How to Configure Your Garry's Mod Server

You set the most important settings of your server in the server.cfg file. There you decide, for example, how many props a player may spawn, whether noclip is allowed or whether players can damage each other.

When the server.cfg is executed

The server executes the server.cfg on startup and again on every map change. All values from the file are set again each time.

Warning

If you only change a value via the console in the dashboard and the same value is in the server.cfg, your change is overwritten at the next map change or restart. Always put settings that should apply permanently into the server.cfg.

Structure of the server.cfg

Your server comes with a prepared server.cfg. It is divided into the following sections:

Section	Content
Header	Basic settings, including sv_loadingurl for the loading screen and sv_downloadurl for FastDL
// Steam Server List Settings	Settings for the server list, including sv_region "255" and the commented-out line // sv_location "eu". Leave sv_region unchanged.
// Server Limits	Sandbox limits such as sbox_maxprops, plus sbox_godmode and sbox_noclip
// Network Settings	Network settings such as sv_minrate and sv_maxrate
// Execute Ban Files	Loads the ban lists banned_ip.cfg and banned_user.cfg
// Add custom lines under here	Space for your own settings

Important

Leave the // Network Settings and // Execute Ban Files sections unchanged. Without the exec lines, your server's ban lists are no longer loaded.

Edit the server.cfg

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

2. Connect via SFTP
   Connect to your server via SFTP or use the file browser in the dashboard.

3. Open server.cfg
   Open the file server.cfg at:

   /garrysmod/cfg/server.cfg

4. Adjust existing values
   If a setting is already in the file, e.g. sbox_maxprops, change the value directly in that line. This way each setting appears only once in the file.

5. Add new settings
   Add settings that are not yet in the file below the line // Add custom lines under here – one setting per line.

   Example

   // Add custom lines under here
   sbox_playershurtplayers 0
   physgun_limited 1
   sv_allowcslua 0

   Do not add the country flag here as a new line. You can find out how to set it in the "Set the country flag" section below.

6. Start the server
   Save the file and start your server.

Sandbox settings

The following settings come from the Sandbox gamemode. They only take effect in Sandbox and in gamemodes based on Sandbox. You choose which gamemode your server uses in the Gamemode field – see Change Gamemode.

Setting	Description	Our server.cfg	Gamemode default
sbox_noclip	Players may use noclip (0 = off, 1 = on)	0	1
sbox_godmode	All players are invincible (0 = off, 1 = on)	0	0
sbox_playershurtplayers	Players can damage each other, i.e. PvP (0 = off, 1 = on)	–	1
physgun_limited	The physgun can no longer pick up certain map entities, e.g. doors, fixed map props and other map entities (0 = off, 1 = on)	–	0

Note

Our server.cfg sets sbox_noclip to 0, although the Sandbox gamemode allows noclip by default. Noclip is therefore disabled on your server at first. To allow noclip, change the line to sbox_noclip 1.

Sandbox limits

The sbox_max* settings define how many objects of one type a single player may have at the same time. Our server.cfg sets some values that differ from the gamemode:

Setting	Limits	Our server.cfg	Gamemode default
sbox_maxprops	Props	100	200
sbox_maxragdolls	Ragdolls	5	10
sbox_maxnpcs	NPCs	10	10
sbox_maxballoons	Balloons	10	100
sbox_maxeffects	Effects	10	200
sbox_maxdynamite	Dynamite	10	10
sbox_maxlamps	Lamps	10	3
sbox_maxthrusters	Thrusters	10	50
sbox_maxwheels	Wheels	10	50
sbox_maxhoverballs	Hoverballs	10	50
sbox_maxvehicles	Vehicles	20	4
sbox_maxbuttons	Buttons	10	50
sbox_maxsents	Scripted entities	20	100
sbox_maxemitters	Emitters	5	20
sbox_maxcameras	Cameras	–	10
sbox_maxlights	Lights	–	5
sbox_maxconstraints	Constraints	–	2000
sbox_maxropeconstraints	Rope constraints	–	1000

Settings marked "–" are not in our server.cfg. The gamemode default applies to them until you add them below // Add custom lines under here.

Note

You can also change the Sandbox settings and Sandbox limits directly in-game via Q menu > Utilities > Admin. If the values are in your server.cfg, they are overwritten again at the next map change. Make permanent changes in the server.cfg.

Other server settings

Setting	Description	Example
sv_alltalk	Voice chat: with 0 only players on the same team hear each other, with 1 everyone hears everyone, with 2 everyone hears everyone depending on distance	1
sv_allowcslua	Allows players to run their own client-side Lua code (0 = off, 1 = on)	0
sv_kickerrornum	Disconnects players who exceed this number of client-side Lua errors. 0 disables the feature	0
sv_location	Country flag of your server in the server browser	"de"

Important

Keep sv_allowcslua at 0. With 1, players can run their own Lua code on their computer, which makes cheating much easier. It is best to add sv_allowcslua 0 to your server.cfg explicitly.

Note

The sv_alltalk behavior comes from the base gamemode. Gamemodes can handle voice chat themselves, so sv_alltalk may work differently or not at all there.

Set the country flag

With sv_location, the server browser shows a country flag next to your server.

1. Open server.cfg
   Open the file /garrysmod/cfg/server.cfg via SFTP or the file browser in the dashboard.

2. Enable the line
   In the // Steam Server List Settings section, find the line // sv_location "eu". Remove the two slashes at the beginning and replace eu with the country code of your choice:

   sv_location "de"

   Use the two-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code in lowercase, e.g. de for Germany, at for Austria or ch for Switzerland. For the flag of the European Union, use eu.

3. Restart the server
   Save the file and restart your server.