Windows & Linux Server Guide

[Phaedrus]

5.0 Troubleshooting

5.1 Server crash on map change

Windows servers can not currently run hdn_origin, hdn_decay or any other map that is compiled with HDR. Remove these maps from the maplist.txt and mapcycle.txt files in the /hidden folder.

5.2 Client disconnect on spawn

If your server disconnects clients during spawn with the error: "material mismatch, we reckon you're cheating!", it means that the the /hidden/materials folder on the server does not match with the clients. This usually happens when you forget to install the server fix last during the installation process, but can also indicate that the files are corrupted or missing, which may happen during a transfer. First try installing the B4b server fix (5 MB). If this does not work, reinstall the materials folder from the Beta 4b Dedicated Server package (220 MB).

5.3 Bans reset on server start up

The commands writeid and writeip store bans to the banned_user.cfg and banned_ip.cfg files respectively. These commands must be executed after issuing a banid or banip command for the ban to be saved. Furthermore, the ban lists are not automatically loaded when the server starts. You must tell the server to load these in your server.cfg or autoexec.cfg as follows.

Example server.cfg settings:

// Ban settings
exec banned_user.cfg // Load banned STEAMs
exec banned_ip.cfg // Load banned IPs

Another common mistake people make is including a writeid and/or writeip command in their server.cfg or autoexec.cfg. If this is done before the files are loaded, the file will be overwritten with nothing. There is no reason to have either of these commands in your configurations, as they only need to be executed after a new ban is added. Either remove them or make sure the lists are loaded first.

5.4 Maps repeating

Sometimes a server will get stuck playing the same map over and over. This is usually the result of a missing or misspelled map in your mapcycle.txt file. Also, linux servers are case sensitive, so make sure you check that since some custom maps have capitals (Hdn_Ravenholm, hdn_SeaMadness, Hdn_storage).

5.5 Headless players

Hidden is designed for 9 players but the server supports 10 slots so servers can keep an open reserve slot. If you run your server with 10 slots, make sure you have at least 1 slot reserved to prevent the head bug or use my headbug script to fix this.


5.6 Sonic alarms don't work & round restart exploit

Your server needs to be patched. Install the B4b server fix (5 MB).

[Phaedrus]

6.0 Administration

6.1 RCON

RCON gives you remote control of your server in-game or with a third party program like HLSW. To enable RCON, add the following line to your server.cfg:

rcon_password "adminpass" // RCON (remote control) password

For in-game control, you must first enter the password in console with the same command (rcon_password). Once this is done, you can send console commands with the RCON command (ie. rcon changelevel hdn_docks).

6.2 RCON Commands

Here is a list of useful commands that can be sent through RCON:

_restart // Restart the server
banid < minutes > < userid | uniqueid > { kick } // Ban user by id .Use 0 minutes for permanent
banip < minutes > < ipaddress > // Ban user by IP address. Use 0 minutes for permanent
bot_add // Adds a bot (requires sv_cheats 0)
changelevel < map > // Change server to the specified map
exec < file > // Execute a script (ie. server.cfg or autoexec.cfg)
kick < name | userid | uniqueid > // Kick a user from the server
kill < name | userid | uniqueid > // Kill user
listid // List banned users
listip // List banned IP addresses
maps < substring > // List maps
removeid < uniqueid > // Remove user from ban list
removeip < ipaddress > // Remove IP adress from ban list
restart // Restart the game on the same level
say < message > // Send console message
stats // Prints server performance variables
status // Display map and connection status
sv_cheats < 0 | 1 > // Allow cheats on server
sv_gravity < number > // World gravity
users // Show user info for users on server
writeid // Writes a list of permanently-banned user IDs to banned_user.cfg
writeip // Save the ban list to banned_ip.cfg

6.3 Ban Lists

Old Timers - The Old Timers servers had excellent ban management when they were around. Their ban system can still be found here.
Hidden-Stats - The new hidden stats system can generate a ban list of stat-proven team killers.

6.4 External Programs

HLSW is a standalone program for remote server control. It provides RCON access, logging, and more.
XQF is another server control program like HLSW, but for Linux.
ServerChecker is a server control program. It launches your servers and restarts them automatically when they crash.
ServerDoc is another server control program which also features website server administration.

6.4 Mani Admin Plugin

Mani Admin Plugin is a powerful plugin with many useful features for Hidden:Source. You can find a complete list of commands here. To set up admins, you need to create a clients.txt file in the \hidden\cfg\mani_admin_plugin folder. You can find documentation on this file here or use this tool to create one for you.

