This guide covers server administration for Left 4 Dead, including RCON access, Source engine console commands, player management, SourceMod plugin installation, and troubleshooting.
Prerequisites: This guide assumes your server is already running. If you need to set up your server first, see the Left 4 Dead Server Setup Guide.
RCON (Remote Console)
RCON allows you to execute server commands remotely. To set up RCON, add the following to your left4dead/cfg/server.cfg:
rcon_password "your_secure_password"To use RCON from the in-game console, type:
rcon_password your_secure_password
rcon [command]You can also execute commands directly from the GPanel Console tab without needing RCON authentication.
Essential Server Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
changelevel [map] |
Changes to the specified map (e.g., changelevel l4d_hospital01_apartment) |
status |
Shows server info, connected players, and their Steam IDs |
kick [name] |
Kicks a player by name |
kickid [userid] |
Kicks a player by their user ID (from status output) |
banid [minutes] [steamid] |
Bans a player by Steam ID (0 = permanent) |
removeid [steamid] |
Unbans a player by Steam ID |
say [message] |
Sends a message to all players as the server |
maps * |
Lists all available maps on the server |
sv_password [password] |
Sets or changes the server password at runtime |
hostname [name] |
Changes the server name at runtime |
quit |
Gracefully shuts down the server |
Game Mode Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
sv_gametypes coop |
Set game mode to cooperative |
sv_gametypes versus |
Set game mode to versus (survivors vs infected) |
sv_gametypes survival |
Set game mode to survival |
z_difficulty Easy/Normal/Hard/Impossible |
Change AI difficulty |
Player Management
Ban Management
The server maintains a ban list in left4dead/cfg/banned_user.cfg. You can edit this file directly or use console commands:
// Ban a player for 60 minutes
banid 60 STEAM_0:1:12345678
// Permanent ban
banid 0 STEAM_0:1:12345678
// Write bans to file
writeid
// Remove a ban
removeid STEAM_0:1:12345678
Persist Bans: After banning a player via console, run
writeid to save the ban list to disk. Otherwise, bans will be lost on server restart.
SourceMod Installation
SourceMod is a popular plugin framework for Source engine servers that adds admin menus, custom commands, and gameplay modifications.
- Stop your server from GPanel.
- Download SourceMod and MetaMod:Source for your server's OS (Linux).
- Upload and extract both archives to the
left4dead/directory via SFTP. Theaddons/folder should be created insideleft4dead/. - Add your Steam ID to
left4dead/addons/sourcemod/configs/admins_simple.ini:"STEAM_0:1:12345678" "99:z" - Start the server. Type
sm versionin the console to verify SourceMod loaded.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Solution |
|---|---|
| Server not appearing in browser | Verify the server is running and connected to Steam (check console for Connection to Steam servers successful). Set sv_allow_lobby_connect_only 0 in server.cfg. |
| RCON not working | Ensure rcon_password is set in server.cfg and you have entered the matching password on your client. |
| Map change crashes server | Verify the map name is correct using maps *. Custom maps must be uploaded to the left4dead/maps/ directory. |
| SourceMod not loading | Ensure MetaMod:Source is installed first. Check left4dead/addons/metamod.vdf exists. Verify file permissions are correct. |
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Need Help? If you encounter any issues not covered in this guide, open a support ticket and our team will assist you.
