How to Add Mods to Your Quake Live Server

In Quake Live, additional content comes exclusively from the Steam Workshop. Custom rule sets are defined on top of that through so-called factories — small JSON files stored on your server.

Note

Your players do not have to install anything by hand. Quake Live downloads custom content automatically as long as it is hosted on the Steam Workshop. The former download functions over HTTP and UDP have been removed — content that is not on the Workshop will never reach your players.

Add Workshop content

1. Find the item ID
   Open the desired item in the Quake Live Steam Workshop in your browser. The item ID is the number at the end of the address:

   https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=123456789

   In this example the item ID is 123456789.

2. Stop the server
   Stop your server via the dashboard.

3. Connect via SFTP
   Connect to your server via SFTP.

4. Open workshop.txt
   Open the following file. If it does not exist yet, create it:

   /baseq3/workshop.txt

5. Enter the item IDs
   Enter exactly one item ID per line:

   123456789
   987654321

6. Start the server
   Save the file and start your server. The server downloads every listed item before it finishes initialising.

Note

You can follow the download progress in the console of your server. If a download fails, that item is skipped and the server starts anyway.

Add custom maps to the map pool

A downloaded map is only played once it is part of the map pool.

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

2. Open mappool.txt
   Open the following file via SFTP:

   /baseq3/mappool.txt

3. Add the map
   Add one map together with its factory per line, separated by a |:

   campgrounds|ffa
   mymap|ca

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

Note

Besides mappool.txt the server ships prepared map pools for individual game modes, for example mappool_ca.txt, mappool_ctf.txt, mappool_duel.txt, mappool_ffa.txt, mappool_race.txt and mappool_tdm.txt. Which file is used is controlled by sv_mapPoolFile in /baseq3/server.cfg.

Create custom game modes (factories)

In Quake Live, gameplay settings do not belong in server.cfg — they get overwritten by the factory of the running game mode. Custom rules are therefore defined as a factory.

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

2. Create the folder
   Create the following folder via SFTP if it does not exist yet:

   /baseq3/scripts/

3. Create the factory file
   Create a file there whose name ends in .factories:

   /baseq3/scripts/mymode.factories

4. Define the factory
   The file is a JSON file and contains either a single object or an array of several factories. This is what the bundled InstaGib FFA factory looks like:

   {
     "id": "iffa",
     "title": "Instagib FFA",
     "author": "id Software",
     "description": "Railgun and Gauntlet only. One shot, one kill.",
     "basegt": "ffa",
     "cvars": {
       "g_dropCmds": "0",
       "g_spawnArmor": "0",
       "dmflags": "28",
       "g_instagib": "1",
       "g_startingWeapons": "65",
       "timelimit": "15",
       "g_allowKill": "0",
       "fraglimit": "50",
       "g_overtime": "0",
       "g_loadout": "0"
     }
   }

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

Fields of a factory

Field	Meaning
id	Short name used to reference the factory in the map pool or via callvote
title	Display name in the "Start Match" menu
author	Creator of the factory
description	Short description shown in the menu
basegt	Base game type the settings are applied to
cvars	Object containing the server variables and their values

Valid values for basegt:

Value	Game mode
ffa	Free For All
duel	Duel
race	Race
tdm	Team Deathmatch
ca	Clan Arena
ctf	Capture the Flag
oneflag	One Flag CTF
har	Harvester
ft	Freeze Tag
dom	Domination
ad	Attack & Defend
rr	Red Rover

Warning

All fields have to be present and of the correct type. If a factory is invalid, the server prints the reason to the console during startup and the factory is not available for play.

Tip

Add your own factory together with the matching maps to mappool.txt. Only then does it show up in the map vote at the end of a round.

Folder structure at a glance

/baseq3/server.cfg                <- server configuration
/baseq3/workshop.txt              <- item IDs from the Steam Workshop
/baseq3/mappool.txt               <- maps and factories of the map pool
/baseq3/access.txt                <- admins, moderators and bans
/baseq3/scripts/                  <- custom factories (.factories)

Note

The baseq3 directory sits in the main directory of your server, so the full path is /home/container/baseq3/.

Warning

Always stop your server before editing or uploading files. workshop.txt is only evaluated when the server starts.

Plugins with minqlx

There is a Python-based plugin framework for Quake Live called minqlx. It requires a purpose-built server environment including a Redis database and therefore does not run on a standard Quake Live server. You do not need it for maps, models or custom game modes — the Steam Workshop and factories cover those.