Example clients.txt:

"clients.txt"
{
    "version"    "1"

    // This key group lists all your client players
    "players"
    {
        // This must be a unique client name
        "Phaedrus"
        {
            // Client real name
            "name"    "Phaedrus"
            // Steam ID for client
            "steam"    "STEAM_0:1:5194101"
            "groups"
            {
                "Admin"    "Server Admin"
                "Immunity"    " Server Admin"
            }
        }
    }

    // These are global groups of flags that can be assigned to clients
    "groups"
    {
        "Immunity"
        {
            "Server Admin"    "a b c d e f g h i k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y afk autojoin"
            "Server Admin"    "grav ping"
        }
        "Admin"
        {
            "Server Admin"    "A C F I Q V a b c e i k l m o s t v admin"
        }
    }
}

Mani Admin Flags:

A // Accept Vote
B // Menu RCon Vote
C // Cancel Vote
D // Menu Question Vote
E // Ma Rates
F // Burn
G // No Clip Mode
H // War
I // Mute
J // Reset All Ranks
K // Cash
L // RCON Say
M // Admin Skins
N // Set Skins
O // Drop C4
P // Set Client Flags
Q // Console Question Vote
R // RCon Vote
S // Set Skin Colour
T // Time Bomb
U // Fire Bomb
V // Map Vote
W // Freeze Bomb
X // Health
Y // Beacon
Z // Give Item
a // Private Say
admin // Basic Admin
b // Non permanent Ban
c // Map Change
client // Create Clients and Accesses
d // Drug
e // Explode
f // Freeze
g // Swap Player
grav // Per Player Gravity
i // Blind
j // Gimp
k // Kick
l // Slap
m // Slay
o // Admin Chat
p // Sound
pban // Permanent Ban
q // RCon Menu Level 1
q2 // RCon Menu Level 2
q3 // RCon Menu Level 3
r // RCon
s // Admin Say
spray // Spray Tag Tracking
t // Teleport
v // Random Map Vote
w // Restrict Weapons
x // CExec
y // CExec Menu
z // Config

[Phaedrus]

From Gentoo Linux Wiki:

Scrolling back in Screen

To enter the scrollback mode press C-a <Esc>. When you do this, a notice briefly appears in the terminal's status-bar, which says "Copy mode...". Now, you can scroll up and down in the current terminal using the <PageUp>/<PageDown> keys or the C-u and C-d commands.

The capital C is for CTRL. Hit ESC or CTRL-c to exit when finished.

[Paegus]

When i checked 27015
it said:
I could not see your service on 89.1.57.118 on port (27015)
Reason: Connection timed out

I dont know why! I DID open the ports!

if you did open the port then there are 4 possible issues still facing you... in order of most to least likely...

1) DHCP. i've mentioned this before. you should set the server computer's IP MANUALLY to something outside the router's DHCP range. Some routers are nice and don't mind. My router is super cool and let me assign ports by MAC address. but yours is likely a smoking pile of poo that thinks "why am i assigning a port to an address that can change at any moment?"

2) your computer's firewall is not allowing communications on that port.

3) dual-routers. also mentioned i'm sure. If you have a Cable/DSL modem and a separate purely ethernet based router then there's a good chance that your modem is in fact also a router and you'll need to configure that as well. Probably easiest to put the internal router's IP in the Cable/DSL Modem/Router's DMZ though you can just as easily just forward the port accordingly. and again, DHCP rules above apply. Manually assign the dedicated router's modem-side IP to something appropriate though not the same as the LAN-side range. If you LAN network is 10.0.0.X then set the router<->modem's address to 192.168.0.X or something that fits the Modem's setup.

4) as phaed mentioned, your ISP is blocking those ports. you should be able to check the website's support section so see a list. or you can contact them directly and ask.

there is no such thing as "some kind of error". they are always details or screenshots etc...

[Paegus]

Updated the server update command lines to reflect the new Source engines. As of Beta 4 you need to use the Episode1 engine as using the OrangeBox engine will cause the server to crash.

the command lines should be for Linux:

$ /path/to/steam -command update -game episode1 -dir /path/to/server

and for Windows:

...\path\to\hldsupdate.exe -command update -game episode1 -dir ...\path\to\server

[Paegus]

7.0 Server Security

7.1 Pure Servers:

Pure Server: The source multiplayer engine comes with a built in method for enforcing file consistency. This will automatically kick any players whose files do not match those on the server.

It does need to be used with some care though as sometimes players do modify perfectly acceptable files like weapon sounds etc.

Also, by default it does not ban players for violating files consistency, it just kicks them. I've made a SourceMod plugin to enable server-side logging of failed consistency checks which you can download from here

There is a basic version of the .../hidden/pure_server_whitelist.txt file that will enforce a reasonable level of consistency on all hidden source servers. I'll update it as and when I can to maximise cover while minimizing overhead.

I recommend using the following setting for the server:
autoexec.cfg:

sv_pure 1
sv_pure_kick_clients 1
sv_pure_trace 1

7.2 SourceMod Anti-Cheat:

The direct successor to Kigen's Anti-Cheat Module is the SourceMod Anti-Cheat system. It is module based and can interact directly with things like SourceBans.

I recommend using the 'required' and 'recommended' plugins only as the others don't work or aren't applicable.

Installation is simple enough if you have a working install of Metamod:Source and SourceMod:

• Place the various .smx files in the .../hidden/addons/sourcemod/plugins folder.
• Add...
  

  smac_addcvar mat_fullbright equal ban 0    // Add monitoring of fullbright as that reveals the hidden
  smac_removecvar cl_particles_show_bbox   // Remove this as it doesn't exist in SDK 2006

  ...to your server.cfg
• Change map or restart whole server.