To set a password on your Arma Reforger server, fill the game.password field in config.json and restart. Reforger uses two separate password fields, game.password for joining and game.passwordAdmin for admin commands, and mixing them up is the most common mistake. This guide covers both, when to use a join password, and how to share it without leaking it to the public.
Reforger Has Two Different Passwords
Arma Reforger config.json defines two password fields that do completely different jobs. game.password is the join password: any player who wants to connect must enter it. game.passwordAdmin is the admin password: an already-connected player types #login YOUR_PASSWORD in chat to gain admin rights. They are independent of each other; either, both, or neither can be set.
"password": "changeme""passwordAdmin": "strong-secret"- Never reuse the same password for game.password and game.passwordAdmin; if one leaks, both leak
- game.passwordAdmin does not support spaces per the Reforger config spec
Set the Join Password from the LPV5 Panel
The LPV5 Config Editor in LoafHub at hub.loafhosts.com is the cleanest way to set a join password. The editor preserves JSON structure so a typo in your password cannot break the file.
- Sign in to LoafHub at hub.loafhosts.com
- Open your Arma Reforger server and select the Config Editor
- Locate the password field under the game object
- Type your join password between the double quotes
- Save the file
- Restart the server from the Console tab
- Choose a password that is easy to type on a controller if any of your players are on Xbox
- Keep it short enough to share quickly but long enough that it cannot be guessed
Set It Manually in config.json
If you would rather edit the raw file, open it through the LPV5 file manager. The field is a plain JSON string, so you only need to put text between the existing double quotes.
- Stop the server from the Console tab
- Open the file manager and edit config.json
- Find "password": "" under game
- Type your join password between the quotes
- Save and start the server
- If you delete the double quotes, the JSON breaks and the server will not start
- Leaving the field as "" makes the server public; that is the default
Set the Admin Password Too
A join password protects who can connect; an admin password protects who can run admin commands once connected. Every Reforger server should have a strong game.passwordAdmin set before going public, even if the server is otherwise open.
- In the same Config Editor, find passwordAdmin under game
- Type a strong password that no player should ever know
- Save and restart the server
- In-game, open chat and type #login followed by the password to confirm it works
#login strong-secret- Treat game.passwordAdmin like a root password; share it only with trusted staff
- Rotate it whenever someone leaves your admin team
When to Use a Join Password
A join password is right for private group servers, paid community tiers, scrim and event nights, and any time you want to keep the public out for a session. Public servers leave game.password empty so anyone can find and join from the browser.
- Use a join password for clan-only or paying-member-only servers
- Use it temporarily during events when you do not want randoms wandering in
- Leave it empty for a public Conflict or Game Master server you want to grow
- Even with a password, the server still appears in the browser unless you also set game.visible to false
Sharing the Password Without Leaking It
A password is only as private as the channel you share it on. A Discord post in a public general channel is effectively public. The safest approach is to put the password behind a role or in a DM, and to rotate it on a schedule.
- Post the password in a members-only Discord channel gated by a role
- Never put the password in your server name or in the in-game MOTD
- Rotate the password if a former member could still have it
- If you suspect it leaked, change it in config.json and restart immediately
- Browser screenshots and stream overlays have leaked admin passwords before; keep them off chat overlays