06
May
SRCDS: Orange Box Mod Dedicated Server
By Wills, under General. Tagged: ,

Whilst testing the Orange Box version of Jailbreak: Source, we discovered that setting up a stand alone dedicated server for an Orange Box mod wasn’t an easy or straightforward task. We had to do a few days of detective work and tweaking to get it all working properly, and this post covers how we did it.

1: Install SRCDS

SRCDS is a stand alone dedicated server, it doesn’t run through Steam. So grab yourself the Windows version of the HLDSUpdateTool from SRCDS (sorry, this is windows only for now, once we’ve got a Linux server running, we’ll do another post) and save it somewhere.

Once it’s downloaded, run the tool and go through the installation process. You’ll need to install it to somewhere on your server (or home computer for testing), and in a location without spaces in the folder name (e.g. C:\SRCDS\ or C:\Servers\SRCDS\).

Once it’s finished installing, go to Start; Run and type cmd which opens a command prompt and enter the following:

1
2
3
C:
cd srcds
hldsupdatetool

Orange Box Dedicated Server

This gets the latest version of the HLDSUpdateTool which is used to download the server files. You then need to type the following into the same command prompt:

1
hldsupdatetool -command update -game "orangebox" -dir C:\srcds\

Orange Box Dedicated Server

This step can take a while depending on the speed of your connection as it’s downloading all the files it needs from Valve’s servers.

Once that’s finished you’ll have all the files you need, but there are a few other steps needed to get the server working.

2: Move HL2 Directory

The next step is to open the SRCDS directory and inside you’ll find two directories, one called “orangebox”, the other called “hl2″, move the “hl2″ directory into the Orange Box directory and overwrite any files it asks you about.

3: Copy your mod files

Copy Jailbreak into the “orangebox” directory, so it sits beside the “hl2″ directory.

4: Valve.rc

Orange Box mods need a file called “Valve.rc” in the cfg directory of your mod, this is already contained in the Jailbreak: Source server files. It should contain at minimum the following:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
stuffcmds

// One time loaded server settings

// load the base configuration
exec default.cfg

// Disabling 'wait' prevents many exploitive scripts.
sv_allow_wait_command 0

// Enable user configs
exec autoexec.cfg

// Commands for SourceTV
tv_enable 0
tv_maxclients 25
tv_name "Jailbreak Source TV"

Without this file, the Orange Box Server wont start, so just include it with the rest of your distributed mod files.

5: skill.cfg and skill_manifest.cfg

You need to make sure you have these files in your mod’s cfg directory otherwise you will see odd things happen, like being unable to pickup health packs.

skill_manifest.cfg should contain the following:

1
exec skill.cfg

and skill.cfg should contain something similar to the code below (this is the code from our skill.cfg so make sure to use your own).

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
// ===========
//  NPCs
// ============
// Barnacle
sk_barnacle_health      "35"

// Barney
sk_barney_health        "35"

// Bullseye
sk_bullseye_health      "35"

// Bullsquid
//sk_bullsquid_health   "120"
//sk_bullsquid_dmg_bite "15"
//sk_bullsquid_dmg_whip "25"

// Citizen
sk_citizen_health       "40"

// Combine Soldier
sk_combine_s_health     "50"
sk_combine_s_kick       "10"

// Combine Guard
sk_combine_guard_health "70"
sk_combine_guard_kick   "15"

// strider
sk_strider_health       "350"
sk_strider_num_missiles1    "5"
sk_strider_num_missiles2    "7"
sk_strider_num_missiles3    "7"

// Headcrab
sk_headcrab_health      "10"
sk_headcrab_melee_dmg   "5"

// Fast Headcrab
sk_headcrab_fast_health "10"

// Poison Headcrab
sk_headcrab_poison_health   "35"

// Houndeye
//sk_houndeye_health        "80"
//sk_houndeye_dmg_blast "25"

// Manhack
sk_manhack_health       "25"
sk_manhack_melee_dmg    "20"

// Metropolice
sk_metropolice_health   "40"
sk_metropolice_stitch_reaction "1.0"
sk_metropolice_stitch_tight_hitcount "2"
sk_metropolice_stitch_at_hitcount "1"
sk_metropolice_stitch_behind_hitcount "3"
sk_metropolice_stitch_along_hitcount "2"

