Banner or whatever for counter strike from steam.

⚠️ This post is part of the notes category. It may be unfinished, have incorrect information, or other "imperfections."

How to run a Counter-Strike 1.6 server in Linux (namely Debian). I even go into some bonus materials, like making bonus assets (maps, sounds, etc.) download quickly, making statistics accessible as JSON via HTTPS.

I run my own Counter-Strike 1.6 server! Please check it out. On that page I also talk about my inspiration for starting a server and more.

Initial setup
Additional tweaks
Linux client setup
todo
See also

Initial setup

Helpful:

https://www.amoradi.org/20210912011151.html
I’m using gnu screen for now, because I’m too lazy to daemonize things properly, I guess, at the moment

Get the basics set up:

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt update
sudo apt install libc6:i386 libncurses5:i386 libstdc++6:i386 -y


mkdir ~/steamcmd && cd ~/steamcmd
wget https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steamcmd_linux.tar.gz
tar -xvzf steamcmd_linux.tar.gz
./steamcmd.sh

Now you should be in steamcmd:

force_install_dir ./cs16/
login anonymous
app_update 90 -beta beta validate
quit

Now you should be back outside of steamcmd:

mkdir -p ~/.steam/sdk32/
ln -s /home/baudrillard/steamcmd/linux32/steamclient.so ~/.steam/sdk32/steamclient.so

You now might be able to:

cd ~/steamcmd/cs16
./hlds_run -game cstrike +map de_dust2 +maxplayers 20 +port 27015

Make a ufw rule for this service:

sudo ufw allow 27015/tcp
sudo ufw allow 27015/udp

Additional tweaks

Edit ~/steamcmd/cs16/cstrike/server.cfg (might not exist):

some things to set:

hostname "Your Server Name"
rcon_password "your_rcon_password"
mapcyclefile "mapcycle.txt"

You may to get bot support from like ZBot or POD-Bot?

bot_add
bot_quota 10  # Number of bots
bot_difficulty 1  # 0 - Easy, 1 - Normal, 2 - Hard, 3 - Expert
bot_prefix ""

To add maps check out:

https://gamebanana.com/mods/cats/5474?_sSort=Generic_MostLiked
Place the maps in something like /home/someuser/steamcmd/cs16/cstrike/maps
- you can use this command to get the list of the maps to put in the file…
- try using cp -r to merge directories
- for file in maps/*.bsp; do basename "$file" .bsp; done > mapcycle.txt
Add the map name to mapcycle.txt
i should make a script

Resource server

I’m not sure if this is working.

sv_allowupload 1
sv_allowdownload 1
sv_downloadurl "http://cs16.someodd.zip/cstrike/" 

you could just serve the same cstrike dir you’re already serving! and then hide the server.cfg to hide the rcon. just modify the nginx config i have here. it’ll make it super fast.

add to the server block:

    location /cstrike/ {
        root /home/someuser/steamcmd/cs16/;  # Specific root for the cstrike directory
        index index.html index.htm;

        location = /cstrike/server.cfg {
            deny all;  # Deny access to the server.cfg file, returning 403 Forbidden
        }

        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;  # Correctly handle the file paths within cstrike
    }

this is working super fast!

Bots

Back up the entire directory first.

installing metamod

cd ~/steamcmd

Before installing Podbot, you need to install Metamod, which is a plugin interface for Half-Life modifications that allows you to use plugins like Podbot.

Download Metamod: Visit the Metamod website and download the latest version appropriate for your server (P or V depending on your server’s OS). http://metamod.org/ (i downloaded the regular linux, not x64 version).

Extract the Files: Unzip the downloaded file into the cstrike/addons/ directory of your server.

mkdir -p cs16/cstrike/addons/metamod/dlls
tar -xf metamod-1.20-linux.tar.gz -C cs16/cstrike/addons/metamod/dlls

edit c16/cstrike/liblist.gam and edit the value of gameddl_linux:

gamedll_linux "addons/metamod/dlls/metamod.so"

installing podbot

Download podbot, I got podbot_full_V3B22.zip.

extract the files:

unzip podbot_full_V3B22.zip -d cs16/cstrike/addons/

edit metamod’s plugin config cs16/addons/metamod/plugins.ini (maybe create it?) and add the following line:

linux addons/podbot/podbot_mm_i386.so

now try starting the server! to debug (after launching server):

meta list

a bit of configuring podbot

cs16/cstrike/addons/podbot/podbot.cfg

you may want to make bots easier, i found them very elite by default:

pb_minbotskill 15 and pb_maxbotskill 60

creating waypoints

Sadly, I’m not sure you can automatically create waypoints. So you’ll maybe have ot do some work, especially if you’re using custom maps. No waypoint, no bots.

