Timmeh
15-05-2005, 01:44 PM
Recently, I've had a whole lot of people asking me how to set up a dedicated CS Source server for their friends to play games on. I know there's a "guide" in the readme, but it's vague and doesn't explain how to fully set up the server after installation, so I thought this thread'd be a good idea :).
Installing the server
The first thing you're going to need to do is to download either:
http://www.steampowered.com/download/hldsupdatetool.exe (Windows)
or
http://www.steampowered.com/download/hldsupdatetool.bin (Linux/Unix)
and install it somewhere. For the purpose of this guide, lets imagine we're extracting it to C:\Temp\CSServer
Next, open a command prompt window (For windows XP this'll be Start > Run > cmd), open whatever's appropriate for your OS.
Change the path of the prompt to the location of the server, so in this case
CD C:\Temp\CSServer
Next you're going to execute the update program but with special parameters.
-command update (tells the server to update)
-game (what game do you want the server to run)
This can be:
"cstrike" - counter-strike 1.6
"dmc" - Death match classic
"dod" - Day of defeat
"ricochet" - Ricochet (that one took a genius)
"tfc" - Team Fortress classic
"valve" - HLDM
"Counter-Strike Source" - I think this one's pretty much explains itself too... although you can select this for HL CTF etc.
"hl2mp" - Half Life 2
-dir (path to install to)
Your command prompt should now say something like
C:\Temp\CSServer
After this you'll need to add on:
HldsUpdateTool.exe -command update - game (see above) - dir (wherever you want to install the server on your computer)
//Something like:
HldsUpdateTool.exe -command update - game "Counter-Strike Source" -dir "C:\CSS Server"
hit return... and you should see your server start to update itself. Leave it until it tells you it's completed (around 800mb to download for most games).
Your server is now all set up :) however, for certain games, you may want to change certain things before you start playing!
Configuring the server
I'm going to give instructions on how to fully customise a counter-strike source server, although the process is extremely similar for every game.
Open the directory you installed the server into and open the "cstrike" folder.
No doubt you've found some cool maps in the time you've been playing CSS, so add them to your server! They'll be in your steam folder, or can be downloaded from www.csbanana.nu . Place the bsp and nav files into [root]\cstrike\maps. Go into [root]\cstrike\ and you'll find a file called "maplist.txt". Add the name of the map to this list.
Imagine you added "aim_map_usp.bsp" and "aim_map_usp.nav" to the maps folder. You'll now need to add "aim_map_usp" to maplist.txt. These maps will now be available to play on on your server.
Next, arrange what order the maps are played on your server. Open mapcycle.txt in the cstrike folder. This list shows what order maps are played in. You can move them round, add maps, delete maps etc. Do not delete test_hardware and test_speakers at the bottom of the list though... you need them :p
Following the above example, say you want aim_map_usp.bsp to be the first map you play when you start the server, insert "aim_map_usp" without the ""'s at the top of the list. Save.
Your server is now ready to play on, however, I’d strongly suggest installing the mani admin mod (http://www.mani-admin-plugin.com/forums/portal.php).
Mani admin mod
Download the mod from the above website and point the installer to the root of the server. When you open the directory your server's in, you should now have some more folders and files. You can set up admins here. Open [Root]\cfg\mani_admin_plugin\adminlist.txt - here you can set up your admins. It's very self explanatory, you can either add a SteamID or IP address to grant admin. Add yourself first, to find out your SteamID, join a CSS server and type "status" in console, which'll give you something like STEAM_0:0:4325344. Add this on a new line of adminlist.txt without // before it. You can then add any friends you wish to grant admin access to by finding out their SteamIDs and adding them to the list. Save the file when you're done.
Router setup
HLDS uses a number of ports. If you have a router, you'll need the following open for the server to work:
27010 UDP
27011 UDP
27012 UDP
5273 TCP
7002 TCP
27020 TCP and UDP
27016 UDP
The server will then run on port 27016.
You're ready to launch the server! Launch srcds.exe don’t forget to set an rcon password and change the port number to 27016, then you can set up your server in the game. Tell all your friends to connect to your IP:27016. You can mix network and internet play, for example, 4 of your friends at a LAN party at your house can play with another 2 who couldn’t make it. I did this for a LAN party over Easter, around 14 people came to a LAN, but a few of my friends couldn't come for various reasons and joined in over the net.