// Rollermine
sk_rollermine_shock     "10"
sk_rollermine_stun_delay "3"
sk_rollermine_vehicle_intercept "1"

// Scanner (City)
sk_scanner_health       "30"
sk_scanner_dmg_dive     "25"

// Stalker
sk_stalker_health       "50"
sk_stalker_melee_dmg    "5"

// Vortigaunt
sk_vortigaunt_health    "100"
sk_vortigaunt_dmg_claw  "10"
sk_vortigaunt_dmg_rake  "25"
sk_vortigaunt_dmg_zap   "50"
sk_vortigaunt_armor_charge "30"

// Zombie
sk_zombie_health    "50"
sk_zombie_dmg_one_slash "10"
sk_zombie_dmg_both_slash    "25"

// Poison Zombie
sk_zombie_poison_health     "175"
sk_zombie_poison_dmg_spit   "20"

//Antlion
sk_antlion_health           "75"
sk_antlion_swipe_damage     "15"
sk_antlion_jump_damage      "15"

//Antlion Guard
sk_antlionguard_health      "500"
sk_antlionguard_dmg_charge  "20"
sk_antlionguard_dmg_shove   "10"

//Antlion Grub
//sk_antliongrub_health     "5"

//Ichthyosaur
sk_ichthyosaur_health       "200"
sk_ichthyosaur_melee_dmg    "8"

// Combine Gunship
sk_gunship_burst_size       "15"
sk_gunship_health_increments    "5"
sk_npc_dmg_gunship      "40"
sk_npc_dmg_gunship_to_plr   "3"

// Combine Helicopter
sk_npc_dmg_helicopter           "6"
sk_npc_dmg_helicopter_to_plr    "3"
sk_helicopter_grenadedamage     "30"
sk_helicopter_grenaderadius     "275"
sk_helicopter_grenadeforce      "55000"

// Combine Dropship
sk_npc_dmg_dropship     "2"

// Combine APC
sk_apc_health               "750"


// =================
//  WEAPONS
// =================

sk_plr_dmg_ar2          "8"
sk_npc_dmg_ar2          "8"
sk_max_ar2              "60"
sk_max_ar2_altfire      "3"

sk_plr_dmg_alyxgun      "5"
sk_npc_dmg_alyxgun      "3"
sk_max_alyxgun          "150"

sk_plr_dmg_pistol       "5"
sk_npc_dmg_pistol       "3"
sk_max_pistol           "50"

sk_plr_dmg_smg1         "4"
sk_npc_dmg_smg1         "3"
sk_max_smg1             "225"

sk_plr_dmg_buckshot         "8"
sk_npc_dmg_buckshot         "3"
sk_max_buckshot             "30"

sk_plr_dmg_rpg_round        "75"
sk_npc_dmg_rpg_round        "50"
sk_max_rpg_round            "4"

sk_plr_dmg_smg1_grenade     "100"
sk_npc_dmg_smg1_grenade     "50"
sk_max_smg1_grenade     "3"
sk_smg1_grenade_radius      "250"

//sk_plr_dmg_gauss          "25"
//sk_plr_max_dmg_gauss      "30"

sk_plr_dmg_sniper_round     "20"
sk_npc_dmg_sniper_round     "100"
sk_max_sniper_round         "30"

sk_plr_dmg_357              "40"
sk_npc_dmg_357              "30"
sk_max_357                  "12"

sk_plr_dmg_crossbow         "100"
sk_npc_dmg_crossbow         "10"
sk_max_crossbow             "10"

sk_plr_dmg_airboat          "3"
sk_npc_dmg_airboat          "3"

//sk_dmg_sniper_penetrate_plr   "10"
//sk_dmg_sniper_penetrate_npc   "100"

sk_plr_dmg_grenade          "150"  
sk_npc_dmg_grenade          "75"
sk_max_grenade              "5"

sk_plr_dmg_crowbar          "10"
sk_npc_dmg_crowbar          "5"

sk_plr_dmg_stunstick        "10"
sk_npc_dmg_stunstick        "40"    // Kill a citizen in one hit

//sk_plr_dmg_satchel            "150"
//sk_npc_dmg_satchel            "75"
//sk_satchel_radius         "150"

