Left 4 Dead 2 dedicated server - campaigns, modes, lobby and addons

Your own Left 4 Dead 2 server means no more lag on Valve servers and full control over the game mode, difficulty, community maps and mods. Here is the setup from scratch.

server.cfg

In the Files tab open left4dead2/cfg/server.cfg (create it if it does not exist):

hostname "[EU] L4D2 Crew"
sv_gametypes "coop,versus,survival,realism"
mp_gamemode coop
z_difficulty Normal
sv_allow_lobby_connect_only 0
sv_region 3
rcon_password "strong-password"
sv_steamgroup ""
sv_steamgroup_exclusive 0

• mp_gamemode - the mode: coop (campaign), versus, survival, realism, scavenge.
• z_difficulty - Easy, Normal, Hard, Impossible (Expert).
• sv_allow_lobby_connect_only 0 - allows connecting directly by address, not only from the game lobby.
• sv_region 3 - the Europe region.

Set the starting map in the Startup tab in the Default Map field (for example c1m1_hotel, the first map of the Dead Center campaign).

How to connect

• Directly: enable the console in the game (Options → Keyboard → Advanced → Enable Developer Console), press ~ and type connect address:port (the address is in the Network tab).
• From a friends lobby: set your Steam group in server.cfg (sv_steamgroup with the group ID) and group members will see the server in the lobby. With sv_steamgroup_exclusive 1 only group members can join.

Changing the campaign

In the server console:

changelevel c2m1_highway

The official campaigns are c1 (Dead Center) to c14 - the first map of a campaign always ends with m1.

Addons and community maps

Upload .vpk addons (maps, models, sounds) to left4dead2/addons. Players need the same addons - the easiest way is a Steam Workshop subscription. The server does not send addons to players by itself.

Note: addons that change gameplay can block players who do not have them. Public servers usually stick to community maps and server-side plugins.

SourceMod

An admin menu, votes, more than 4 players per team ("multislots" plugins) and stats are all SourceMod plugins. The installation is the same as in CS:S, only in the left4dead2 folder - see SourceMod on a CS: Source server.

How many players?

Campaign and realism are made for 4 players, versus for 8 (4 survivors and 4 infected). More players require plugins. An L4D2 server is light - 2 GB of RAM is enough for typical play.

Updated: 2026-09-28