< 0 > | The Server4Dead Project

<== IMPORTANT NOTICE DON'T IGNORE THIS OKAY?! ===>
<------------------ LINUX SUPPORT ONLY ------------------>
< This means Windows is not Supported, so don't ask~ 😄 >

Project's Purpose:

This Project's purpose is to make it very easy to get Optimized Servers ready for people interested in hosting their own servers for L4D2.
Feel free to contact me on Steam regarding the project.
Also, definitely take a look at Issues to see what's being worked on and or discussed, or to simply request for something to be added to the Project.

Recommended Server Specifications:

• OS: Ubuntu 64Bit.
• A Dedicated Server Space, do not use shared resources. (A proper VDS will work just fine)
  • Gameservers are usually hosted in a Shared Environment, thus not recommended.
• A modern CPU, if you're planning on increasing the tickrate I would aim for a solid 3GHz CPU at minimum.
• DDoS Protection to absorb volume attacks and to filter out malicious traffic.

Solid Server Hosts (In My Experience):

• NFOServers (for US, mostly)

  • High Quality VDS and Dedicated Machines.
  • Solid DDoS Protection.
    • Comes for free, included in the price for VDS/Dedicated Server.
  • Very knowledgeable and Quick Support, they know what they're talking about.

• OVH (for EU, mostly)

  • High Quality Dedicated Machines for Dirt Cheap.
  • One of the best DDoS Protection services (if not the best) you can get.
    • Comes for free, included in the price for Dedicated Servers.
  • Solid Network, low latency.

• Amazon (Worldwide)

  • Solid performance (When you have CPU Credits available)
  • Quality DDoS Protection.
  • Allowed to setup additional Firewall rules on the go.
  • Downside is the hidden costs, the price you see when aquiring a server will be far lower then what you end up paying.
    • Bandwidth Costs.
    • CPU Credit Costs (depending on if you buy unlimited burst, if you do not, then your Server will be unplayable on and you can forget "quality performance")

Do not rent from these Hosts (Tested):

• Vilayer (Worldwide)

  • Your server takes forever to setup, if they even plan to do so at all.
  • Support tickets requesting refunds are closed rather fast, you need to use external measures such as Paypal disputes to actually get your money back.
  • 3.5/10 rating on Trustpilot.

• PhotonVPS (US, SA, Asia, Africa)

  • Tech Support is unable to add simple firewall ACL rules that should filter out small DoS attacks that somehow slip past their promised DDoS Protection.

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< 1 > | Project Current Status

Completed:

• Instructions for setting up your Dedicated Server from Scratch.
• Instructions for easy Server starting, rebooting and stopping.
• Tickrate Enabler, along with Instructions.
• Sourcemod, Metamod, Stripper:Source Package.
• Extensions, Gamedata, Competitive Preperation Package.
• Sourcemod Anti-Cheat Pre-configured Package.
• Optimized Server.cfg:
  • Perfect for both "Vanilla" and Competitive Servers.
  • Easy to understand, as everything is explained within the Server.cfg.
  • Easy to modify to work with 30, 60, 100, 128 or any other Tickrate.
  • Addons are disabled by default (registered Casters can use addons) - Check the Server.cfg for details.
• Competitive Configs:
  • ZoneMod 1.9.3 (1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4)
  • Apex 1.1.2 (4v4)
    • Includes Apex Hunters (1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4)

Coming up / In Progress:

• Additional Competitive Configs.
• Instructions for protecting your Server from small DoS attacks that slip past DDoS filtering.
  • Low Priority: as these are filtered by any decent Host that cares about Game Server hosting.

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< 2 > | F.A.Q.

I'd like to make a suggestion for the Project!

Something isn't working and the F.A.Q. doesn't provide answers either!

Both of these can be requested/reported in Github's issue tracker for this Project.
You can do this here.

I've installed the Tickrate Enabler and set my tickrate to 128 or higher, but on the net_graph the bottom value will still be 100!

This is because it's a hardcoded limit in the client, but don't worry, it's only a visual thing.
The two middle values on net_graph show you what you're actually getting from the Server.

I've installed the Tickrate Enabler, but one or both the middle values aren't reaching the Tickrate set.

First, make sure that you've properly adjusted your rates in the server.cfg as well.
If everything is set correctly check if the "sv" (check the net_graph) isn't struggling to stay above the Tickrate's value, as this will decrease the amount of updates clients are getting from the Server.
Regarding updaterate, this will only be a client problem if the client has a laggy connection to the Server and is dropping packets.

The amount of commands a client can send to the Server is limited to the client framerate.
If you're only getting 60fps, you'll never have an actual cmdrate of above 60.