rcon-cli

A command-line RCON client for remote server administration.

This client was developed with Factorio in mind, but may work with other RCON-compatible games.

Installation

Homebrew (macOS/Linux)

brew tap connor-hanson/rcon-cli
brew install rcon-cli

Cargo (crates.io)

cargo install rcon-cli

From Source

cargo install --path .

Features

• Interactive Mode - Connect once and run multiple commands in a persistent session
• One-Shot Mode - Execute single commands and exit
• Config File Support - Store server credentials in a JSON file for easy access
• Lightweight - Minimal dependencies and fast execution
• Cross-Platform - Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows

Usage

Interactive Mode

Connect to a server and run commands interactively:

> rcon-cli
Enter address: <your_server_address>:<your_server_port>
Enter password: <your_server_password>
[2026-02-14T01:13:27Z INFO  rcon_cli] Connected!
> <enter command>

rcon-cli --address <ip_addr> --port <port> --password <password> --show-responses

Example:

rcon-cli --address 127.0.0.1 --port 27015 --password mypassword

One-Shot Mode

Execute a single command and exit:

rcon-cli --address <ip_addr> --port <port> --password <password> -c <command>

Example:

rcon-cli --address 127.0.0.1 --port 27015 --password mypassword -c "/players"

[Optional] Configuration File

Store server credentials in a JSON config file to avoid typing them repeatedly.

Example Config File

Create a file (e.g., ~/.rcon-config.json):

{
  "configs": {
    "production": {
      "host": "192.168.1.100:27015",
      "password": "prod_password"
    },
    "staging": {
      "host": "192.168.1.101:27015",
      "password": "staging_password"
    },
    "local": {
      "host": "127.0.0.1:27015",
      "password": "dev_password"
    }
  }
}

Set Environment Variable

Point to your config file:

export RCON_CONFIG_PATH=~/.rcon-config.json

Using Configs

rcon-cli --config-name custom_config_profile

This loads the host and password from your config file, so you don't need to pass --address or --password flags.

Troubleshooting

If the client is behaving unexpectedly, you can prefix RUST_LOG="DEBUG" to any command which runs this client

> RUST_LOG="DEBUG" rcon-cli