How to run and manage an s&box dedicated server without RCON

Managing an s&box dedicated server means sitting at its console window, because the server has no RCON and ignores commands from anything but a real console. RCON Hub fixes it: its s&box Manager pack runs each server inside a small console host that types your commands, reads the answers from the server's log and keeps the server running when you close the app.

Why s&box servers are hard to manage

The s&box dedicated server has no RCON and no remote admin API. Admin happens in the server's own console window, and nowhere else.

Even a script can't help much. s&box ignores a plain input pipe, so piped commands like status get no answer.

The rest is just as manual:

• Admins live in users/config.json, a JSON file you edit by hand. A syntax error can stop the server starting.
• Pick a game package that doesn't exist and the server doesn't exit. It sits there empty, and nobody can play.
• There's no global server browser, so friends need the server's Steam ID to join.

Close the console window and your server goes with it.

What the game and other tools leave out

• No RCON at all. Plain RCON tools have nothing to connect to. s&box Manager's console host owns a real Windows console for the server, types commands into it, and keeps running when s&box Manager or RCON Hub closes. The next start finds the server again.
• Answers only on screen. The server prints replies to its console window. s&box Manager reads them from logs/sbox-server.log and shows them in the Console card.
• Hand-edited admin files. One typo in users/config.json can break the start. The Admins page checks every SteamID and claim before saving, and keeps the old file as config.json.bak.
• A failed game load looks like a running server. s&box logs game.load fail and stays up empty. s&box Manager catches it, stops the server and says why in the news.
• No join line. s&box Manager reads the server's own Steam ID from status and shows the connect line on the Server page, ready to copy.

How RCON Hub fixes it

s&box Manager drops your commands into the console host's spool folder, and the host types them for real. It runs status for you, so the Players page lists who's on with their SteamID64s. Kick works in every game from there. Bans go further: s&box Manager keeps its own list that works in every game, covered in how to ban players on an s&box server.

Step-by-step setup

1. Install RCON Hub. Download it from rconhub.gg and run the installer. It's free for Windows 10 and 11.
2. Add the s&box game pack. Open RCON Hub. On Your games, click Add game, pick s&box and click Install.
3. Set up your server. Open the s&box card. Click Install it for me to download the dedicated server with SteamCMD (about 2.6 GB). Already have one? Paste the folder that holds sbox-server.exe and click Use it.
4. Pick the game. On the Server page, set Game to an sbox.game package, like facepunch.sandbox, or paste its sbox.game link. Leave Map (empty: the game's own) blank unless you want another map. Click Save.
5. Start it. Click Start server. Tick Start the server when s&box Manager opens if you want it back after a reboot. The server keeps running when you close the app either way.
6. Run commands. Scroll to the Console card. Type a command, like status or version, and click Run. The answer appears under it. Filter the log with Everything, Joins, Chat or Problems.
7. See who's on. Open the Players page. Online now lists each player. Click Kick to remove one.
8. Add admins. Open the Admins page. Click Add an admin, enter the SteamID64, and tick the claims: kick, ban and restart. Add a game's own claims under Other claims, comma separated. Click Save. Admins get their claims when they next join.
9. Share the join line. Copy the connect line from the Server page and send it to your friends.

Renting your server? Add it on the Servers page with its Pterodactyl panel. Commands go through the panel's console, and the answers come from the log over the panel's file access.

Is it safe?

Yes.

• It runs locally. RCON Hub and s&box Manager run on your own Windows PC. There's no RCON port, so no admin port is ever opened.
• No injection. RCON Hub never touches the game client or your players' games. There's nothing for anti-cheat to flag, so it won't get anyone banned.
• Your secrets stay put. The game server token and panel keys are stored encrypted on your PC.

It's beta software. Back up your server's settings and data before you change things.

Close the console window for good

Your server should run without a window you're afraid to close. Download RCON Hub, add the s&box pack, and manage your server from one place.

Download RCON Hub 0.3.13 More guides