How to Fix a Team Fortress 2 Server Missing From the Browser

A Team Fortress 2 server that runs but never appears in the community browser is almost always missing its Steam game server login token. This is a Valve requirement, not a hosting setting.

1. Prove the server is up

In TF2, open the developer console and run:

connect YOUR_IP:YOUR_PORT

If you get in, the server is running and only the listing is missing. If you do not, read the panel console for the real error first.

2. Create a game server login token

Valve requires public servers to identify themselves with a token tied to a Steam account.

1. Go to steamcommunity.com/dev/managegameservers while signed in to Steam.
2. Create a new token with App ID 440, which is Team Fortress 2.
3. Give it a memo so you can recognise it later.
4. Copy the token string.

The Steam account you use must not be limited, and must not have a VAC ban on the game.

3. Set the token on the server

1. Stop the server.
2. In the panel open Files and edit tf/cfg/server.cfg.
3. Add:

   sv_setsteamaccount "YOUR_TOKEN_HERE"

4. Save and start the server.

Watch the panel console at startup. A successful login logs the server connecting to the Steam game server account. A failure names the reason, usually an expired or reused token.

A token is tied to one server at a time. Running two servers on the same token logs one of them out.

4. Check the browser filters

• The server appears under Community Servers, never in casual matchmaking.
• Clear the tag, map and ping filters, and untick the option that hides empty servers.
• Add the server to Favorites by IP and port. This works regardless of the search filters.

5. Other reasons a server is missing

• sv_lan 1 hides the server from the internet entirely. It must be 0.
• A blank hostname makes the server almost impossible to find by search.
• A server that has not finished loading a map is not listed. Check the console.
• After a TF2 update the server must be restarted onto the new build before updated clients can see it.

What to send support

Open a ticket with your IP and port, whether the connect command works, and the first fifty lines of the console from the last start. Never paste your token or your RCON password into a ticket.