Team Fortress 2 server.cfg generator

Team Fortress 2 reads server.cfg on startup, but map changes are where settings quietly go back to defaults.

Visual Settings

source Format
Identity

Server name in the browser.

Gameplay

Minutes per map. 0 disables it.

Round wins before a map change. 0 disables it.

Team damage.

Random critical hits. Turning them off is the most common change on community servers.

Both teams hear each other on voice.

How strictly client files must match the server. Higher blocks custom content.

Cheat commands. Several values here reset on map change unless a per-map config reapplies them.

Players & Access

Join password.

Network

Game server login token. Required for public listing, separate from reachability.

RCON & Query

Remote console password.

server.cfg

rcon_password — This is still the example RCON password. Change it, and keep the RCON port off the public internet.
sv_setsteamaccount — Without a game server login token the server will not appear in the public browser, however your ports are configured.
hostname "Spawnly TF2"
sv_password ""
rcon_password "changeme"
sv_setsteamaccount 
mp_timelimit 30
mp_winlimit 0
mp_friendlyfire 0
tf_weapon_criticals 1
sv_alltalk 0
sv_pure 0
sv_cheats 0

How server.cfg syntax works

Standard Source syntax: command, space, value. Quotes for values with spaces, 1 and 0 for booleans. Many gameplay cvars are prefixed with tf_ and take effect immediately when set.

The mistake that costs people hours

Some cvars reset on map change unless they are re-applied, and the server runs per-map and per-gamemode config files after server.cfg. A setting that works for the first map and reverts afterwards is being overwritten by one of those, not ignored.

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