// Mortar Synth projectile
//sk_dmg_energy_grenade     "2"
//sk_energy_grenade_radius  "100"

sk_dmg_homer_grenade        "20"
sk_homer_grenade_radius     "100"

// Bullsquid spit
//sk_dmg_spit_grenade           "5"
//sk_spit_grenade_radius        "50"

//sk_plr_dmg_tripmine           "150"
//sk_npc_dmg_tripmine           "125"
//sk_tripmine_radius            "200"

sk_plr_dmg_fraggrenade      "125"
sk_npc_dmg_fraggrenade      "75"
sk_fraggrenade_radius       "250"

// HEALTH/SUIT CHARGE DISTRIBUTION
sk_suitcharger      "75"
sk_suitcharger_citadel      "500"
sk_suitcharger_citadel_maxarmor "200"
sk_battery          "15"
sk_healthcharger        "50"
sk_healthkit        "25"
sk_healthvial       "10"

// Combine balls
sk_combineball_seek_angle   "15"
sk_combineball_guidefactor  "1.0"

// NPC damage adjusters
sk_npc_head     "3"
sk_npc_chest    "1"
sk_npc_stomach  "1"
sk_npc_arm      "1"
sk_npc_leg      "1"

// player damage adjusters
sk_player_head      "3"
sk_player_chest     "1"
sk_player_stomach   "1"
sk_player_arm       "1"
sk_player_leg       "1"

// Allies
sk_ally_regen_time  "0.2"

// Jeep
sk_max_gauss_round  "30"

//Railgun
sk_plr_dmg_railgun  "100"
sk_npc_dmg_railgun  "30"
sk_max_railgun  "12"

//new jailbreak ammo types
sk_plr_dmg_SMG          "4"
sk_npc_dmg_SMG          "3"
sk_max_SMG              "225"

sk_plr_dmg_rifle            "8"
sk_npc_dmg_rifle            "5"
sk_max_rifle                "80"

sk_plr_dmg_chaingun         "8"
sk_npc_dmg_chaingun         "5"
sk_max_chaingun             "200"

sk_plr_dmg_slugs            "90"
sk_npc_dmg_slugs            "90"
sk_max_slugs                "12"

6: Remove steam.inf

    THIS STEP IS NO LONGER REQUIRED AFTER VALVE FIXED THE ISSUE. THE STEAM.INF FILE IS STILL NEEDED, DO NOT DELETE.

Some mods made use of a file called Steam.inf in the past as without it, your mod was open to exploits and had issues mounting certain libraries. This issue has been fixed for the Orange Box engine, so make sure to delete it, otherwise you’ll get Valve Anti Cheat errors when clients join your server.

Finishing Up

At this point the server should be good to go, so the final step is launching the server, which can be done on the command line with:

1
srcds.exe -console -game yourmoddirectory +map yourmap +maxplayers 16

Replacing yourmoddirectory and yourmap as neccesary. You could create a batch file with that code in for easy server launching too!

So there you go, nice and easy, if a little time consuming!

7 Comments

7 Responses to “SRCDS: Orange Box Mod Dedicated Server”

  1. Theory Says:
    May 6th, 2009 at 2:08 pm

    What’s wrong with the GUI version at Steam > Tools?

  2. Dogmeat Says:
    May 6th, 2009 at 2:44 pm

    Nothing, if you have Steam installed.

    If you want to run a server on a dedicated machine it’s much easier to use the stand alone dedicated server which uses less resources and doesn’t require a login.

  3. Psychosis Says:
    June 15th, 2009 at 11:19 am

    Steam Dedicated Server also can use “less resources” if you launch it in console mode. =)

  4. Tilly Holmes Says:
    May 19th, 2010 at 7:46 am

    Can anyone suggest a reliable Dedicated Server hosting that is not very expensive?’.;

  5. dude Says:
    June 12th, 2010 at 11:17 am

    how can i remove sk_max_gauss_round

  6. Bailey Jenkins Says:
    July 16th, 2010 at 5:31 am

    Dedicated servers are the best when you want a stable webhost. ‘“

  7. Harriet Russell Says:
    August 31st, 2010 at 6:25 am

    when possible, i always use a dedicated server for my webhosting needs eventhough it is expensive:’`

Leave a Reply