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\
app_update 232250
quit

If you want to opt for the prerelease version of the TF2 dedicated server, add this line after the app_update ID, in the same 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:

@echo off 
start steamcmd +login anonymous +force_install_dir C:\TF2server +app_update 232250

Start the download/update

• Run the update.bat to start the download. This may take several hours as dedicated server content is 8.09 GB as of 4 January, 2020.
• 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\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2 Dedicated Server\tf\cfg\'
• Edit the file with these details:

// The server name that players will see in the server browser and in the scoreboard
hostname "Your server's name"

// Leave empty if you do not want a password
sv_password ""
// Password to enable rcon access from the console
rcon_password "Your_Rcon_Password"

// Time per map in the rotation, in minutes. 0 to never rotate the map on a timer.
mp_timelimit 30
// Maximum number of rounds to play per map before forcing a mapchange
mp_maxrounds 10

// Allow clients to upload customization files (e.g. sprays)
sv_allowupload 1
// Allow clients to download files (e.g. sprays, custom maps, custom content, etc.)
sv_allowdownload 1
// Maximum allowed file size for uploading in MB (Optional)
net_maxfilesize 15

^{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\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2 Dedicated Server\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\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2 Dedicated Server\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 file to run the server

• Create a shortcut that references to the file 'C:\hlserver\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2 Dedicated Server\srcds.exe'. Name the shortcut an appropriate name,
• Right click on the shorcut, select properties,
• Set Target to:

C:\hlserver\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2 Dedicated Server\srcds.exe -console -game tf +sv_pure 1 +map ctf_2fort +maxplayers 24

• Set Start in to:

C:\hlserver

• Windows may not allow this though.
• Run the shortcut you have created 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 when starts the server.
• +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 additional slot for the replay bot, but removes it from the player count.

External links

• srcds.com

See also

• Linux dedicated server
• Dedicated server configuration