First, we're going to download SteamCMD.

Download the SteamCMD file, make a steamcmd folder wherever you like and extract the EXE into it. Then double click it to run.

Assuming you are running an Ubuntu/Debian-based distribution of Linux, install it from the package repo using these commands:
then just run steamcmd in the terminal.

SteamCMD will update itself just like Steam will, and the end result should look something like this with the Steam> at the bottom:

After we got SteamCMD running in the first place, now we get to download.

Set an install directory (for this guide, I'm going to pick .\tf2\ as my install directory.) by using this command on the Steam> prompt: Warning: for Linux, this would be (with the forward slashes instead of the backslashes) due to the way that the file systems work.

Now we need to log into Steam Public, by typing into the prompt and hitting Enter. If a firewall prompt appears, hit Allow. After it's logged in, it should be back to the Steam> prompt as shown here:


Run the command: This command downloads (and later on, updates) the TF2 server files.
Feel free to get a coffee, have a meal or something.


After it's done downloading and returns to the Steam> prompt, we can quit it by typing into the Steam prompt.

For the server to actually run on Linux, you might also need to do this in a normal terminal:

Go into the steamcmd directory. Then go into the tf2 (or whatever name you chose at the install directory step). Rightclick anywhere in the window with Shift held down, then click "Open command window here". On Windows 10, that option is called "Open PowerShell window here".

Type into the command/PowerShell window that opens:
One of TF2's updates broke the GUI for the dedicated server, so if you want normal windows so you can set name, map and stuff with a mouse, get this fix, then run the same command again but with "!use-vgui" instead of "-console".[gamebanana.com]


Go into the ~/.steam/steamcmd/tf2 directory using your Terminal.
Then, run this in the Terminal:

If it ran correctly, it should look like this:



or for Windows, if you got the fix, it can also look like this:



Congratulations, the server runs! What next?

You need to allow unsolicited connections on (also known as opening) ports 27000-27050 on your router - https://portforward.com/router.htm has guides for most routers.

You also need to open those ports on your computer. Windows does it after a firewall prompt, for Linux please Google if your distribution has a firewall and how to open ports on it.

Getting a game server login token (GSLT) has one important benefit: When people add your server to favorites, if you set a login token up, that favorite will stay valid even when your IP/port changes or you switch to an actual hosting company!

To get one, your Steam account:

• must not be community banned
  
• must not be limited
  
• must have a phone number registered
  
• must actually own the game

So, how do you get one and how do you use it?

First, you have to go to this page and log in if your Steam client doesn't do this automatically.

Then you have to put in the base game's Steam app ID (TF2's is 440) and a memo to keep track (see below image) and hit Create.



After hitting Create, the page refreshes and a fresh shiny new token appears in the list.
You should NOT share your game server login token with ANYONE (which is the reason the one in the screenshot is partially blurred out).



When you mouse over the list entry with the token, there are 3 buttons:

• Regenerate Token - generates a new token. You can hit that button if your login token gets leaked. All your tokens will also be regenerated when Steam Support resets your password or you reset it using the Steam Help website.
  
• Set Memo - sets a new memo
  
• Delete - deletes game server account and it's login token

You'll be inputting your Game Server Login Token here.

Are you in the tf2 directory? yes? Then open a text editor of your choice, put in as seen in the screenshot



and save it as autoexec.cfg into tf2 (the directory that has the srcds.exe/srcds-run file in it)\tf\cfg (if you're using Windows Notepad, make sure to set the "Save as type" to All Files.


Go to this website https://cfg.tf/server/ and go through the tabs (General, Security & Logs, etc etc).

Then, go back to General and remove the address in the "Server address" field as it is not required.

Then, hit the "Generate config" button, download the file, open it and extract it to your tf folder (that one):



Congratulations! Your server is now ready for action! The other sections are for things like replays, SourceTV and mods.

Replays were introduced in the Replay Update on May 5, 2011. On servers that have the feature enabled, video replays of a player's life are recorded and saved directly onto the server. After a player dies, they can choose to download these recordings for editing within the game.

