Hi Guys,
So a lot of you have asked me what the commands are to run your new L4D2 servers.... Here is a quick list of things that will help you.
Starting a game on your own server
Method 1 - As you may have discovered you can not open the console from the lobby screen. Instead, from the Main Menu, open console and type 'mm_dedicated_force_servers xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:xxxxx'. Then start a lobby in the gametype you choose (scavenge, campaign, versus etc) and when you click start it will create that gametype on the server you specified. **Provided your GSP allows these game types, read below for more info
Method 2 - If you have a Steam group, get the group owner to go into its admin page and get the Steam Group ID#
Then in your server.cfg file on your server add a line 'sv_steamgroup xxxxxx' with the group ID. This way the server will list on the main menu for every member of your group. To start a game you can either
# Pick the game type from the main menu and select the "Play on Steam Group Server" option, pick a server and that game type will be created on that game server
# From the main menu, simply connect to the server and using rcon set the map and game mode you want - 'rcon map mapname gamemode'
gamemode - coop, versus, realism, teamversus, teamscavenge
NOTE: the 'rcon map' command will drop you from the server but the next time you connect it will be in the right mode
e.g 'rcon map c1m4_atrium teamscavenge' would create a scavenge mode game on the atrium map (finalle map in Dead Center)
# If your server is password protected (like most servers from GSP's are) type the 'connect' string into console to connect to the server and again type the 'rcon map' commands to set the map you want - 'connect xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:xxxxx;password xxxxxxx'
Method 3
In your server.cfg file make a new line with 'sv_search_key xxxxxxx' making xxxxxx someting unique but not hard to remember.
e.g 'sv_search_key zeebobisgod'
From the main menu enter the exact same command with the search key specified and when you start the game from a lobby it will attempt to connect to to any server with the matching search key
Example server.cfg
//Left 4 Dead 2 Server.cfg
//This file goes inside your L4D server "cfg" folder
//Usually: \l4d\left4dead2\cfg\ <-- Place inside this folder
//----> Start of editable settings
//This is the name for your Left 4 Dead 2 Server
hostname "ZeeBOB's L4D2 Server"
sv_search_key "zeebobisgod"
//Gametypes sets the gametypes you want your server to run
//----> Versus Only: sv_gametypes "versus"
//----> Survival Only: sv_gametypes "survival"
//----> Coop Only: sv_gametypes "coop"
//----> Realism Only: sv_gametypes "realism"
//----> Team Versus Only: sv_gametypes "teamversus"
//----> Scavenge Only: sv_gametypes "teamscavenge"
sv_gametypes "coop,versus,realism,teamversus,teamscavenge"
//Rcon password - Sets the password for remote rcon admin
rcon_password "whatever"
//Steam group # to assign to server
sv_steamgroup 12345
//Set to 1 to only allow members of the steam group to make the initial connection to this server
sv_steamgroup_exclusive 1
//Allow connections without creating lobby. Set to 1 to allow lobby connections only
sv_allow_lobby_connect_only 0
//Region - This sets the lobby in which your server will be part of
//You will want to set this to the closest location to your server
//eastcoast - sv_region 0
//westcoast - sv_region 1
//south america - sv_region 2
//europe - sv_region 3
//asia - sv_region 4
//australia - sv_region 5
//middle east - sv_region 6
//africa - sv_region 7
//world - sv_region 255
sv_region 5
// Server Logging
sv_log_onefile 0 //Log server information to only one file.
sv_logbans 1 //Log server bans in the server logs.
sv_logecho 0 //Echo log information to the console.
sv_logfile 1 //Log server information in the log file.
sv_logflush 0 //Flush the log file to disk on each write (slow).
sv_logsdir logs //Folder in the game directory where server logs will be stored.
//Server Rates
sv_maxcmdrate 100 //(If sv_mincmdrate is > 0), this sets the maximum value for cl_cmdrate.
//Allow use of cheats
//0 = Off
//1 = On
sv_cheats 0
//All talk - Allow both teams to use audio chat to speak with each other
//0 = Off
//1 = On
sv_alltalk 0
heartbeat
//----> End of editable settings
Starting your server in a specific game mode (versus/scavenge/realism)
Like a lot of you I have wanted my servers to start up in versus/scavenge/realism mode automatically and not have the client need to set one up via a lobby... The answer:
- Create a new file called versus.cfg (or whatever you want) and make sure it is in the CFG's folder
- In the new cfg file enter the following: map c1m1_hotel versus
NOTE: you MUST specify a starting map before the +exec in your startup line. EXAMPLE:
./srcds_run -ip xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx -port xxxxx -console -game left4dead2 -secure -sv_unlag 1 -maxclients 12 -sv_pure 1 +map c1m1_hotel +exec versus.cfg
- In your servers startup line add this variable: +exec versus.cfg
REMEMBER: server.cfg will run on EVERY map change automatically and on server startup so there is no point specifying it in the server startup line, only specify the custom cfg with the game mode you want
REMEMBER: DO NOT put this map command in the server.cfg or your server will just constantly restart as it exec's the server.cfg file and changes the map again and again and again
Notes:
Starting modes are:
- coop - Campaign Mode
- versus - Versus Mode
- survival - Survival Mode
- realism - Campaign Mode (Realism Enabled)
- teamscavenge - Scavenge Mode
Scavenge maps are:
- c1m4_atrium
- c2m1_highway
- c3m1_plankcountry
- c4m1_milltown_a
- c4m2_sugarmill_a
- c5m2_park
If you dont want your server to be able to run any other mode be sure to specify the sv_gametypes command in your server.cfg
this tutorial was taken from:
http://www.cybergamer.com.au/forums/thread/37181/L4D2-Server-Admin-Guide/
