Scheduled console commands and admin actions per game
Scheduled commands on Hostd run safely across every game, with a small shared blocklist and per-game channels (RCON, REST, or none) you should know about.
Scheduled commands let your Hostd server run console commands or lifecycle actions on a timer, but a handful of commands are blocked on schedules across every game we host. This article walks through what's blocked, what to use instead, and how the command channel actually works for each game (because it varies more than you'd think).
If you've just tried to save a schedule and seen "That command is not allowed on a schedule. Try a different command or use the taskType instead.", you're in the right place.
The shared blocklist
Five commands are blocked on schedules, regardless of which game you're running:
opdeoppardonbanstop
The reasoning is short and practical. The first four grant or revoke privileges, or unban accounts; that's exactly the sort of thing you want a human watching when it happens, not a 03:00 cron tick nobody remembers setting. If a privilege change goes wrong unattended, you can lose access to your own server until someone notices.
stop is blocked for a different reason: it deadlocks. The scheduler fires the command, the server shuts down before the scheduler hears back, and the task never resolves cleanly. You end up with an offline server and a confused task queue. The fix is the Stop task type, which talks to the container directly and knows how to wait for a clean exit.
The blocklist is matched on the command itself, so op alice, /op alice, or op alice all get rejected. Anything that isn't on the list is fair game.
What to use instead
For stop
Use the Stop task type. Tasks tab → New task → set Type to Stop. No command needed; the scheduler shuts the container down gracefully (SIGINT, RCON quit, or console FIFO stop depending on the game) and records a clean result.
Pair it with a Start task on a later cadence if you want timed downtime, or use Restart for a single task that does both.
For op, deop, ban, pardon
Run them live from the console panel when you're around. Pull up your server in the dashboard, click into Console, and type the command as you would in-game. These changes hit your permissions or ban lists immediately and you'll see the result in the same panel.
If you need automation around bans (for example, syncing with a Discord moderator role), that's a job for an in-game plugin or mod with its own permissions, not the Hostd scheduler.
Per-game command channel
The blocklist is identical everywhere, but the way scheduled commands actually reach the game engine varies a lot. Here's the honest picture for each game we host.
Minecraft Java
In-process console. The scheduler writes directly to the running JVM's stdin, so anything you'd type at the live server prompt works on a schedule too. Common scheduled commands: say Server restarting in 5 minutes, save-all, whitelist reload, weather clear, time set day.
For modpack-heavy servers, plugin and mod commands work the same way (Spigot, Paper, Fabric, Forge). See server won't start or lag troubleshooting if a scheduled command runs but seems to do nothing.
Minecraft Bedrock
RCON over TCP via rcon-cli. Bedrock's dedicated server speaks RCON, and the scheduler shells out for each command. Same blocklist as Java. Useful scheduled commands: say, save hold followed by save resume, tickingarea operations.
CS2
RCON over TCP via rcon-cli. Same blocklist. CS2 is happy with scheduled cvar tweaks like mp_warmuptime 30, bot_kick, exec of a config file, or say announcements between matches. Live console works for cvars you only want to change for the current map; schedules are best for cvars you want set on every restart.
If a scheduled CS2 command fails silently, double-check your RCON password in the server settings; CS2 will accept the connection but ignore commands when the password drifts. See CS2 troubleshooting.
Rust
RCON JSON over TCP, via Hostd's listener (not rcon-cli; Rust's RCON dialect is its own thing). Same blocklist. Two patterns customers schedule a lot:
oxide.reload <plugin>after a plugin config edit, on a delay so you don't reload mid-raid.say <message>for wipe countdowns, event announcements, or rule reminders.
Scheduled save works too, though Rust autosaves aggressively on its own. Wipe commands (server.wipe-style helpers from plugins) are not on the blocklist, but please be sure before scheduling one.
ARK: Survival Ascended
RCON over TCP via rcon-cli. Same blocklist. Common scheduled commands: SaveWorld before risky events, Broadcast <message> for server-wide announcements, and DestroyWildDinos on the cadence your tribe agrees on (controversial; that's between you and your players).
Palworld
REST API over HTTPS on port 8212. Palworld doesn't ship RCON, so we talk to its admin API instead. The dashboard surfaces the verbs Palworld supports: announce, kick, ban, unban, save.
Because there's no in-game /op equivalent in Palworld, the shared blocklist behaves a bit differently here: save is the main one customers schedule, and it's safe to run on a tight cadence (every 15 to 30 minutes is reasonable). Schedule announcements before restarts so players can dock their Pals.
Valheim
We have to be straight with you: Valheim has no console channel today. The engine doesn't expose RCON, doesn't accept admin commands over the network, and doesn't expose a command interface of any kind to dedicated server operators. The Hostd adapter reflects that honestly, with console: false everywhere it counts.
What does work on a schedule:
- Restart (container-level, graceful)
- Stop (container-level, graceful)
- Start (container-level)
What doesn't work, today: in-game commands of any kind. The moment the engine grows a proper admin channel, we'll have it in the dashboard; until then, schedules cover restarts and not much else.
If your scheduled Valheim restart isn't behaving, the right doc is Valheim troubleshooting; for boot-time issues, server won't start covers the usual suspects.
Schedule cadences
You can schedule tasks on four cadences:
- Daily at a chosen
HH:MM(server time). - Weekly on a chosen day of week at
HH:MM. - Every N minutes, where N is between 5 and 1440 (so once every five minutes up to once a day).
- Every N hours, where N is between 1 and 168 (so hourly up to weekly).
There's a 20-task limit per server, which is more than enough for almost every setup. If you find yourself bumping into it, you're probably trying to do something a mod or plugin would handle more cleanly inside the game itself.
About scheduled backups
You might see Take a backup listed as a task type in older screenshots. It's deprecated. Hostd takes automatic backups per node now, so you don't need to schedule them yourself. Restoring is still on the Backups tab as usual.
Last updated 2026-05-20. Notice a mistake? Tell us.