Left 4 Dead 2 server: order, connect, settings and mods

This guide covers the Left 4 Dead 2 server you rent from HyperDC. You manage it on its service page in the client area, under Services › My Services. There is no separate game panel. For the basics that apply to every game, see game servers: getting started.

Order your server

Choose a plan for Left 4 Dead 2 and fill in the order form. These are the fields it asks for, under the names the form uses:

The plan is for 8 players, the most this game allows.

What happens automatically

• The game files are installed for you with SteamCMD (Steam app 222860).
• The page shows the progress while the server is being set up. You can leave the page: the build carries on, and the controls appear when it is ready.
• Ports are assigned to your server and opened for you.
• Before every start the panel writes your server name and RCON Password into left4dead2/cfg/server.cfg, so a change in the Settings tab reaches the game at its next start.
• CPU, memory and disk follow the number of players you ordered.
• Mods install with one click from the Mods tab.

Connect to your server

1. Open Services › My Services and choose your game server.
2. On the Overview tab, find the address under Connect and press the copy button.
3. Start a lobby on your group server, or allow direct joins and type connect with the address in the console.

The panel assigns the ports, so your port can differ from the game's usual 27015: always use the one under Connect. The same box lists the Query port and RCON port.

Start, stop and update

The banner at the top of the service page has the Start, Restart, Stop and Kill buttons. Stop shuts the game down its own way and saves where the game can; use Kill only when the server no longer reacts.

Update stops the server if it is running, updates the game files with SteamCMD and starts it again. Players and server need the same version, so update after a game patch.

If your plan shows a Reinstall tab, it installs the game again from scratch. Every server file is deleted and this cannot be undone, so you must type REINSTALL to confirm.

Use the console

The Console tab shows what the server prints while it runs. Type a command in the Type a command… box and press Enter or the send button. Commands are the game's own.

Change the settings

The Settings tab lists what you can change for this game, starting with Server name, RCON Password, Join password, Player slots, Map. The player slots are part of your plan: change them with Upgrade/Downgrade.

Press Save changes. Saving restarts a running server to apply the changes, and you are asked first. A stopped server stays stopped and uses the new values at its next start.

Edit the game's files

The Files tab shows the server folder. You can edit text files and save them, upload files of up to 100 MB each, make folders and files, and right-click anything to rename, delete, compress, extract or download it.

The game's own settings files:

To change a file by hand:

1. Press Stop. Many games rewrite their settings files when they shut down, so an edit made while the server runs can be lost.
2. Open the file in the Files tab, change it and save it.
3. Press Start.

Keep a copy of your world

Game servers have no automatic backups, so keep your own copy before big changes. This game has no lasting world: what is worth keeping is the settings files you changed. Right-click them in the Files tab and choose Download.

Become an admin

There is no built-in admin list. You administer the server through the remote console: open the game console, type rcon_password <your RCON Password>, then send commands as rcon <command>.

Install mods

The Mods tab searches Steam Workshop. Find a mod and press Install. On a running server you are asked first: the server saves, stops and starts again with the mod, and players are disconnected meanwhile. Remove a mod from the same tab. Check the mod's page to see whether players need it too.

Upgrade or switch game

Open the service page and choose Actions › Upgrade/Downgrade for another plan or game, or Upgrade/Downgrade Options for players, RAM, disk and CPU. You pay or receive the prorated difference through the normal upgrade invoice.

• Same game: your files stay. A running server restarts once to apply the change.
• Another game: the new game is installed first. Then the old server and all its files are deleted and no copy is kept. The address stays, the ports change, and the server name and password move to the new server. You must tick the confirmation box before checkout, so download your world first.

See upgrade or downgrade a service for the steps.

Common problems

Players cannot find the server in the list. Check that the banner shows the server as running and give the list a few minutes. Where the game allows a direct connection, use the address from the Overview tab.

Players are told the versions differ. Press Update to bring the server to the current version, and ask players to update their game.

A change in a settings file is gone after a restart. Stop the server before you edit the file, because many games rewrite it when they shut down. The server name and password always come from the Settings tab.

The server does not start after a change. Read the last lines in the Console tab, then undo the last file or mod you changed.

The server lags at busy times. Look at the CPU and Memory cards under Performance. If they are full, add Additional RAM (GB) or Additional CPU Cores with Upgrade/Downgrade Options.

The order form refuses the password. Use 8 to 32 characters: letters, digits and . _ -, not starting with -.

Next steps

• Basics for every game: game servers: getting started.
• Lower latency for your players: choose a data center location.