Killing Floor 2: How to setup a KF2 Server with custom maps and mods

http://media.steampowered.com/installer/steamcmd.zip

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Execute steamcmd.exe
When you start it for the first time, it will automatically install all the needed files (For SteamCMD not KF2!) in the folder it is in, so make sure you put it where you want it before starting it.

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If you don’t want the KF2-Server directory to be in the SteamCMD Folder, type:

Example: force_install_dir C:\Servers\KF2Server\

After sending the command, it doesn’t tell you that something happened. If the Path doesn’t exist, it will simply create a folder when downloading the files into it. So make sure to spell the path right!

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SteamCMD wants you to login, you can do so by typing:

This will log in to SteamCMD anonymously

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To download the current version of the game, use:

If you already downloaded the game and only want to update it, use:

If you want to update the game version to a beta branch, use:

Server files ~32 GB

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Go to the KF2-Server directory and execute KF2Server.bat

When everything is working, it should display something like this:

KF2 Version XXXXX
Initializing game engine completed.
STEAM GAME SERVER UID XXXXXXXXX

This indicates that the server is working and communicating with the Steam servers.

Every router and modem does this part a little differently, with different menus and such.
You need to look up how to do Port Forwarding on your own router or modem.

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These ports give devices outside your own network the ability to connect to your Server.
So if you wanna play with friends that are not in your Network or random people online, you have to enable these ports.
You yourself can play on the server (given you are in the same network as the server) without forwarding these ports.

You can change these ports in the config files.

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The KF2Server.bat file looks like this by default:
start .\Binaries\win64\kfserver kf-bioticslab?adminpassword=123

The first part should remain the same at all times, the rest you can change to your preference.

The “kf-bioticslab” can be interchanged with any map. This changes the map that loads when you first start the server.

Here’s a full list of arguments you can use after the Map name:

When using multiple arguments, separate them with a “?”.
This indicates that a new command is following.
For example: “… kf-bioticslab?adminpassword=123?MaxPlayers=2?Difficulty=3”

IMPORTANT: Arguments in the Startup file take priority over what is set in the config files but can still be changed while the server is running with the WebAdmin.

In the config file .\KFGame\Config\PCServer-KFGame.ini you can change the “AdminPassword”, the “GamePassword”, the “ServerName” and much more!

In the config file .\KFGame\Config\PCServer-KFEngine.ini you SHOULD change a specific value (if it’s not changed already).

The Line bUsedForTakeover= should be False !

This prevents the server from allowing someone else taking over the server when it’s idle for too long.

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You have to enable the WebAdmin if you plan on using it.

Open the file .\KFGame\Config\KFWeb.ini and change the line “bEnabled=” from false to true.
In there you can also change the port of the WebAdmin, if you wish to do so.

To access the WebAdmin you have to find out what IPv4 address the computer (that is running the server) has.
Open the Windows Command Prompt and type in “ipconfig”
Then just read the line that says IPv4
In my case, the IPv4 is: 192.168.178.33

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When the server is running, type <YOUR IPv4>:8080 into the adressbar of your browser and you will land on the login page of the WebAdmin interface

You can then log in with the Username “Admin” and the Password you set earlier.

In Chrome, I had the problem before that it wouldn’t let me sign in at all.
If you also get the error “Invalid form data.” after making sure that everything is correct and should actually work, go to .\KFGame\Config\KFWebAdmin.ini and change “bHttpAuth=” from false to true and try again.

https://github.com/darkdks/KF2ServerTool/releases

Move the contents of the .zip to the main directory of your server.

Execute the KF2ServerTool.exe inside the Server folder.

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Go to the Options tab and enable “Workshop Download Manager” and “Custom redirect” and add the Redirect URL “http://kf2.tripwirecdn.com/”.
This made custom maps work for me.

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Go to the Maps / Mods tab.

Here you have several options how you can add a Map / Mod:

• From a file
• From a backup
• From the provided redirect
• By entering a Workshop ID or URL
• By opening the inbuilt Workshop browser

Most mods require to be added in the “Additional parameters” for them to work.
The mod page should state what you need to add.

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When you add Maps with this tool, you need to make sure that the Map has green checkmarks in the columns “Map Entry” and “Cycle Entry”.

If those entries have red crosses, you can right-click the item and choose reinstall.
Check all the boxes in the process and hit OK.
After a bit of loading, it should tell you that it’s finished.

Go to the server tab, choose a map and your preferred settings, and start the Server!

Browse the Workshop and find a Map or Mod that you would like to add.

You can get the Workshop ID of the Map or Mod by checking the URL

Example URL: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=643383080&searchtext=
The Workshop ID would be: 643383080

Make sure the server is NOT running.
Go to the config file .\KFGame\Config\PCServer-KFEngine.ini and open it with Notepad or Notepad++ for easier visualization.

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Insert this into the file if it’s not there already:

This is where you insert the Workshop IDs you got earlier.

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Now that the Workshop IDs are added, we need to make sure the server sees these new maps.

For that to happen we need to edit the config file .\KFGame\Config\PCServer-KFGame.ini with either Notepad or Notepad++ for, again, easier visualization.

Go to the very bottom of the file and add this:

Obviously ”MAPNAME” needs to be replaced with the name of the map you want to add.
Example:

To make the Map selectable in-game it needs to be in the “GameMapCycle” and there are two ways to do add it.

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1. In the same config file (PCServer-KFGame.ini), press CTRL+F to open the search function and look for ”GameMapCycles”
   The default Maps should be in there already.
2. Add the name of the workshop map here.
3. If you want to only play custom Maps and want to remove the default maps from the rotation, you can delete them here.

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1. Start the Server
2. In the WebAdmin navigate to ”Map Cycles” under the category ”Settings”
3. There are multiple ways for you to add and remove maps from the Cycle here.
   • Drag and drop the maps to your liking
   • ”Add Missing” which will add all available maps that are not already in the cycle
   • ”Manual Add” lets you type in the map name by hand
   • ”Basic edit mode”

4. Hit “Save Map Cycle” before you leave the menu, or else all of your hard work is for naught

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Edit the Startup file and add “Mutator” that the mod needs. You will most likely find it on the Modpage in the Workshop

You should now have a KF2 Server running locally that’s listed in the KF2 Server Browser with Custom maps and mods!

This guide is heavily inspired by this Post
I have used it multiple times to set up my servers over the years and thought that it could use a little refresher 9 years later.

I hope this guide helped you set up your own Killing Floor 2 server with custom maps and mods! :3