Garry's Mod Server Settings Explained

Your Garry's Mod server has a Game Settings page with a handful of fields, and it is not always clear which one to touch. This guide goes through every field, tells you what to pick and when, and shows which settings live in server.cfg instead.

1Server Settings

• Log in to your game panel, click your Garry's Mod server and open Game Settings in the left menu.

• Gamemode is the way the game is played. Pick Sandbox, Trouble in Terrorist Town, DarkRP, Murder or Prop Hunt. Choose Other... to type the folder name of any other gamemode, for example terrortown.
• Start Map is the map the server loads on start. The default is gm_flatgrass. Type the map name without .bsp.
• Max Players is the number of slots, up to 128. The default is 32. Pick what your players need, not the maximum.
• Every field saves by itself as soon as you change it. A yellow bar then reminds you to restart: changes apply after a restart.

2Workshop Settings

• Workshop Collection ID is the number at the end of your Steam Workshop collection link. Paste only the number, not the whole link.
• The server downloads the collection on every start, and players get the same addons when they join.
• Leave the field empty if you install everything by hand. The Workshop guide shows how to make a collection.

3Steam Settings

• Game Server Login Token is only needed to show your server in the public server browser. Players can always join by address without it.
• Make the token at steamcommunity.com/dev/managegameservers with App ID 4000. The token guide walks through it.
• If Steam rejects the token, the panel opens an Invalid GSL token! popup. Enter a new token there and press Update GSL Token.

4Advanced Settings

• Game Branch is Public (32-bit) or x86-64 (64-bit). Stay on the 32-bit branch unless an addon asks for 64-bit. Binary modules such as MySQLOO must match the branch you choose.

• Tickrate is how many updates the server sends per second. The default is 22. Values from 22 to 66 are usual. Higher feels smoother but uses more CPU.
• Lua Refresh reloads Lua files when they change. Turn it On while you develop an addon, and keep it Off for normal play.
• Ports and other launch options are on the Startup page, in Additional Arguments.

5What Lives in server.cfg Instead

• Open Files, then garrysmod/cfg/server.cfg, and click the file to edit it.
• hostname is the server name.
• sv_password is the password players need to join.
• sv_loadingurl and sv_downloadurl set a loading screen and a fast download site.
• sbox_max... lines set the Sandbox limits, such as sbox_maxprops.
• Add your own lines under // Add custom lines under here.
• RCON is not set here. Put +rcon_password yourpassword -usercon in Additional Arguments on the Startup page.
• The steps for the name, password and RCON are in this guide.

Good to Know

• Changes need a restart. Press Restart on the Console page after you save.
• Wrong gamemode name? The server falls back or fails to start. Check the folder name under garrysmod/gamemodes/.

Finished

You know what every setting does. Next, set up automatic restarts and updates so the server stays current.