How to Add Mods to Your Counter-Strike Source Server

Plugins on a Counter-Strike Source server run through Metamod:Source and SourceMod. You need both: Metamod:Source hooks into the Source Engine, and SourceMod builds on top of it to provide the plugin environment and the admin features.

Install Metamod:Source

1. Download Metamod:Source
   Download the current stable version of Metamod:Source (currently the 1.12 branch) as a Linux package (.tar.gz).

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

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

4. Upload the files
   Extract the archive and upload the addons folder it contains to the following directory:

   /cstrike/
   

   Afterwards the folder /cstrike/addons/metamod/ exists.

5. Start the server
   Start your server and check in the server console with meta version whether Metamod:Source was loaded.

Install SourceMod

1. Download SourceMod
   Download the current stable version of SourceMod (currently the 1.12 branch) as a Linux package (.tar.gz).

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

3. Upload the files
   Extract the archive and upload the addons and cfg folders it contains via SFTP to the following directory:

   /cstrike/
   

   Existing folders are merged, not replaced. Afterwards the folder /cstrike/addons/sourcemod/ exists.

4. Start the server
   Start your server and check in the server console with sm version whether SourceMod was loaded.

Install plugins

1. Download the plugin
   Download the plugin you want. Ready-to-use plugins come as a .smx file.

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

3. Upload the plugin
   Upload the .smx file via SFTP to the following directory:

   /cstrike/addons/sourcemod/plugins/
   

4. Start the server
   Start your server and check with sm plugins list whether the plugin was loaded.

Add custom maps

1. Download the map
   Download the map you want. Maps come as a .bsp file, sometimes together with additional files such as sounds or models.

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

3. Upload the map
   Upload the .bsp file via SFTP to the following directory:

   /cstrike/maps/
   

4. Start the server
   Start your server. Use changelevel <map name> in the server console to switch to the new map.

Set up FastDL

With FastDL your players automatically download custom maps and additional files from a web space when connecting, instead of having to install them manually.

1. Put the files on your web space
   Create a folder on your web space and mirror the folder structure of the server inside it, for example maps/, sound/ and models/. Copy the required files into the matching folders.

2. Compress the files
   Compress the files on the web space in the .bz2 format. de_example.bsp becomes de_example.bsp.bz2.

3. Add the download address
   Open the following file via SFTP and add the address of your FastDL folder:

   /cstrike/cfg/server.cfg
   

   sv_downloadurl "https://your-domain.com/fastdl/"
   

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

Folder structure at a glance

/cstrike/addons/metamod/
/cstrike/addons/sourcemod/
/cstrike/addons/sourcemod/plugins/     <- .smx plugin files
/cstrike/addons/sourcemod/configs/     <- configurations, e.g. admin lists
/cstrike/maps/                         <- maps
/cstrike/cfg/                          <- server.cfg and other configurations

Verify the installation

Enter the following commands in the server console: