The person who deletes your world is far more likely to be someone you trusted than a stranger who broke in. That is not a reason to trust nobody — it is a reason to give people what the job needs and nothing beyond it.
The rule that prevents most of it
Give the smallest set of powers that lets someone do the thing you asked them to do. A moderator needs to kick and mute. They do not need to edit files, change the startup command, or reinstall the server, and giving them those powers does not make them better at moderating.
What each level can cost you
| Given | Worst case |
|---|---|
| In-game moderator commands | Bad bans, reversible in a minute |
| Operator | Anything in the game: /gamemode, item spawning, world edit if installed |
| Panel console access | Restarts and any server command |
| Panel file access | Deleted worlds, edited configs, downloaded everything |
| Panel settings access | Reinstall. Effectively total. |
When someone leaves, or you stop trusting them
- Remove the panel subuser first
It is the one with the largest blast radius. In-game powers can be taken away later; panel access can be used while you are taking away in-game powers.
- De-op and remove them from staff groups
Both. A permissions group with staff nodes is as good as op for most purposes.
- Change any shared password
If a database password, an RCON password or an SFTP credential was ever shared with them, it is now theirs. Rotate it.
- Check the activity log for the days before
Not out of suspicion, but because if something was changed you want to find it now rather than in three weeks.
Long-standing trust is a good reason to give someone responsibility. It is not a reason to give them powers the responsibility does not require, because the risk is not only malice — it is a shared computer, a reused password, or one bad afternoon.
A short written list of what moderators and admins are able to do prevents both the «why can't I» conversations and the quiet privilege creep where someone gets one more permission each month until they have everything.