How to Add Mods to Your Left 4 Dead 2 Server

Plugins on a Left 4 Dead 2 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 for Left 4 Dead 2 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:

   /left4dead2/
   

   Afterwards the folder /left4dead2/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:

   /left4dead2/
   

   Existing folders are merged, not replaced. Afterwards the folder /left4dead2/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:

   /left4dead2/addons/sourcemod/plugins/
   

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

Folder structure at a glance

/left4dead2/addons/metamod/
/left4dead2/addons/sourcemod/
/left4dead2/addons/sourcemod/plugins/     <- .smx plugin files
/left4dead2/addons/sourcemod/configs/     <- configurations, e.g. admin lists
/left4dead2/cfg/                          <- server.cfg and other configurations

Verify the installation

Enter the following commands in the server console: