Admin console

Moongate can expose a small line-based admin console over TCP: connect, log in with a staff account, and run the server's commands. It is served by Moongate.Console.Admin.Plugin, one of the built-in plugins, and like the REST API it is genuinely optional — the game server owns the listener, so removing the plugin removes the whole console.

It is disabled by default and it is plaintext (no SSH, no TLS): only turn it on where the network already protects it — loopback, a private LAN, or a Tailscale interface.

Turning it on

The console has its own config file, moongate_root/plugins/configs/console.yaml, generated with defaults on first start (it does not live in moongate.yaml). Set its console: section:

console:
  Enabled: true          # opt-in; false (default) never binds
  Address: 127.0.0.1     # keep off public interfaces — traffic is unencrypted
  Port: 4050
  MaxSessions: 4         # concurrent connections before new ones are refused

Key	Type	Default	Meaning
Enabled	bool	false	When false the console never binds.
Address	string	127.0.0.1	Bind address. Plaintext — keep it off public NICs.
Port	int	4050	Listen port.
MaxSessions	int	4	Maximum concurrent sessions; further connections are refused.

On start the server logs Admin console listening on 127.0.0.1:4050. A bind failure (port in use, bad address) is logged and swallowed — the console becomes unavailable but the game server keeps running.

Connecting

Use a raw line client such as nc or socat (not the ssh command — this is not SSH):

$ nc 127.0.0.1 4050
Moongate admin console.
login:
gm
password:
secret
Authenticated. Type 'help' or 'quit'.
> broadcast Server restarting in 5 minutes
Broadcast sent.
> help
  broadcast - Sends a server-wide system message.
  help - list commands
  quit - close the session
> quit
Bye.

Login checks the username and password against the account store and requires GrandMaster or Administrator level; anything less is refused. Wrong credentials give a uniform Login failed. (three attempts, then the connection closes). An unknown command — or one you are not allowed to run — gives the same Unknown command. for every case, so the console never reveals which commands exist.

Commands run on the game loop, exactly as an in-game . command does, so they see consistent world state.

Exposing a command to the console

The console runs the same commands as the in-game . dispatcher — a command is reachable from the console only if its registration lists the Console source. Add it to the Sources flags when registering:

container.RegisterCommand<BroadcastCommand>(
    "broadcast|bc",
    AccountLevelType.GrandMaster,
    "Sends a server-wide system message.",
    CommandSourceType.InGame | CommandSourceType.Console);

A command that needs an in-world actor should stay InGame-only: console invocations carry no MobileEntity (CommandContext.Actor is null).