participants. Authorized for basic world navigation but restricted from structural modification if world protection is active.

Essential Administrative Commands

Ranks are managed through real-time console commands or the in-game chat interface (provided you possess SuperAdmin status).
Administrative ActionTechnical SyntaxStrategic Purpose
Create Group/group add [name] [parent]Defines a new rank that inherits all powers from the parent group.
Authorize Power/group addperm [group] [node]Grants a specific capability (e.g., tshock.teleport) to an entire rank.
Revoke Power/group delperm [group] [node]Removes a specific node from the group’s authorized registry.
Assign Player/user group [player] [rank]Migrates a specific participant into a new administrative or social tier.

Strategic Permission Architecture

The * (Asterisk) permission is a powerful technical wildcard. It bypasses every security check within the TShock engine. We strongly recommend that this node remains restricted exclusively to the SuperAdmin group. Granting “Star” access to junior staff members creates a significant security vulnerability, as it allows for the deletion of world data and manipulation of server-side credentials.
using the Parent parameter when adding a group (e.g., /group add vip default) ensures that your vip group automatically receives every future permission granted to the default group. This prevents redundant configuration and ensures your hierarchy remains consistent.

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Last Updated: January 2026 | Terraria: TShock permissions active.