The Casual's Guide to the Mysteries of RCON (UPDATED 9/18)

[HD_]

Well, I'm sure everyone's at least heard of this, but for those of you who haven't or who don't really know what it is or how to use it, this topic is for you!

What is RCON?

RCON is pretty much the admin system of Skulltag and Zandronum. It allows you to give commands to the server using a specialized client or through the game itself instead of the main server window. It's great for those who aren't near the server itself or for setting up admins of your server.

How do I use RCON?

Well, first, the server needs to set RCON up:

Open the server window.
Go to "Settings"-->"Configure Server..."
Click the "Administration" tab.
Check the box "Admins can log in remotely".
In the "Password" field, type in the password that you are giving to your administrators. (WARNING: The password is case-sensitive!)
Click "OK".

OR (thanks to Messatsu for reminding me of this method)

Open the server window.
In the console, type "sv_rconpassword [RCONPASSWORD]", where RCONPASSWORD is the password you are giving to your admins .(Still case-sensitive!)

Well, what do my admins do now?

Well, if your admin is doing everything from in-game:

Connect to the server.
In the console, type "send_password [RCONPassword]", where RCONPassword is the password the server host set.
If the console displays "RCON Access Granted", you're in! If not, make sure you are using the right password and that you remember the password is case-sensitive.

On the other hand, if your admin is using an RCON client:

Well, firstly, I'll mention that this client used to come bundled with Skulltag if you downloaded it from the website, but as far as I can tell, there is no up to date one for Zandronum, pretty much making this null and void. I'll mention it anyway for anyone who has one but doesn't know how to use it.
Open up the RCON Utility client found in the Skulltag/Tools folder.
Put the server IP in the "Server" text field and put the RCON password set by the server host in the "Password" field.
A simplified server window will appear with a console field if you did this correctly. You're in!

So...what do I do with RCON?

Well, RCON lets you manipulate server variables, kick and ban other users, change the music serverwide, and more. To do this (assuming you are doing this in-game) simply put "rcon" before the command and it will recognize it as a valid command; otherwise it'll give some sort of message along the lines of "Only the server host can do this!"

A list of server variables can be found at http://wiki.zandronum.com/Server_Variables
A list of flags manipulatable via RCON can be found at http://wiki.zandronum.com/DMFlags
A list of console commands can be found at http://wiki.zandronum.com/Console_Commands
Some other console variables can be found at http://wiki.zandronum.com/Console_Variables

What is the Admin List?

(Thanks to Messatsu for clarifying some things for me)

The admin list is something I find quite interesting. If your IP is specified on this list (contained in a text file) then you:

Can join the server when it is full.
Cannot be votekicked

If you want to set an existing text file as an admin list, just type  "sv_adminlistfile [DIRECTORY]" into the console, where DIRECTORY is where you want the file to be read from and what the file's name is.

Well, that's all for now! If I missed anything that you think I should add, let me know! I hope this helps!

Mandatory Credits:

Myself for composing the tutorial.
Messatsu for a minor addition and for clarification on the admin list.

[Messatsu]

Two quick things to add:

-You can specify (on the server) the RCON by using the command 'sv_rconpassword PASSWORDHERE'
-The adminlist file does not automatically grant you RCON and you do count towards the max players, however you can join even if the server is 'full' (though it does present you with a warning.)

[HD_]

Ah, thanks!

Changes added.