chmod 224 Permission Explained

Notice: This is an unusual permission set: some classes have more access than the class above them. It is rarely correct in practice.

Octal

224

Symbolic

-w--w-r--

Binary

010 010 100

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 224 gives the owner write, the group write, and everyone else read.

Class	Read (4)	Write (2)	Execute (1)	Octal
Owner (u)				2
Group (g)				2
Others (o)				4

setuid (4) setgid (2) sticky bit (1)

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

224

-w--w-r--

Owner: write · Group: write · Others: read

chmod 224 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 224 guide →

chmod 224 Breakdown

Class	Digit	Symbolic	On a file	On a directory
Owner (u)	`2`	`-w-`	Write only (rarely useful)	No practical effect without x
Group (g)	`2`	`-w-`	Write only (rarely useful)	No practical effect without x
Others (o)	`4`	`r--`	Read only	Can list names, but not enter

Is chmod 224 Safe?

Moderate

Every member of the group can modify this file.
Any user can read this file — never use it for secrets such as keys or .env files.
Unusual: a lower class has permissions the class above it lacks.

Common Use Cases

224 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 664.

chmod 224 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 224 filename

# Apply using equivalent symbolic mode
chmod u=w,g=w,o=r filename

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 224 /path/to/dir
# Note: -R applies the same mode to files and directories. Use find to treat them separately:
find /path/to/dir -type f -exec chmod 224 {} +

# Verify permissions
stat -c '%a %A %n' filename    # Linux
stat -f '%Lp %Sp %N' filename   # macOS

# Example ls -l output:
--w--w-r-- 1 alice staff 1024 Jan 15 10:00 example.txt

umask Relationship

A umask of 553 makes new directories 224 and new files 224. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 224 mean?

chmod 224 gives the owner write, the group write, and everyone else read. In octal notation, the owner receives 2 (write), the group receives 2 (write), and others receive 4 (read).

Is chmod 224 safe?

chmod 224 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 224 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 224 is represented as -w--w-r--. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=w,g=w,o=r filename".

Related Permissions

Change one bit:

chmod 624 add owner read chmod 024 remove owner write chmod 324 add owner execute chmod 264 add group read chmod 204 remove group write chmod 234 add group execute chmod 220 remove others read chmod 226 add others write chmod 225 add others execute

← chmod 223 chmod 225 →

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