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How to Delete a Player From a 7 Days to Die Server

Kicking or banning changes access; deleting a player’s save files resets progress permanently. This guide shows the console commands, backup workflow, file checks, land-claim warning, and hosted-server limitations.
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“Delete a player” in 7 Days to Die can mean either removing the player’s access or erasing the character’s saved progress. A console kick only ends the current session, and a ban blocks access; neither removes the save. To reset the character, stop the server, back up the active world, identify the player’s ID in players.xml, and delete that player’s files from the save directory. The reset is permanent, and the player’s land claims disappear with the profile.

Decide what you need to remove

Use the least destructive action that solves the problem. Access controls change who can connect; save-file deletion changes the character itself.

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Action What it changes Can the player return? What you need
kick Removes the player from the current session only. Yes. A kicked player can rejoin immediately. Administrator access to the server console.
Ban or whitelist removal Blocks access through the server’s access controls. Only after the restriction is lifted; ban remove lifts an existing ban. Administrator access and the correct identifier or name.
Profile-file deletion Erases the character’s persistent progress and land claims. Yes, but the next login creates a new character. Access to the save folder, normally through the host’s control panel or FTP.

If the goal is simply to stop someone joining, do not touch the save files. If the goal is to make that person start over, follow the file-deletion procedure below. A reset does not ban the player, so apply an access restriction separately if you also need to prevent a new login.

Prepare the server before changing anything

Save data is being edited directly, so preparation matters more than speed. Perform these checks in order:

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  • Confirm that you are an administrator or the server owner. Console commands require administrative rights, and file deletion requires access to the machine or hosting panel that stores the save.
  • Tell connected players that the server will be stopped. Do not delete files while the game is writing them.
  • Stop the server completely and wait until the control panel or process status confirms that it is offline.
  • Make a copy of the entire save folder for the active world before opening or deleting anything. Keep the backup outside the live save location and label it with the date and world name.
  • Record the current world and save name. A player can have data in more than one world or save, and deleting files in the wrong folder will not reset the character you intend to remove.
  • Write down the player’s exact in-game name and, if available, their Steam ID or entity ID. Names can be mistyped or duplicated; the ID shown in the save data is the value that controls the deletion.

Deletion is permanent in the ordinary server workflow. If you are unsure which files belong to the player, stop and inspect the folder against your backup rather than guessing.

Method 1: remove access with the server console

These commands affect the session or access permissions, not persistent character data. Open the server console using the administration interface supplied by your host, or the console available to the server process. If a command is rejected, run help first; syntax can differ between a vanilla, modded, or experimental build.

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Kick the player from the current session

  1. Open the server console with administrator privileges.
  2. Run kick <Steam ID | player name | entity ID> [message], replacing the bracketed value with the identifier accepted by your server. The optional message is sent as the kick reason.
  3. Check the console output and the player list to verify that the session ended.

A kick is temporary. The same player can connect again immediately unless another access rule prevents it. Use this when you need someone out of the current game but do not want to erase their character or impose a continuing restriction.

Inspect and lift an existing ban

ban list displays the server’s current bans. To remove one, run ban remove <player> with the name or identifier used by that ban. This reverses a ban; it does not delete the player’s profile or restore files that have already been removed.

The command syntax for adding a ban is not consistent across every build and is not specified here. Use the console’s help output on your server before issuing a ban command, especially on a modded or experimental installation.

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Remove administrator rights

If the person should remain a player but no longer have elevated permissions, run admin remove <player>. This changes the administrative role only. It does not kick the player, ban them, or reset their saved progress.

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Remove a whitelist entry

Run whitelist remove <name/id/steamid> to remove an entry from the whitelist. One hosting guide notes that the whitelist feature is disabled when no players remain on it, so check the resulting list and your server’s access behavior before relying on whitelist removal as a complete access policy.

Method 2: permanently reset the player’s saved character

Use this method when “delete” means “erase the character and make the next login start from scratch.” The names and extensions can differ by game version and platform, so use the actual files in your active save rather than deleting every file that looks similar.

1. Stop the server and create a restorable backup

Stop the server before opening the save. Copy the complete active save folder, including its world and player subfolders, to a separate location. A backup is your only practical recovery if the wrong ID or file is removed.

2. Open players.xml for the active world

Inside the save folder for the current world, locate players.xml. Open it with a plain-text editor that does not add formatting. Search for the player’s name or another identifying value and note the value in that player’s userid= attribute. Copy the ID exactly, including capitalization or any prefix shown in the file.

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Do not assume the visible player name is the file name. The ID in players.xml is the bridge between the roster entry and the files in the player-data directory.

3. Locate the player-data directory

Go to the player-data folder inside the save for the current world and save name. A newer-version hosting guide gives the path as /userdata/Saves/; the surrounding folders and the exact location can vary by host and version. Confirm that the directory you opened belongs to the world you recorded before stopping the server.

