To update a Day of Defeat: Source server on PlayNHost, click Restart. With Auto-update server on, which it is on a new server, the server asks Steam for the newest build every time it starts and installs it before the game loads. Restart after every Valve update, so players on the new version can join.
Update after a Valve patch
- Open your server in the panel.
- Click Restart. The badge changes to Starting.
- Click the Console tab. Before the game loads, SteamCMD checks for an update of the Day of Defeat: Source dedicated server and downloads it if there is one.
- Wait for the line with
gameserver Steam ID. The badge changes to Online and the server runs the newest build.
A restart disconnects players for the time it takes. Pick a quiet moment, or let a schedule do it: How to restart your Day of Defeat: Source server on a schedule.
Why does a restart update the server?
The server runs in a SteamCMD image whose start script asks Steam to update the game (app_update) before it starts it, whenever auto-update is on (image source). Auto-update server is that switch, and it is on by default.
The setting's description in the panel says the same: the game checks for an update at every start. Update and reinstall under Settings, Game Settings also updates the game through Steam, unless Auto-update server is off. You do not need it for a Valve patch: a restart is enough. Use it to add SourceMod: How to install SourceMod on your Day of Defeat: Source server.
How do I know Valve updated the game?
Valve posts every update on the Day of Defeat: Source news page on Steam. Recent ones:
| Date | What changed |
|---|---|
| 18 February 2025 | 64-bit support and Steam Networking (since then the game runs on the Team Fortress 2 engine branch, per the Valve Developer Community) |
| 24 August 2026 | security and stability improvements, a fix for custom maps that did not load their assets on Linux, and a fix for servers skipping maps in the map cycle |
| 16 September 2026 | a fix for achievement badges |
After an update that changes the game version, players who have it can be refused by a server that has not restarted since, because the versions differ. A restart fixes it.
When should I switch Auto-update server off?
Only when you must stay on one build, for example while a SourceMod plugin you rely on does not work with the newest one. With it off, the server keeps the build it has at every start.
- Click the Settings tab.
- Under Game Settings, click Show advanced (4). The panel notes that these settings control how the server is installed and updated.
- Switch Auto-update server off.
- Click Restart now.
Switch it back on, and restart, as soon as you can. Players with the newest game may be refused by an older server.
Leave Steam Username, Steam Password and Steam Guard Code under Show advanced (4) empty: the game installs without a Steam account.
Related: How to install SourceMod on your Day of Defeat: Source server and Day of Defeat: Source server problems and fixes.
