What are ACE permissions in FiveM?

ACE is FiveM's permission system. With add_ace you grant rights to a group or player, and with add_principal you link players to groups or let groups inherit from each other. You configure it in your server.cfg and use it to determine, for example, who may kick, ban or open the admin menu.

How do I make someone an admin on my FiveM server?

For in-game rights you put the player in an admin group in your server.cfg using add_principal and their license identifier. Access to the txAdmin panel is configured separately, in txAdmin's own admin management. A full admin usually needs both.

Does an anticheat resource stop all cheaters?

No. Server-side measures can block known exploits and flag suspicious behaviour, but nothing can catch everything that happens on a player's PC. See anticheat as a safety net alongside well-written scripts and active moderation, not as a total solution.

What's the difference between a warn, kick and ban in txAdmin?

A warn shows the player a full-screen warning they have to click away, a kick throws them off the server but lets them come back, and a ban blocks them temporarily or permanently based on their identifiers. Everything is stored in the player history, including the reason.

// FiveM

Moderating your FiveM server: permissions, bans and anticheat

24 August 2026 · 4 min read

A FiveM server stands or falls not with scripts, but with atmosphere. One cheater spawning money or one troll ruining every scene drives away more players in an evening than a week of lag. Moderation isn't the most fun part of running a server, but it is the part that decides whether players stay. In this article: how ACE permissions work, how to set up an admin structure that doesn't spiral out of control, how to handle warns and bans via txAdmin, and what anticheat resources can and cannot do for you.

ACE permissions: who gets to do what

FiveM handles rights with the ACE system, which consists of two building blocks: aces (rights, for example being allowed to run a command) and principals (those who receive rights: a player or a group). You define them in your server.cfg:

# Rechten aan groepen geven
add_ace group.admin command allow
add_ace group.moderator command.kick allow

# Een speler in een groep zetten
add_principal identifier.license:JOUW_LICENSE group.admin

# Groepen laten erven van elkaar
add_principal group.admin group.moderator

The first line gives the group group.admin access to all commands; the second gives moderators only kick. With add_principal you link a player to a group via their license identifier, and the last line lets admins inherit everything moderators are allowed to do. That way you build a pyramid in which every layer can do exactly enough. How to find your own identifier and give yourself rights is explained step by step in the knowledge base: how do I give myself permissions.

Note: txAdmin has its very own admin management, separate from ACE. Who gets into the panel is configured in txAdmin itself; ACE determines what's allowed in the game and console. So for a full admin you need both.

An admin structure that doesn't spiral out of control

The classic beginner mistake: giving group.admin to everyone who helps out a bit. Three months later half your friend group has full rights, and after the first falling-out you're stuck with an ex-admin who knows exactly how everything works. So work with a ladder from day one, for example:

Owner: console access and server management — only you, and at most one other person you trust blindly;
Admin: bans, all in-game tools and the admin menu;
Moderator: kick, warn and spectate, but no permanent bans;
Support: answers questions, doesn't need any extra commands.

The principle is simple: hand out as few rights as necessary, and only promote once someone has proven themselves for a while. Taking rights away is always more painful than handing them out.

Warns and bans via txAdmin

txAdmin, included with every MC-Node FiveM server, is your most important moderation tool. From the player list you click a player and choose:

Warn: the player gets a warning across their whole screen that they have to actively click away — surprisingly effective against minor misbehaviour;
Kick: out, but coming back is allowed;
Ban: temporary (a few days, for example) or permanent, based on the player's identifiers.

Every warn and ban is stored in the player history, including the reason and which admin issued it. So always fill in that reason concretely: "spawned money, 21-08, clip in Discord" is still gold months later; "cheater" tells nobody anything. If you run a roleplay server, also consider a whitelist so only approved players get in; the knowledge base explains how to use a whitelist.

Spotting cheaters

Most cheaters give themselves away through one of these patterns:

Sudden wealth: a player going from a few thousand in-game dollars to millions within an hour with no identifiable source;
Weapons or items that can't be obtained legitimately on your server;
Godmode: someone surviving full magazines without reacting;
Teleporting or impossible speeds, often just out of sight of others;
Suspicious behaviour: a brand-new account that immediately "happens" to test everything that's forbidden.

Look before you judge: via spectate in txAdmin or your admin menu you follow a player unseen. And be honest with yourself — not every odd situation is a cheater. Desync can look like godmode, and a generous player can simply make someone else rich. Check the logs of your framework and economy scripts before you ban permanently.

What anticheat can and cannot do

An honest word is in order here: no anticheat makes your server cheater-free. What good server-side measures do accomplish: blocking known exploit events, checking whether what a client reports is even possible, and logging abuse so you see it afterwards. What they cannot do: catch everything that happens on a player's PC. Promises about stopping "100% undetectable cheats" are marketing, not technology — and that also goes for expensive anticheat subscriptions claiming the opposite.

The most important defence is therefore boring: well-written resources that trust nothing from the client (money and items are handed out server-side only), combined with active moderation. See an anticheat resource as a safety net and alarm bell, not as a replacement for admins.

An escalation ladder and keeping evidence

Consistency matters more than severity. Agree on a fixed ladder with your staff: warning, then kick, then a temporary ban, then permanent. Skip steps where it makes sense — cheating is instantly permanent, a heated discussion in chat is not. For every serious punishment, keep evidence: a clip or screenshot, the relevant log lines and a note in txAdmin. That protects your players from arbitrariness and your staff from endless discussions.

Also set up a ban appeal, for example via a ticket channel in your Discord. Even if you reject nine out of ten requests: the mere possibility takes the sting out of a lot of drama, and every once in a while you prevent an innocent player from leaving for good.

Rules players actually read

Moderation starts with clear expectations. Ten concrete rules everyone understands work better than forty legal paragraphs nobody reads. Put them in your Discord and show them on join, and mention the punishments too. Finally, count on moderation taking time: for an active roleplay server a few hours a week really is the minimum, and as soon as you can no longer manage that alone, it's time to recruit staff — with the permission ladder from above. All MC-Node FiveM plans ship with txAdmin, so warns, bans and player history are in your toolkit from day one.