I'll edit this with any extra ideas, comments, tutorials, just post ideas below.
Enjoy!
Installing the server
The first thing you're going to need to do is to download either:
http://www.steampowered.com/download/hldsupdatetool.exe (Windows)
or
http://www.steampowered.com/download/hldsupdatetool.bin (Linux/Unix)
and install it somewhere. For the purpose of this guide, lets imagine we're extracting it to C:\Temp\CSServer
Next, open a command prompt window (For windows XP this'll be Start > Run > cmd), open whatever's appropriate for your OS.
Change the path of the prompt to the location of the server, so in this case
CD C:\Temp\CSServer
Next you're going to execute the update program but with special parameters.
-command update (tells the server to update)
-game (what game do you want the server to run)
This can be:
"cstrike" - counter-strike 1.6
"dmc" - Death match classic
"dod" - Day of defeat
"ricochet" - Ricochet (that one took a genius)
"tfc" - Team Fortress classic
"valve" - HLDM
"Counter-Strike Source" - I think this one's pretty much explains itself too... although you can select this for HL CTF etc.
"hl2mp" - Half Life 2
-dir (path to install to)
Your command prompt should now say something like
C:\Temp\CSServer
After this you'll need to add on:
HldsUpdateTool.exe -command update - game (see above) - dir (wherever you want to install the server on your computer)
//Something like:
HldsUpdateTool.exe -command update - game "Counter-Strike Source" -dir "C:\CSS Server"
hit return... and you should see your server start to update itself. Leave it until it tells you it's completed (around 800mb to download for most games).
Your server is now all set up :) however, for certain games, you may want to change certain things before you start playing!
Configuring the server
I'm going to give instructions on how to fully customise a counter-strike source server, although the process is extremely similar for every game.
Open the directory you installed the server into and open the "cstrike" folder.
No doubt you've found some cool maps in the time you've been playing CSS, so add them to your server! They'll be in your steam folder, or can be downloaded from www.csbanana.nu . Place the bsp and nav files into [root]\cstrike\maps. Go into [root]\cstrike\ and you'll find a file called "maplist.txt". Add the name of the map to this list.
Imagine you added "aim_map_usp.bsp" and "aim_map_usp.nav" to the maps folder. You'll now need to add "aim_map_usp" to maplist.txt. These maps will now be available to play on on your server.
Next, arrange what order the maps are played on your server. Open mapcycle.txt in the cstrike folder. This list shows what order maps are played in. You can move them round, add maps, delete maps etc. Do not delete test_hardware and test_speakers at the bottom of the list though... you need them :p
Following the above example, say you want aim_map_usp.bsp to be the first map you play when you start the server, insert "aim_map_usp" without the ""'s at the top of the list. Save.
Your server is now ready to play on, however, I’d strongly suggest installing the mani admin mod (http://www.mani-admin-plugin.com/forums/portal.php).
Mani admin mod
Download the mod from the above website and point the installer to the root of the server. When you open the directory your server's in, you should now have some more folders and files. You can set up admins here. Open [Root]\cfg\mani_admin_plugin\adminlist.txt - here you can set up your admins. It's very self explanatory, you can either add a SteamID or IP address to grant admin. Add yourself first, to find out your SteamID, join a CSS server and type "status" in console, which'll give you something like STEAM_0:0:4325344. Add this on a new line of adminlist.txt without // before it. You can then add any friends you wish to grant admin access to by finding out their SteamIDs and adding them to the list. Save the file when you're done.
Router setup
HLDS uses a number of ports. If you have a router, you'll need the following open for the server to work:
27010 UDP
27011 UDP
27012 UDP
5273 TCP
7002 TCP
27020 TCP and UDP
27016 UDP
The server will then run on port 27016.
You're ready to launch the server! Launch srcds.exe don’t forget to set an rcon password and change the port number to 27016, then you can set up your server in the game. Tell all your friends to connect to your IP:27016. You can mix network and internet play, for example, 4 of your friends at a LAN party at your house can play with another 2 who couldn’t make it. I did this for a LAN party over Easter, around 14 people came to a LAN, but a few of my friends couldn't come for various reasons and joined in over the net.
I'll edit this with any extra ideas, comments, tutorials, just post ideas below.
Enjoy!