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How to Change Your Left 4 Dead 2 Game Mode

Note:

Left 4 Dead 2 offers several distinct ways to play. Changing your server’s game mode completely shifts the objective and playstyle for your group:

Mutations: Wild, custom rule-sets that change the game entirely! (Examples include Gib Fest, where everyone has infinite M60 machine guns, or Tank Run, where you are chased by endless Tanks).

Campaign: The classic 4-player co-op experience. Work together to survive the horde, reach the safe rooms, and escape on the rescue vehicle.

Versus: A highly competitive 4v4 mode where teams take turns playing as the desperate Survivors and the deadly Special Infected.

Survival: An endless, wave-based endurance test. You are trapped in a single area with limited supplies, and the horde never stops coming. See how long you can last!

Scavenge: A fast-paced 4v4 mode. Survivors frantically search a small map to collect gas cans and fuel a generator, while the Infected team tries to stop them before the timer runs out.

1. Log In to Your Panel

2. Select the ‘Files’ Tab

L4D2 Server Dashboard, Files Tab Highlighted

3. Select the ‘left4dead2’ Folder

Navigating to the left4dead2 root folder in the Cybrancee server file manager

4. Select the ‘cfg’ Folder

Clicking the server.cfg file in the Cybrancee file manager to edit configuration settings

5. Select the ‘server.cfg‘ File

Clicking the server.cfg file in the Cybrancee file manager to edit configuration settings

6. Locate the Game Mode Command

Scroll down to your “Game Mode & Lobby Settings” section. Look for the line that sets the default mode. If you used our setup template from Left 4 Dead 2’s knowledge Base, it will look like this: sm_cvar mp_gamemode "coop"

(Note: If you don’t have this line, simply type it on a new, blank line!)

Highlighting the mp_gamemode command in the server.cfg file to change the default game mode on a Left 4 Dead 2 server

7. Enter Your Desired Game Mode

Change the word inside the quotation marks to set the server’s new default mode. Make sure to use all lowercase letters and keep the quotation marks!

Co-op: sm_cvar mp_gamemode "coop"

Versus: sm_cvar mp_gamemode "versus"

Survival: sm_cvar mp_gamemode "survival"

Realism: sm_cvar mp_gamemode "realism"

Scavenge: sm_cvar mp_gamemode "scavenge"

8. Save the File

9. Restart Your Server

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