How to Install SourceMod Plugins and Custom Maps on Your Team Fortress 2 Server

TF2 server modding is two separate things. SourceMod adds server side plugins for admin tools and gameplay changes. Custom maps are files your players download when they join.

Part 1: install MetaMod and SourceMod

SourceMod runs on top of MetaMod, so both are needed and MetaMod goes first.

1. Stop the server.
2. Download the Linux builds of MetaMod: Source and SourceMod for Team Fortress 2.
3. In the panel open Files and go to the tf folder.
4. Upload and extract both archives there, so you end up with:

   tf/addons/metamod/
   tf/addons/sourcemod/
   tf/cfg/sourcemod/

5. Start the server and check the panel console. Run:

   meta version
   sm version

   Both should report a version number.

If meta version reports nothing, MetaMod is not loading. Confirm that tf/addons/metamod.vdf exists, which is what tells the engine to load it.

Part 2: add a plugin

1. Download the plugin's compiled .smx file.
2. Upload it into:

   tf/addons/sourcemod/plugins/

3. From the panel console:

   sm plugins refresh

   or restart the server.
4. Check it loaded:

   sm plugins list

Most plugins write a config into tf/cfg/sourcemod/ on first run. Start the server once, then edit the file that appeared.

To disable a plugin without deleting it, move the .smx into plugins/disabled/.

Part 3: custom maps

1. Stop the server.
2. Upload the .bsp files into:

   tf/maps/

3. Add the map names to tf/cfg/mapcycle.txt, without the .bsp extension.
4. Start the server, then test with changelevel yourmapname from the panel console.

Fast downloads

By default players download custom maps directly from the game server, which is slow enough that many will disconnect rather than wait. The standard fix is a fast download host:

sv_downloadurl "https://example.com/tf2fastdl/"
sv_allowdownload 1
sv_allowupload 1
net_maxfilesize 64

The URL must point at a web host you control, holding the same folder structure as the server, with the maps compressed as .bsp.bz2. This is a web hosting task rather than a game server one, and the server works without it, just more slowly.

After a TF2 update

A game update usually breaks MetaMod and SourceMod until new builds are published. If plugins stop loading after an update, download the latest builds of both and replace the addons folders.