4. Identify every file matching the player ID

Use the ID from players.xml to find the matching files. Published guides do not agree on one universal set: one instructs administrators to remove three files sharing the ID, another names .ttp and .map files, and community reports also mention .bak files and filenames with an EOS prefix. Because of that conflict, inspect the actual contents of your player folder and compare the names with the ID instead of applying a blind wildcard deletion.

Move the suspected files into a temporary backup directory first, if your host permits that, or make a second copy of the player folder. Do not delete unrelated world, chunk, or other players’ files. If the folder contains no clear match, stop and ask the host for the server’s file layout rather than guessing.

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5. Decide whether to edit players.xml

Guides also differ on the roster edit. One says to remove the player’s entire line; another describes removing the whole block associated with that player. Make a copy of players.xml, then use the smallest edit that matches the structure in your file. Remove only the entry tied to the target userid; do not reformat the rest of the XML.

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If you cannot identify the correct line or block, leave the XML unchanged and ask the host for guidance. The file-level details are version-sensitive, and a malformed XML file can prevent the save from loading.

6. Save the changes and restart

  1. Confirm that the server process is still stopped.
  2. Check the player folder and players.xml one more time against your backup and the recorded ID.
  3. Save the file changes, close the editor, and start the server.
  4. Watch the startup log or control panel for errors before inviting the player back.
  5. Have the player connect once. With the profile data removed successfully, the next login should create a new character rather than load the old inventory, skills, or progression.

Keep the backup until the player has connected successfully and you have confirmed that the intended world is unaffected. Only then should you archive or delete the backup according to your normal retention policy.

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Land claims and other consequences

Removing a profile also removes that player’s land claims. If the player owns protected plots, release or transfer those claims before deleting the profile if your server rules or community agreements require it. Once the profile is gone, the claims associated with it are lost rather than preserved for another character.

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Profile deletion is not an access restriction. A player whose files were erased can connect again and create a new character unless you separately kick, ban, or remove their whitelist access.

Hosted servers: who can perform the deletion?

On a hosted server, the master save files reside on the host’s machine. A regular player normally cannot reach those files through the game client. The host, server owner, or an administrator with file-manager or FTP access must perform the backup and deletion.

If your panel provides a file browser, use it only after stopping the server. If it provides no access to the save directory, open a support request with the host and supply the player name, world/save name, and the userid you found. Do not send credentials or ask support to delete an unspecified “player file”; the ID and a backup request reduce the chance of removing the wrong profile.

Troubleshoot the common failure cases

The player can still join after being kicked

This is expected behavior. kick ends the current session but does not create a lasting restriction. Apply the appropriate ban or whitelist change if the player must be kept out.

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The player’s old progress is still present

  • Verify that the server was stopped while the files were edited. A running process can rewrite the old data.
  • Check that you used the userid from the active world’s players.xml, not an ID from another save.
  • Confirm that the player-data path corresponds to the current world and save name. The newer guide’s /userdata/Saves/ path is not a guarantee that every host uses identical surrounding folders.
  • Review the folder for all matching file variants, including the extensions or EOS-prefixed names present on your installation.
  • Check that the player is not connecting to a different server instance or world.

The server fails to start after the edit

Stop it again and restore the backed-up players.xml and player folder. A malformed XML edit or an accidentally removed world file is more likely than a game-side “delete” command problem. Once the server starts from the backup, repeat the process with a narrower, ID-based change or ask the host to perform it.

The command is rejected or behaves differently

Run help in the server console and use the syntax printed by your build. Sources covering V3.x report that the V3.1.0 and V3.2.0 release notes listed no console-command changes, but that does not guarantee identical behavior on modded or experimental servers. Treat the command shown by your own console as authoritative for that installation.

ban remove does not clear an old restriction

First run ban list and verify that you are using the same name or identifier stored in the ban entry. An older guide proposes editing admin.xml as a workaround when a ban will not lift; that is not a supported deletion method. If you attempt it, stop the server and back up the file first, then make only the smallest targeted change.

You cannot see any save files

This is a permissions or hosting limitation, not evidence that the player has no profile. Ask the host or owner to perform the operation. A client connected through the game generally cannot access the server’s master save data.

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A safe decision checklist

  • Only need the player out right now: use kick.
  • Need to prevent future connections: use the access-control tools available on your build, verify with ban list or the whitelist list, and remember that this does not erase progress.
  • Need a clean restart for the character: stop the server, back up the save, identify userid in players.xml, remove the matching player files, make the cautious XML edit required by your file structure, and restart.
  • The player owns land claims: release or transfer them before profile deletion.
  • You are renting the server: have the host or an administrator with file access carry out the file operation.
  • You are unsure which files match: do not guess; preserve the backup and obtain help for that exact version and host layout.

What “delete” does not mean

There is no cited console command that directly deletes persistent player data. The pplist command lists persistent player data, but it is not a deletion command. Consequently, a successful kick, ban, administrator removal, or whitelist removal should never be treated as proof that the character save has been erased. Only the deliberate file workflow resets the stored profile, and it does so irreversibly without a backup.

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