How to create Dedicated Counter Strike Source Servers and install third party mods.(Newbies)

This Manual is Windows Counter Strike Source Only!


Before going Further i would suggest making a dedicated server on Server machines only not on your laptop or PC, because if you play from same PC it will be laggy for you! .I will suggest buy server or be admin on one. 
Do exactly as i have written, ask question in comments! or email me!

Subjects:

- Guide installing Counter Strike Dedicated Server
- Downloading or making a Server.cfg
- Changing Mapcycle
- RCON guide and MOD links
- Firewall/Router Settings



First, create a folder where the files for the dedicated server will be located. In this manual, C:\srcds will be used as the server directory. Verify 1 GB of free space is available on the drive. 

Next, download the HLDS_UpdateTool from here: 

http://steampowered.com/download/hldsupdatetool.exe

HLDS_UpdateTool

Copy this file where you like. Doubleclick it and follow the instructions. The destination folder to use is: C:\srcds. Some files will be copied to this directory when finished, one of them is: HldsUpdateTool.exe

Doubleclick on HldsUpdateTool.exe, so it will update itself. We will be using this file in the next sections.

[b]Download the Server Files Now, we download the server files that are required to run the server. Depending on your connection this could take from a few minutes to a few hours. (about 2.5GB).

The next section need to be completed via the DOS command line. To go there do this:

Click Start, then Run, Type in cmd then click the OK button. Once the Command Prompt is up, we need to change directory by typing this in the command line: cd C:\srcds

Now type the following in the command line or copy from here:

hldsupdatetool -command update -game "Counter-Strike Source" -dir c:\srcds 

This will download all the server files needed to run a Standalone Source Dedicated Server.

Once finished retrieving the files, this text will appear: 

HLDS installation up to date

If it's not working the first time then try again, again and again . I had to try 15 times (o.O).

From time to time you will need to update your server when valve releases CSS update!, just follow the same steps to do this or make a batch file. But i would suggest just open cmd and write that command it will update your game! .

Creating a shortcut to run the server 

Go to your C:\srcds directory. Find srcds.exe Right click on it and create a shortcut. Now right click on the newly created shortcut and go to properties. Click on the tab shortcut, in the Target line you see probably the following: C:\srcds\srcds.exe Now we need to add the following behind this line to get the server started properly.

"C:\HLServer\srcds.exe" -console -game cstrike -port 27015 -autoupdate +maxplayers 12 +map de_dust

You can find you ip from typing in Google  my ip.

If you want your Friends to connect to your server give them "your-ip:port of the server"

Creating a shortcut to run the server 

Go to your C:\srcds directory. Find srcds.exe Right click on it and create a shortcut. Now right click on the newly created shortcut and go to properties. Click on the tab shortcut, in the Target line you see probably the following: C:\srcds\srcds.exe Now we need to add the following behind this line to get the server started properly.

213.132.175.152 :27015 like this example!

Start the server

All you need to do now to start your server is double clicking the shortcut you created. 

If you encounter a problem, Comment and ask!

Creating a server.cfg

Now that you have your own server it’s time to give it a name and the settings you want. That's done with a file named server.cfg In this post I will post my  server.cfg, just scroll with your mouse and you will find it later.

Changing the Mapcycle

If you want to change your mapcycle all you have to do is open mapcycle.txt. You can find this file here:

C:\srcds\cstrike\

Adminning your Server (RCON & MOD)

Now that you have personalized your server, I will try to explain to you how to control your server using RCON. Scroll your mouse and in a reply I made you will find more info about RCON and little info about MOD's.

Firewall/Router Settings

But first most of you have to do port forwarding it is pretty simple but sometimes gets messy without right instructions! 

If you can't see your server in the list or your friends are not able to connect to your server then this could have many causes. One of them is that you're behind a firewall or a router.

If your server is behind a firewall and/or you are using a router, you need to open/forward these ports:

UDP 1200 (Friends Network)

UDP 27000 to 27015 (Gameport)

UDP 27020

TCP 27030 to 27039 

TCP: 27015 (SRCDS Rcon port)

Go to the website of your manufacturer if you don't know how to open/forward these ports.Search on youtube how to do port forwarding it will help. Or ask me if you cannot get the solution!.

RCON & MODS

RCON is a very basic and time taking way of controlling your server, I prefer to use MOD's. A MOD is like an add-on to your CS Source Server. It can give extra options to control your server, like weapon restrictions  reserved slots or punishments. Because Source is a different engine, MOD's used for CS 1.6 and older are not working for CS Source!

The Source engine comes with a built-in MOD and people made some plugins for it, you can find those plugins here. I will not explain to you how to install these plugins, but Bones has made a website with video instruction that will show you how to install one of those plugins; Bones Plugin Video Instruction. It's a very cool MOD to use, but you need to do some reading about it to really make use of all it's possibilities.

A MOD that is not yet finished (dec 2004), but looks very promising (so keep this in mind!) for the Source engine is:

SourceMod

Look in the forums for more info.

MOD's can make it easier and give you more possibilities  but if you don't know how to use or to install MOD's, then 

Visit this

You can control your server or admin it using source mod or mani-admin plugin. I prefer Source mod but for doing that you have to install meta mod as i mentioned can be done from above link of "this".

Then you can install Source Mod or Mani-admin.

Mani admin is one plugin but source mod has various plugins you can choose what to install what not to!

Any problems post in comments!