How to make a Garry's Mod server

To make a Garry’s Mod server, pick Garry’s Mod, choose a gamemode, pick a plan and start it. It’s usually ready in under a minute. Then add your Steam server token so it ranks well in the server list, make yourself admin and share the address on Overview.

What you need

• Garry’s Mod on Steam for every player, on Windows, Mac or Linux. There is no console or phone version.
• A plan with enough RAM (the server’s memory). Our guide:

• A Steam account that can make a game server token. Optional, but it helps people find your server. See below.

Create your server

1. Pick Garry’s Mod from the game list.
2. Pick a starting gamemode: Sandbox, DarkRP, Trouble in Terrorist Town or Prop Hunt. You can change it any time. The gamemodes guide explains each one.
3. Pick a plan from the table above.
4. Pick the region closest to most of your players: EU or US East.
5. Choose a name. It becomes your address, like physgun.play.wilderack.com. Names use 3 to 32 characters: lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens.

The first start

The game files install from Steam (the Garry’s Mod dedicated server, Steam app 4020). We never ship them ourselves.

A plain server starts in about 15 seconds. If you added a big Workshop collection, the first start takes longer, up to a few minutes, while the server downloads it from Steam. It’s ready when the Console prints VAC secure mode is activated.

Set the basics

Open Settings to change the main things in plain words: server name, password, max players, map, gamemode, Workshop collection and loading screen. Everything else is in server.cfg, explained in the config reference.

Add your Steam game server token

A Steam game server login token (GSLT) gives your server its own Steam identity. Facepunch says servers without one get a severe penalty in the server list ranking, so add one if you want people to find you.

1. Sign in to Steam’s game server account page.
2. For App ID of the base game, enter 4000. That’s Garry’s Mod itself, not the server’s app number.
3. For Memo, write something to recognise it, like physgun.
4. Create the token and copy it.
5. Paste it into the server token field in Settings, then restart. The panel shows that a token is set, but never shows it again.

Make yourself admin

Garry’s Mod servers use an admin addon. ULX, with its library ULib, is the most common one.

1. Open Mods, search for ULX and install it. ULib comes with it.
2. Restart the server. ULX needs a full restart; a map change isn’t enough.
3. Join your server.
4. In the panel’s Console, type ulx adduser "YourName" superadmin with your in-game name.
5. In game, type !menu in chat to open the ULX menu.

More admin details are in the config reference.

Invite friends to play

Send your friends the address and port from the address card on Overview, like physgun.play.wilderack.com:24816. They can type connect and the address in the game’s console, or add it as a favourite. All the ways are in how to connect.

Invite friends to help run it

Open Friends and create an invite link with a role, such as Admin to help run the server, Builder to add addons and edit files, or Moderator to restart it and use the console. Panel roles don’t give in-game powers; give those with ULX.

What sleeping means for Garry’s Mod

Your server naps when nobody’s playing, so you aren’t paying for an empty server to sit awake. It wakes when someone joins by address or from their favourites, usually in a couple of seconds.

While it sleeps, your server still shows in friends’ favourites and history, but not in the public server list. If you want strangers to find it in the list, set it to stay awake in Settings > Sleep.

Facepunch’s rules for server owners

Facepunch’s server guidelines apply to Garry’s Mod too: never call your server official, and keep content right for its players. Garry’s Mod also has its own server operator rules. Servers that fake their player count or location, harm players’ games or files, or break the content rules get blacklisted from the server list.

What to read next

• How to connect to your Garry’s Mod server
• Garry’s Mod gamemodes: Sandbox, TTT, DarkRP, Prop Hunt and Murder
• Garry’s Mod addons and Workshop collections