How to Change the Gamemode of Your Garry's Mod Server

The gamemode determines what is played on your server – for example Sandbox, Trouble in Terrorist Town (TTT) or DarkRP. You select it in the dashboard with the Gamemode field. What goes into that field is always the folder name of the gamemode, not its display name.

Warning

Create a backup before changing the gamemode. That way you can always return to your previous state.

Included gamemodes

A freshly installed server only comes with these gamemodes:

Gamemode	Folder name	Description
Sandbox	sandbox	Default gamemode of your server
Trouble in Terrorist Town	terrortown	TTT – Innocents versus Traitors

Note

The folder /garrysmod/gamemodes/ also contains a folder called base. It is only the foundation other gamemodes build on and cannot be played on its own. You have to install all other gamemodes such as DarkRP, Prop Hunt or Murder yourself.

Find the correct folder name

In the Gamemode field you enter the folder name – not the title from the Workshop. "Trouble in Terrorist Town", for example, becomes terrortown, and "Prop Hunt: Enhanced" becomes prop_hunt.

• Uploaded via SFTP: The folder name is the name of the folder in /garrysmod/gamemodes/ that contains the .txt file of the same name.
• From the Workshop: The folder name is usually given in the description of the Workshop item. If you cannot find it there, ask the author of the gamemode.
• From GitHub: The folder name matches the name of the gamemode's .txt file, for example darkrp.txt for darkrp. If the extracted folder has a different name (e.g. DarkRP-master), rename it accordingly, in this case to darkrp.

An overview of some well-known gamemodes:

Gamemode	Folder name	Workshop ID	Matching maps
Sandbox	sandbox	included	gm_…
Trouble in Terrorist Town	terrortown	included	ttt_…
DarkRP	darkrp	248302805	rp_…
Prop Hunt: Enhanced	prop_hunt	1758906555	ph_…
Murder	murder	187073946	md_…, mu_…, murder_…

Important

The folder name, the name of the .txt file and the entry in the Gamemode field have to be identical and written in lowercase – for example darkrp, not DarkRP.

Install a gamemode via the Workshop

The easiest way to install a gamemode is through your server's Workshop collection.

1. Add the gamemode to the collection
   Add the gamemode in the Steam Workshop for Garry's Mod to the collection your server loads. How to create a collection and enter it in the Workshop ID field is explained in Add mods.

2. Find the folder name
   Find out the folder name of the gamemode as described in Find the correct folder name.

3. Enter the gamemode
   Then enter the folder name as described in Set the gamemode in the settings.

Tip

If the gamemode's .txt file contains a Workshop ID – as with DarkRP, Prop Hunt: Enhanced or Murder –, players automatically download the gamemode when they join your server. The same applies to the current map if it is part of your server's collection.

Upload a gamemode via SFTP

You upload gamemodes that do not come from the Workshop (for example from GitHub) yourself.

1. Stop the server
   Stop your server via the dashboard.

2. Connect via SFTP
   Connect to your server via SFTP.

3. Upload the gamemode
   Upload the extracted gamemode folder to the following directory:

   /garrysmod/gamemodes/

4. Check the folder structure
   Directly inside the gamemode folder there has to be a .txt file with the same name as the folder and the subfolder gamemode/. For a gamemode with the folder name examplemode it looks like this:

   /garrysmod/gamemodes/examplemode/examplemode.txt
   /garrysmod/gamemodes/examplemode/gamemode/

   Warning

   Watch out for these common mistakes in particular, otherwise the server cannot find the gamemode:

   • One folder too many: Extracting often creates an extra level, for example /garrysmod/gamemodes/darkrp/darkrp/. In that case move the contents of the inner folder one level up so that darkrp.txt is located directly in /garrysmod/gamemodes/darkrp/.
   • Wrong folder name: A folder downloaded as a ZIP from GitHub is often named <name>-master, for example DarkRP-master. Rename it after the .txt file, in this case to darkrp.
   • Its own gamemodes/ folder: If the download itself contains a gamemodes/ folder, upload only the gamemode folder inside it.

5. Enter the gamemode
   Enter the folder name as described in Set the gamemode in the settings.

Set the gamemode in the settings

1. Open the dashboard
   Open the dashboard of your server.

2. Open the settings
   Navigate to the Settings.

3. Enter the gamemode
   Enter the folder name of the gamemode in the Gamemode field, for example terrortown. The server then starts with the parameter:

   +gamemode terrortown

4. Enter a matching map
   Enter a map that matches the gamemode in the Map field. The default map gm_flatgrass is meant for Sandbox. How to enter a different map is explained in Change map.

5. Restart the server
   Save the setting and restart your server.

Note

You can usually tell which maps match a gamemode by the prefix in the map name, for example ttt_ for TTT, rp_ for DarkRP or ph_ for Prop Hunt. The gamemode will still start on a map that does not match, but such a map lacks things like the spawn and weapon points TTT needs.

Tip

You can also switch the gamemode while the server is running. Enter gamemode terrortown in the console and then load a new map with changelevel ttt_examplemap. The switch only takes effect when the map loads. After a restart your server starts with the gamemode from the Settings again.

Star Wars RP and DarkRP

There is no official "Star Wars RP" gamemode. A Star Wars RP server is a DarkRP server with additional Star Wars content such as jobs, weapons, models and maps. Complete Star Wars RP gamemodes are mostly only available as paid third-party products. So you do not simply switch from sandbox to Star Wars RP – you install DarkRP first.

• How to install DarkRP is explained in Install DarkRP.
• How to turn it into a Star Wars RP server is explained in Set up a Star Wars RP server.

Gamemodes with content from other games

Some gamemodes require content from Counter-Strike: Source, for example Murder. Since the July 2025 update Garry's Mod already includes most of the content from Counter-Strike: Source and Half-Life 2 Episodic. For most gamemodes you therefore do not have to do anything else.

Maps, voice-over and music are excluded. So enter a map that matches your gamemode, for example from the Workshop, as described in Change map. How to mount additional content from other games is explained in Add mods.