How to set up a Team Fortress 2 server (SourceMod, maps and fixes)

Team Fortress 2 servers are light on resources, so even a small plan can run a full community server.

Basic setup

1. Order a TF2 server on our Discord.
2. Edit tf/cfg/server.cfg for your hostname, password, rcon_password and rules.
3. Set the starting map and max players in your startup settings (24 is the classic maximum).
4. Start the server and connect from the TF2 console with connect ip:port, or find it in the community list.

Add SourceMod

1. Install Metamod:Source.
2. Install SourceMod.
3. Upload plugins (.smx) to addons/sourcemod/plugins and restart or reload.
4. Make yourself an admin in addons/sourcemod/configs/admins_simple.ini using your SteamID.

Custom maps and FastDL

Upload custom maps to tf/maps and add them to your map cycle. Players download maps slowly from the game server, so set sv_downloadurl to a FastDL web address that hosts the files.

Common errors

• Server not in the list: check sv_region, that sv_lan is 0 and that the query port is open. It can take a while to appear.
• Plugins stop loading after a TF2 update: Metamod or SourceMod needs a new build.
• Players stuck downloading: set up FastDL and make sure the file names match.
• "Missing map" kick: the map is not uploaded or not named exactly the same on the server.