Reforger OPS

How to ban and kick players on Arma Reforger

· 5 min read

Banning on Arma Reforger is a one-line command, but it has three traps that make many bans "not work": the player is still inside, the player number changed, or nobody remembers why they were banned. This guide covers them.

Kicking

#players
#kick 4

#kick takes the Player# (first column of #players). That number is assigned on connect and changes every time, so always list first. The player can rejoin right away.

Banning

#ban create <Player# or identity id> <seconds> [reason]

#ban create 4 0 Cheating
#ban create 5f3c…-a1b2 604800 Repeated teamkill
  • Duration in seconds. 0 = permanent. 3600 = 1 hour, 86400 = 1 day, 604800 = 7 days, 2592000 = 30 days.
  • Ban by identity id whenever you can. The Player# only works while the player is connected right now; the identity id (account UUID) works after they left, and it is the same on PC, Xbox and PlayStation.
  • The reason is optional and the server does not keep it anywhere you can read: #ban list does not show it. If you care (you will), write it down elsewhere.

Banning does not kick

This is the most common trap. #ban create stops the player from rejoining, but a connected player keeps playing until they disconnect. The right sequence is:

#players            → note the Player# and the identity id
#ban create <identity id> 0 Reason
#players            → confirm the current Player#
#kick <Player#>

Listing again before the kick avoids kicking someone else if a player left in between and the numbers shifted.

Viewing and lifting bans

#ban list
Total bans: 31 | Page: 1/2
- Identity Id | Banned name
- 5f3c…-a1b2 | Name

#ban list 2
#ban remove 5f3c…-a1b2
Ban removed!

The list comes 25 per page and shows only identity id and name: no date, duration, reason or who banned. With no bans it replies Server has no bans to list.

Temporary bans: the server enforces them but may keep listing them

When a temporary ban expires the player can rejoin; the server honours it. But the row may stay in #ban list, so the list does not tell you who is banned today. If you want the list to be accurate, run #ban remove by hand when a ban expires (or let a tool do it).

Keeping records

Since the server stores no reason, date or author, a server with several admins needs a separate ledger: who banned whom, when, for how long and why, with the identity id. A spreadsheet is fine to start. Reforger Ops does it for you: every ban keeps reason, duration, author and expiry, kicks the player if connected, removes expired ones, and the list exports to CSV so you can take it elsewhere. The bans still live on the server, not in the panel.

FAQ

Can I ban someone who already left? Yes, if you have their identity id (from an earlier #players or from history).

Does the ban apply on all three platforms? Yes: the identity id belongs to the Bohemia account, not the platform.

Can I ban by IP? Not with the game's commands.

Got error '#ban create …'? The identity id does not exist or was copied wrong. Nobody was banned.

Banning does not kick: they are two steps

This is the one that confuses everyone. #ban create on someone who is playing does not remove them from the server: it stops them coming back, but until they disconnect they are still in. If you are banning them for what they are doing right now, the ban alone fixes nothing.

The right sequence is: ban, re-read #players, and kick the session whose identity matches. And you must re-read the list: the session number you had from before may belong to someone else, because those numbers are recycled when a player leaves. Kicking by a stale number ejects the wrong player, which is exactly what you cannot afford.

Temporary bans expire on their own

The server keeps the clock: once the duration passes, the ban stops applying and the player can join again, with nobody having to do anything. The ban list returns active bans, so an expired one drops off the list by itself.

That means a 24-hour ban lasts 24 hours even if you switch off the panel, the bot or whatever you use to administer it: the server owns the clock. What you lose by switching those tools off is the record of why they were banned, not the ban.

Identity ID, session number and platform account

Three different things that get mixed up constantly:

  • The Identity ID is a UUID and is the Bohemia account. It is the only thing #ban create accepts, and it does not change when someone changes their name.
  • The session number is the short number shown by #players. It is only valid while that person is connected, and it is recycled. Use it to kick, never to ban or to keep records.
  • The platform account (Steam, Xbox, PlayStation) is yet another thing. Someone can make a new Bohemia account — and so a new Identity ID — without changing where they connect from, which is the classic case of coming back on an alt after a ban.

If you keep a ban record, always key it by Identity ID. By name it is worthless: that takes a minute to change.

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