GMod Dedicated Server Commands

Running a Garry’s Mod dedicated server without knowing the right console commands is like flying blind. Whether you manage a DarkRP server, a Trouble in Terrorist Town server, or any other custom game mode, understanding how server commands work is essential for stability, performance, and player control. The right command can change your map, manage players, adjust network settings, or fix connection issues in seconds.

Need a server to put these commands to use? Physgun’s Garry’s Mod server hosting gives you a live console, startup parameters panel, and full file access so you can configure everything exactly how you want.

This guide covers the most important GMod dedicated server commands every server admin should know, organized by category for easy reference.

How to Access the Server Console

Before using any commands, you need access to the server console. How you access it depends on your hosting setup:

• Physgun Gamepanel: Navigate to your server in the Physgun Gamepanel and click the Console tab to open the live server console.
• Self-hosted or VPS: Connect directly via the terminal where srcds_run is running, or use RCON if the server is remote.
• In-game (as admin): Open the developer console with the tilde key (~) and prefix commands with rcon if connecting remotely.

Server Management Commands

These commands control the core behavior of your GMod server, including the server name, map, player slots, and gameplay settings.

hostname "Your Server Name"
Sets the name displayed in the GMod server browser. Players see this when browsing multiplayer servers, so make it descriptive of your game mode or community.

changelevel <mapname>
Changes the currently running map without restarting the server process. Useful for map rotations or reloading a broken map. Replace <mapname> with the map filename minus the .bsp extension (e.g. changelevel gm_construct).

sv_maxplayers <number>
Sets the maximum number of players allowed on the server at once. Lowering this helps maintain performance on heavily modded servers.

sv_lan <0|1>
Controls whether the server is public or LAN-only. Set to 0 to allow internet players to join, or 1 to restrict to local network connections only.

sv_cheats <0|1>
Enables (1) or disables (0) cheat commands on the server. Keep this set to 0 on live multiplayer servers — it is primarily used for map testing and debugging.

map <mapname>
Changes the map and fully reloads the server. Unlike changelevel, this performs a full level restart. Use this when you need a clean state, not just a map switch.

Player Management Commands

These commands let you monitor and moderate players connected to your Garry’s Mod server.

status
Lists all connected players with their SteamID, connection time, ping, and IP address. Run this first before kicking or banning to find the correct player ID.

kick <name|userid>
Removes a player from the server immediately. Use the player’s name or their user ID from status. Useful for handling rule breakers or players causing instability.

banid <minutes> <steamid> kick
Bans a player by their SteamID. Set minutes to 0 for a permanent ban. Always include the kick argument to remove them from the server immediately alongside the ban.

removeid <steamid>
Removes a SteamID from the ban list. Use this to unban a player who was banned by mistake.

sv_kickerrornum <0|1>
Controls whether players are automatically kicked when they encounter certain Lua errors. Useful for keeping your server stable during addon development.

sv_friendlyfire <0|1>
Enables or disables friendly fire between players. Some game modes like TTT require this to be on, while others like DarkRP typically disable it to prevent griefing.

Networking and Connection Commands

These commands manage how players connect to your GMod dedicated server and control server visibility and access.

sv_password "yourpassword"
Adds a password players must enter to join the server. Set it to an empty string (sv_password "") to remove the password and make the server public again.

port <number>
Defines which network port the server listens on. The default for Garry’s Mod servers is 27015. Change this when running multiple server instances on the same machine.

sv_timeout <seconds>
How long the server waits before disconnecting a player who has stopped responding. Increasing this slightly can reduce accidental disconnects during lag spikes, but setting it too high will keep ghost connections open.

sv_region <number>
Sets the geographic region for your server in the browser list. Common values: 0 = US East, 1 = US West, 2 = South America, 3 = Europe, 4 = Asia, 5 = Australia, 255 = World.

Performance and Stability Commands

These commands help you tune server performance, especially on heavily modded servers or large communities.

sv_minrate <value>
Sets the minimum allowed network rate for connecting players. Prevents very slow clients from degrading the experience for everyone else. A value of 5000 is a reasonable baseline.

sv_maxrate <value>
Sets the maximum network rate for player connections. Higher values allow faster downloads of server content but use more bandwidth. 30000 is a common default for most servers.

sv_allowupload <0|1>
Controls whether players can upload custom files (such as sprays) to the server. Disable this on public servers to reduce bandwidth usage and potential abuse.

sv_allowdownload <0|1>
Controls whether players can download content from the server directly. Keep this enabled (1) so players automatically receive required maps, models, and textures when joining.

sv_downloadurl "https://your-fastdl-url"
Points players to a FastDL server for downloading content. Using a dedicated web server for downloads is much faster than serving files through the game server itself and reduces load significantly.

fps_max <value>
Caps the server’s tick rate processing speed. Setting this to 0 removes the cap, but a reasonable value like 66 or 128 helps prevent CPU spikes on busy servers.

Workshop and Content Commands

host_workshop_collection <collection_id>
Loads a Steam Workshop collection at server startup. Players who join will be prompted to subscribe to the collection. Replace <collection_id> with the numeric ID from the Workshop collection URL.

sv_workshop_allow_other_items <0|1>
Controls whether players can use Workshop addons not in your collection. Set to 0 to enforce a curated addon list only.

Quick Reference Table

Tips for Using Server Commands

• Always run status before kicking or banning to confirm the correct player’s SteamID.
• Commands entered in the console take effect immediately — there is no confirmation prompt.
• Startup commands (like +map or +maxplayers) are set in your server launch arguments, not the live console.
• On Physgun-hosted servers, most of these settings can also be configured through the Server Options panel without needing to type commands manually.

If you need help configuring your GMod server or run into issues, open a support ticket and our team will assist you.