How to make a Garry's Mod (GMod) server

You can join your server as soon as it's running. Everything else is set in three places in its panel: the Workshop tab for addons, the Startup tab for the gamemode and map, and the File Manager for server.cfg.

Find your server address

1. Log in to the dashboard and open your server.

2. The Server address sits in the panel's left rail, right under your server's name: an IP or a name, then a colon, then a port (it looks like 27.124.105.40:27015).

   

3. Press the copy button beside it so you take the whole thing, including the number after the colon.

Join from Garry's Mod

1. Open Garry's Mod.
2. Open the Developer Console with the ~ key. If nothing happens, hold Shift and press Escape instead.
3. Type connect <your address> (for example connect 27.124.105.40:27015) and press Enter.

Your server also appears under Find Multiplayer Game once Steam's server browser picks it up - the console is just faster the first time. If it never turns up there, see Server not showing in the server browser below.

Load a Workshop collection

The server downloads and mounts a whole Steam Workshop collection on boot, and joining players download the same addons:

1. Make sure your collection is set to Public or Unlisted on the Steam Workshop, then copy its link from your browser.
2. Open your server's Workshop tab, under Content in the panel's tab list.
3. Paste the link and press Link collection.
4. Press Restart now in the message that appears. The Console shows each addon downloading on the way up.

You don't need a Steam Web API key: the server downloads a Public or Unlisted collection without one. Once it's linked, the Workshop tab shows a short checklist (linked, downloaded on the server, players get the addons) with a button beside anything that still needs doing.

New to collections? How to add a Steam Workshop collection to your GMod server builds one from scratch.

Switch gamemodes

Sandbox and TTT ship with Garry's Mod. Any other gamemode has to be installed first, which for most means adding it to your Workshop collection.

1. In the Startup tab, set Gamemode: sandbox, prop_hunt, terrortown (that's TTT) or darkrp.
2. Set a Map that suits it (TTT maps start with ttt_, Prop Hunt maps with ph_) and restart.

For Sandbox, TTT or DarkRP (once it's in your collection), the Gamemode presets on the Startup tab do both steps at once. Press the preset's Switch to button, confirm with Switch gamemode, then restart the server. The preset picks a matching map when one is installed.

How much RAM does a Garry's Mod server need?

Your gamemode and the size of your Workshop collection decide it. Our Garry's Mod server hosting starts at 4 GB, because Sandbox with just a few Workshop addons already uses more than 2 GB:

Every addon in your collection is loaded on the server, so a collection that keeps growing is the usual reason to move up a plan. If only one player lags, check their ping against what ping to expect from each city first. To upgrade, open Billing and press Change plan next to the server under Subscriptions.

Server name, password and server.cfg

Your server's name and join password live in garrysmod/cfg/server.cfg, a file we create when the server is first installed.

1. Stop the server from the dashboard.

2. Open the File Manager and go to garrysmod/cfg/server.cfg.

3. Change the name on the hostname line and set a password on the sv_password line, keeping the quotes:

   hostname        "Friday Night TTT"
   sv_password     "pick-a-password"

   Leave it as sv_password "" for a server anyone with the address can join.

4. Save, then Start the server. The file is read on every boot.

Setting hostname or sv_password in the Console instead doesn't change the file, so put a name or password you want to keep in server.cfg.

Send your friends the password along with the server address.

Server not showing in the server browser

You don't need the browser to play: connect <your address> in the developer console gets you in whether or not your server is listed under Find Multiplayer Game.

If it isn't listed there:

1. Look for the exact name. The browser shows the name on your hostname line in server.cfg, among thousands of other servers, so check for that exact name.
2. Check for hide_server. A hide_server 1 line in server.cfg hides the server from the browser on purpose. Delete the line (or set it to 0) and restart.
3. Add a Steam game server token. Garry's Mod ranks servers without one lower in the browser, and gives them a new identity every restart (the console says "No account token specified" on boot). The Startup tab's Rank in the server browser card walks you through it: create a token for App ID 4000 at steamcommunity.com/dev/managegameservers, paste it into the card, and restart. The Add a Steam token link on that console line opens the card too.

Common first-boot problems

1. Addons didn't download - the collection is set to Private, or the server hasn't restarted since you linked it. Set the collection to Public or Unlisted on Steam, then restart.
2. Players stuck on the loading screen or seeing errors/missing textures - they don't have your addons. Open the Workshop tab (it brings the list up to date), then restart.
3. Server not showing in the browser - see Server not showing in the server browser above. Joining with connect <your address> works in the meantime.
4. Asked for a password you didn't expect - the sv_password line in garrysmod/cfg/server.cfg isn't empty. Clear it (sv_password "") and restart.

If none of these match, copy the exact error from the Console and paste it into your support ticket, along with what you changed just before it started.