Counter-Strike: Source: Connecting to and setting up your server

Here you’ll learn how to connect to your Counter-Strike: Source server and change the most important settings.

Connecting

1. Start the server on the server page with Start.
2. Wait until the status shows “running”. You can follow the progress in the Console.
3. In the game, open the console and enter connect IP:Port. Alternatively, you can find the server in the Steam server browser.
4. The address (IP:Port) is shown at the top of your server page.

Important settings

You change these values in the Startup variables tab. Changes take effect on the next restart.

• Steam token (STEAM_TOKEN) – the Game Server Login Token (GSLT). You create it at steamcommunity.com/dev/managegameservers.
• Server name (SERVER_NAME) – name in the server list, max. 64 characters, no quotation marks.
• Map (SRCDS_MAP) – the starting map, e.g. de_dust2.

Password and RCON (server.cfg)

Password, admin access and other game settings are set in the file cstrike/cfg/server.cfg in the Files tab. The hostname line is set from the startup variable Server name on every start – so change the name there, not in the file. To change the other values:

1. In the Files tab, open the folder cstrike/cfg and then server.cfg.
2. Change the values and save.
3. Restart the server.

``
sv_password ""
rcon_password "a-long-password-of-your-own"
sv_lan 0
mp_timelimit 30
``

• sv_password – password to join, leave empty for an open server.
• rcon_password – password for admin commands via rcon in the game console. Empty = RCON off. Use a long password you don't use anywhere else.
• mp_timelimit – minutes per map.

You set the map rotation in cstrike/cfg/mapcycle.txt (one map per line). Don't edit mapcycle_default.txt, it can be overwritten by a game update.

A Steam login (username/password) is not needed for Counter-Strike: Source. The game files are downloaded anonymously. Never enter your Steam credentials on the server, the Steam token is enough.

Good to know

• You enter the Steam token when ordering. You can change it later under Startup variables.
• You may first need to enable the in-game console in the options.
• During setup, the server files are downloaded via Steam, so the first start may take a few minutes longer.