Servers

Book a server

Every scrim needs someone to host it. Booking a server is free and takes a minute, and knowing how to set it up properly makes you the most useful person on your team.

Book a free server

You don't need to rent or run your own server - three community services lend out competitive-ready ones for free:

serveme.tf Book on the website. One site per region: serveme.tf (Europe), na.serveme.tf, au.serveme.tf and sea.serveme.tf.TF2-QuickServer Book from Discord with its bot - it starts a fresh server in the region you pick, in a minute or two.Matcha Bookables matcha.tf's bookable servers for Asia-Pacific, booked through its Discord.

They all hand you the same things: a connect string for players, a SourceTV address for spectators and an RCON password for you, so everything below works whichever you use. As an example, booking on serveme.tf:

1Sign in with Steam and start a new reservation.
2Choose when it starts and ends, and a server close to both teams (the list shows your ping).
3Set a password for players, an RCON password for yourself, and the first map.
4Choose the server config and item whitelist for your league and format - the server then loads them for you.
5Save, and copy the connect string it gives you.

Need more time?

Free bookings have a time limit. On serveme, type !extend in the game chat to add more - and book ahead on busy scrim nights, when free servers run out.

Connect and SourceTV

A connect string is a console command that joins the server and enters its password in one go. Everyone pastes it into their console:

connect 192.0.2.10:27015; password scrim123

The port can be left out when it's 27015, the default.
SourceTV lets people watch without joining a team - casters, coaches, the rest of your roster. It normally runs on the game port plus 5 (27015 -> 27020), and serveme's default SourceTV password is tv.
Send the other team both the player connect and the SourceTV one.

RCON basics

RCON (remote console) lets you run commands on the server from your own console. Enter the RCON password once, then put rcon in front of any server command:

rcon_password yourrconpassword
rcon changelevel cp_process_f12
rcon exec etf2l_6v6_5cp

On serveme servers you can also type commands in chat as !rcon command.
Wrap any argument that contains spaces in quotes.
rcon_address host:port lets you control a server you aren't connected to.
rcon status lists everyone on the server with their user ids and SteamIDs.

League configs

A config is a file of settings - time limit, win limit, respawn times, the whitelist - that makes the server play by a league's rules. Load the one for your league, format and game mode with exec. Picking it when you book on serveme does this for you.

Re-load after every map change

Changing map reloads the server's own settings, which can undo yours. Exec the config again after every changelevel - teams have lost officials over this.

etf2l_6v6_5cp

6v6 5CP (Process, Gullywash, Sunshine...)

etf2l_6v6_koth

6v6 King of the Hill (Product, Bagel...)

etf2l_9v9_stopwatch

Highlander Payload and Attack/Defend

etf2l_9v9_koth

Highlander King of the Hill

etf2l_9v9_5cp

Highlander 5CP

etf2l_golden_cap

A 5CP golden cap

etf2l_ultiduo / etf2l_bball

Ultiduo and BBall

Config	For
`etf2l_6v6_5cp`	6v6 5CP (Process, Gullywash, Sunshine...)
`etf2l_6v6_koth`	6v6 King of the Hill (Product, Bagel...)
`etf2l_9v9_stopwatch`	Highlander Payload and Attack/Defend
`etf2l_9v9_koth`	Highlander King of the Hill
`etf2l_9v9_5cp`	Highlander 5CP
`etf2l_golden_cap`	A 5CP golden cap
`etf2l_ultiduo / etf2l_bball`	Ultiduo and BBall

Item whitelists

Each league bans a handful of weapons and cosmetics. The ban list is called a whitelist, and the server enforces it so banned items simply can't be equipped. Choosing your league's whitelist when you book on serveme is enough. To see what's banned, or to build a custom list for a cup, use whitelist.tf.

Commands you'll use

Put rcon in front of each of these (or !rcon in chat on serveme).

changelevel cp_process_f12

Changes the map (then exec your config again).

exec <config>

Loads a config file.

mp_tournament_restart

Restarts the match and the ready-up.

mp_timelimit 30

Sets the map's time limit in minutes (0 = none).

mp_winlimit 5

Sets how many rounds win the map (0 = none).

sv_password <password>

Changes the join password.

status

Lists the players on the server.

kickid <userid>

Kicks a player, using the id from status.

tv_delaymapchange_protect 0

Lets you change map straight away instead of waiting for SourceTV's delay.

Command	What it does
`changelevel cp_process_f12`	Changes the map (then exec your config again).
`exec <config>`	Loads a config file.
`mp_tournament_restart`	Restarts the match and the ready-up.
`mp_timelimit 30`	Sets the map's time limit in minutes (0 = none).
`mp_winlimit 5`	Sets how many rounds win the map (0 = none).
`sv_password <password>`	Changes the join password.
`status`	Lists the players on the server.
`kickid <userid>`	Kicks a player, using the id from status.
`tv_delaymapchange_protect 0`	Lets you change map straight away instead of waiting for SourceTV's delay.

After the game

These servers upload every map's stats to logs.tf automatically - on serveme, type !logs in chat to see them in game.
The server's STV demo appears on demos.tf, and serveme's reservation page also has the logs and demos as downloads.
Official matches show up on TF2 Esports with their logs, demos and per-player stats.