Windows dedicated server

This is a setup guide that allows you to install a basic Team Fortress 2 Windows dedicated server. In the below example the server is installed onto the C drive in a folder called 'hlserver'.

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Download and install the SteamCMD Tool

It is recommended you create a separate user to install and run game servers. It is also recommended you use the non-beta version of the Steam client, otherwise it won't be able to locate Steam libraries.

• Download steamcmd.zip
• Unzip steamcmd.zip to a directory, for example 'C:\hlserver'.

Create a SteamCMD script

• Create a file called tf2_ds.txt in the folder where you installed the tool. In this example, that is 'C:\hlserver'
• Edit the file with this text:

@ShutdownOnFailedCommand 1
@NoPromptForPassword 1
login anonymous
force_install_dir c:\hlserver\tf2
app_update 232250
quit

If you want to opt in to the prerelease version of the TF2 dedicated server, add this line before the app_update line:

beta prerelease

Create an updating batch file

• Create a file called update.bat in the folder where you installed the tool.
• Edit the file with this text:

steamcmd +runscript tf2_ds.txt
pause

Start the download/update

• Run the update.bat to start the download. This may take several hours as dedicated server content is currently 5.1 GB.
• You may need to run the file *multiple* times until the message "Success! App '232250' fully installed." displays.

Create/Update server files

• Create a file called server.cfg in 'C:\hlserver\tf2\tf\cfg'
• Edit the file with these details:

hostname "Your server's name"		//The server name that players will see in the server browser and in the scoreboard
sv_password ""				//Leave empty if you do not want a password
rcon_password "Your_Rcon_Password"	//Password to enable rcon access from the console
mp_timelimit 30 			//Time per map in the rotation, in minutes. 0 to never rotate the map on a timer.
mp_maxrounds 10				//Maximum number of rounds to play per map before forcing a mapchange
sv_allowupload 1			// Allow clients to upload customization files (e.g. sprays)
sv_allowdownload 1			// Allow clients to download files (e.g. sprays, custom maps, custom content, etc.)
net_maxfilesize 15			// Maximum allowed file size for uploading in MB (Optional)

^{An example with more cvars (console variables) can be found in Example Server.cfg for TF2 dedicated server.}

• Create the files motd.txt and mapcycle.txt in 'C:\hlserver\tf2\tf\cfg'

You may want to use the motd_default.txt and mapcycle_default.txt as references

• Create a file called pure_server_whitelist.txt in 'C:\hlserver\tf2\tf\cfg'

It is advised that you copy and paste the contents of the pure_server_whitelist_example.txt file into your file first, and then apply any modifications you may want

Create a batch file to run the server

• Create a file in 'C:\hlserver\' called tf.bat
• Edit the file with this text:

tf2\srcds.exe -console -game tf +sv_pure 1 +map ctf_2fort +maxplayers 24

• Run the file tf.bat to start your server

This will start a pure server with 24 slots running on 2Fort by default. If you don't wish to apply pure server rules, you can remove +sv_pure 1. You can also change the value of maxplayers up to 32.

Other command line options

Some other common command-line options for TF2 are:

• -ip 1.2.3.4 - Bind to a specific IP address. By default, the server listens on all network interfaces.
• -port 27015 - Bind to a different port (27015 is the default)
• -strictportbind - If a server is already running on the specified port, the server will shut down instead of moving to the next available port.
• +randommap - Use instead of +map to select a map at random
• +servercfgfile - Which tf\cfg\ file to execute on map change, defaults to server.cfg
• +mapcyclefile - Which tf\cfg\ file contains this server's mapcycle, defaults to mapcycle.txt. Will also look in tf\
• -replay - Executes replay.cfg and adds an additonal slot for the replay bot, but removes it from the player count.

Do you need help?

If you have some problems with server installation you can check this videotutorial:

Video

or use Simplificated server install tool

(you can download here)

External links

• srcds.com

See also

• Linux dedicated server
• Dedicated server configuration