cs16-dm-server

A Counter-Strike 1.6 deathmatch server you can set up without knowing anything about servers. It runs on a Windows PC (for playing with friends tonight) or on a Linux machine (for a server that's always on).

What you get:

• Free-for-all deathmatch: instant respawn, gun menu, no rounds. GunGame is one menu option away.
• Bots that fill the server when it's empty and leave as people join.
• Damage numbers, killstreak announcer, +HP per kill, rock-the-vote (rtv), /rank and /top15.
• An all-time kill counter.
• Players can join with the Steam version or a non-Steam client.

Windows

You need 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 and about 1.5 GB of free space.

1. Click Download ZIP on this page and unzip it (Downloads is fine).
2. Double-click setup.cmd. Answer the questions or press Enter to keep the defaults. It downloads the game (about 600 MB) and starts the server in its own window. Say Yes when Windows asks for admin permission: that lets your friends through the firewall.
3. Setup then asks how your friends will join and helps with that (see below).

The server is installed in Documents\cs16 (or C:\Users\<you>\cs16 if your Documents folder is synced by OneDrive). From then on, double-click cs.cmd in that folder to start or stop the server, change the map or mode, set the bots, or see the kill counter. Closing the server window stops the server.

Running setup.cmd again is safe: it keeps your settings. setup.cmd -Update also updates the game files.

This was tested on Windows 10. Windows 11 should work the same way.

Linux

For a server that stays on. You need an x86-64 machine (no Raspberry Pi: the game server is 32-bit x86), Docker with the compose plugin, git and python3. With 6 bots it uses about 10% of one core and 100 MB of RAM.

git clone https://git.userevolt.app/esef/cs16-dm-server.git
cd cs16-dm-server
./setup.sh                    # asks: server name, join password, port, mode, bots
./scripts/install-cron.sh     # optional: restarts a hung server, nightly backups

Run it as a normal user in the docker group, not as root. Then use ./cs for the menu:

./cs                 menu
./cs status          who's on, map, mode
./cs map de_inferno  change map
./cs mode gg         GunGame (./cs mode dm goes back)
./cs bots 6          fill up to 6 players with bots (0 = none)
./cs kills           kill counter
./rcon               server console

How friends join

Everyone opens Counter-Strike 1.6, presses ~ for the console and types connect <address>. Which address depends on where they are:

Where your friends are	What to do	They connect to
Same house	nothing	the LAN address setup shows, e.g. 192.168.1.20:27015
Anywhere, easiest	free playit.gg account, add a UDP tunnel to 127.0.0.1:27015	the address playit gives you, e.g. name.ply.gg:12345
Anywhere, no extra app	forward UDP 27015 on your router to this PC	your public IP, e.g. 203.0.113.5:27015
A fixed group	everyone installs Tailscale or ZeroTier	your VPN address

On Windows, setup walks you through these, and cs.cmd → 10 brings it back. Port forwarding doesn't work on some connections (mobile internet, many dorms, some fiber providers). If friends can't connect after forwarding, use playit.

With playit, every player arrives from playit's address, so never ban by IP: it would kick everyone.

More for players (Steam and non-Steam): docs/PLAYERS.md.

When something goes wrong

• Setup stopped with an error. Fix what it says (usually the internet connection) and run it again. It continues where it stopped.
• Friends can't connect, but you can. On Windows, run cs.cmd → 10 → 1 and accept the admin prompt so the firewall lets them in. If they're not in your house, check the playit tunnel or the port forward.
• "Unable to initialize Steam" (Windows). This can happen once, on the first start after installing; cs.cmd and setup retry by themselves. If you started hlds.exe yourself, close the box and start the server with cs.cmd → 9.
• The server window closes right away, or setup says files are missing. Your antivirus probably removed a file. Allow the install folder in it and run setup.cmd again.
• The port is taken. Setup offers the next free port. Your friends then need that port in the address.

Settings

Windows keeps them in settings.txt, Linux in .env (same names). After a change, restart the server (cs.cmd → 7 on Windows, ./cs apply on Linux).

Setting	Default
CS_HOSTNAME	CS 1.6 Deathmatch	name in the server browser
CS_PASSWORD	empty	join password; empty = anyone can join
CS_MAXPLAYERS	16
CS_PORT	27015	game port (UDP)
CS_MAP	de_dust2	first map, then mapcycle.txt
CS_MODE	dm	dm or gg on the first install; after that the menu remembers it
CS_BOTS	6	bots fill the server up to this many players; 0 = none
CS_BOT_DIFFICULTY	2	0 easy to 4 expert
CS_NAME	cs16	Docker container name (Linux only)

Anything else goes in hlds/cstrike/custom.cfg, which setup never overwrites. It has examples inside (time limit, alltalk, HP per kill, sounds).

	Deathmatch	GunGame
Respawn	0.7 s, 2 s spawn protection	1 s
Weapons	gun menu on spawn	glock, pistols, shotguns, SMGs, rifles, M249, HE, knife; 2 kills per level
Map time	20 min	30 min, 30 s knife warmup

Both are free for all, with spawn points for the 11 stock maps in the default mapcycle. Admins, custom maps, fast downloads and backups: docs/ADMIN.md. How it's put together: docs/HOW-IT-WORKS.md.

Updating

Linux: git pull && ./setup.sh (add --update to also update the game). Windows: download the new ZIP and run its setup.cmd; it updates your existing install. Your settings, passwords, admins, mapcycle, custom.cfg, stats and kill counter are kept.

Credits

Setup downloads these from their own projects. Each file is checked against a pinned checksum; some have a backup copy on this Gitea in case their site is down.

• ReHLDS, ReGameDLL_CS, Metamod-R, ReAPI, ReUnion
• AMX Mod X
• CSDM-ReAPI
• YaPB
• GunGame by Avalanche
• DM spawn points from CSDM 2.1 by Arkshine
• Announcer sounds from hpoon/HLDS-CS1.6

Counter-Strike belongs to Valve. The game files come from Steam (SteamCMD, anonymous login). The scripts, configs and plugins here are MIT licensed (LICENSE).