To enable this feature, you either need to have a Web server installed or have to rent one from a hosting provider.



First, go to your cfg folder (it's in .\tf2\tf).

Then, copy and paste replay_example.cfg - rename the second file to replay.cfg.

Now open that replay.cfg with a text editor of your choice (I'll be using Notepad)

We're going to look at "HTTP mode" since Valve broke FTP support.


The double-slashes at the beginning of every line make the server count that line as a "comment".



Now let's look at those settings.

"replay_fileserver_offload_enable" tells the server if we want to use FTP or not. (leave this at 0.)
"replay_local_fileserver_path" tells the server where it should save the replay files for clients to download.

Now, we're getting to the part where the game client (aka the player's computers) get URLs to download their replays.

replay_fileserver_host tells the server the domain/IP address of the webserver.
replay_fileserver_port tells the server the port of the webserver.
replay_fileserver_path tells the server where the replays are (that directory must be accessible to everyone or they won't be able to download the replays!)


Add -replay to your launch options (the shortcut in Windows or the command line on Linux)



As of 18.04.2022, 02:04, this mode is still broken.

Spectator mode, but crank it up to 11.

You can enable SourceTV by running tv_enable 1, or you could go further and put this command at the end of your server.cfg to be run automatically!

Other console commands you can run on the server or put at the end of your server.cfg:

tv_name NAME - This sets the SourceTV name on the scoreboard and server browser.
tv_maxclients 0-255 - This sets the maximum client number for the SourceTV server.
tv_msg TEXT - sends a message to all players watching over SourceTV
tv_delay SECONDS - This sets the delay between what happens on the server and it appearing on SourceTV.
tv_delaymapchange 0-1 - This sets if the map change on the game server will be delayed until the rest of the buffered game has been broadcasted
tv_password PASSWORD - sets the password for connecting to the broadcast
tv_record FILENAME - starts a recording that records everything
tv_stoprecord - stops recording
tv_autorecord 0-1 - sets whether the server should automatically record
tv_relayvoice 0-1 - sets whether to allow player voice chat if broadcasted
tv_transmitall 0-1 - sets whether to transmit the whole game. Normally, entities and events outside of the auto-director view are removed from SourceTV broadcasts to save bandwidth.
tv_allow_camera_man 0-1 - allows a player on the Spectator team to become SourceTV camera man (being the camera for all SourceTV viewers)

If you've tried to join a community server with a non-Valve game mode or map, you have experienced having to wait for the download of the models, sounds, maps and so on. If the server isn't using FastDL, download speed of these things is limited to 10-20KB/sec.

Here's where that web server comes in again. You know that folder structure that has the cfg, maps, materials, scripts folders, yes?

If you want to add a custom map/sound/etc, you must not only put it on the server, but your webserver as well.

Let's say my webserver has a tf folder.

Now I want to add the map plr_highertower.

so I put it in my TF2 server's maps folder and in the mapcycle.txt inside tf\cfg.

now I have to make a maps folder on the webserver and copy the map file into the maps folder on the webserver so the download goes faster.

Now I also have to put into my server.cfg this:


Now, if a player joins that was never on that gamemode/map, the client downloads the assets at a much faster speed.

Constantly going into server console is annoying. So, what if you could just do it all in-game?

Well, there's this wonderful thing called SourceMod. It allows you to administrate your server without having to alt-tab to your server console, with lots of plugins available to stop things like interpolation abuse or check player's reputation on SteamRep and much more[www.sourcemod.net].

I won't go into too much detail here since the makers of SourceMod have an excellent guide you should follow, linked here.[wiki.alliedmods.net]

Keep in mind that SourceMod depends on MetaMod:Source being installed, equally as excellent installation guide here[wiki.alliedmods.net]

If you're having problems or I've missed something, please comment! I will try and help/clarify and edit the guide!

*please have mercy this is my first guide I've ever written