Download waypoints here for podbot:

https://gamebanana.com/mods/cats/3524
https://github.com/ggoulart/cs1.6-server-more-maps/tree/master/podbot/wptdefault

If you can find a .pwf file online, then place it in the cstrike/addons/podbot/wptdefault/ directory. It should be named like the map, just different extension.

Personally I did something like this:

git clone https://github.com/ggoulart/cs1.6-server-more-maps/
mv cs1.6-server-more-maps/podbot/wptdefault cs16/cstrike/addons/podbot/wptdefault

To test the above I switched to as_oilrig and then tried adding bots with pb add in steamcmd on server (rcon troubles)

If you can’t find the waypoints online, you can create them manually using the Podbot menu in the game.

Start the Server with the Map:
- Launch CS 1.6 and start a server with the map.
Open the Podbot Menu:
- In the console, type pb menu to open the Podbot command menu.
- Navigate to the Waypoint options.
Create Waypoints:
- Use the menu to add waypoints manually. Walk around the map and place waypoints at strategic locations—pathways, sniping spots, common areas, etc.
- Save the waypoints frequently to prevent data loss.
Test the Waypoints:
- Add bots to see if they navigate using the newly created waypoints. Adjust if necessary

how do i add bots by default?

sort of unethical: fake clients

installing amxmodx

amxmodx is maybe worth reading about.

make it seem like more people are on the server than there are to encourage people to join

https://www.amxmodx.org/downloads.php

mkdir amx
tar -xf amxmodx-1.8.2-base-linux.tar.gz -C amx/
tar -xf amxmodx-1.8.2-cstrike-linux.tar.gz -C amx/
cp -r amx/addons/amxmodx cs16/cstrike/addons/

once again edit cs16/cstrike/addons/metamod/plugins.ini:

linux addons/amxmodx/dlls/amxmodx_mm_i386.so

Configure Basic Settings:

Navigate to cstrike/addons/amxmodx/configs/ and adjust settings in the configuration files like amxx.cfg, users.ini (for admin privileges), and plugins.ini (for controlling which plugins are active).

Verify Installation:

Restart your server.
Connect to your server and type meta list in the server console. You should see both Metamod and AMX Mod X listed as loaded.

fakefull

Downloads: https://forums.alliedmods.net/showthread.php?p=254620

mv fakefull_original.amxx cs16/cstrike/addons/amxmodx/plugins
unzip fakefull_original.zip -d fakefull
cp -r fakefull/addons/amx/* cs16/cstrike/addons/amxmodx
unzip botnames.zip -d cs16/cstrike/addons/amxmodx/configs/
chmod 644 cstrike/addons/amxmodx/plugins/fakefull_original.amxx

try adding this to your cs16/cstrike/addons/amxmodx/configs/amxx.cfg:

// ******************  FakeFull Settings  ******************

//Turns Automatic mode on.
//ff_players must be set higher then 0.
//<1 = ON || 0 = OFF>
ff_automode 1

//Minimal number of fake and real clients on the server.
//Fake clients will be kicked so that the total players on the
//Server equals this number.  If there are more players than this
//All the fake players will be gone. Do NOT set this at or aboive
//your max player count or no one will be able to join
//REQUIRED to be above 0 for Automatic mode.
ff_players 3

//Delay between each fake client joins/leaves.
//REQUIRED to be above 0 for Automatic mode and regular bot add.
ff_delay 1

edit cstrike/addons/amxmodx/configs/plugins.ini and add:

fakefull_original.amxx

i’m not sure why it’s not picking up on my settings in amxx.cfg but try this in steamcmd:

amx_addfake 3

at this point i see bot spectating but player count doesn’t artificially increase

making our own

I’ll make a repo for this and other mods…

Set up the fake queries depedency. Download this https://forums.alliedmods.net/showthread.php?t=244450 and install:

Download fakequeries_binary.zip from the attachments.

Extract to game directory

unzip fakequeries_binary.zip -d cs16/cstrike/

Add “fake_queries” in your modules.ini (in cs16/cstrike/addons/amxmodx/configs/modules.ini).

Now save below as addons/amxmodx/scripting/botcount.sma:

#include <amxmodx>
#include <fake_queries>

public plugin_init()
{
    register_plugin("Count Bots as Players", "1.0", "someodd");

    // Update player counts periodically without changing other server info
    set_task(1.0, "update_player_counts", _, _, _, "b");
}

public update_player_counts()
{
    // Calculate total players including bots
    new total_players = count_total_players();
    new max_players = get_maxplayers();  // Use the server's configured max players

    // Set the fake server query responses for player and bot counts
    fq_set_players(total_players);  // Total players including bots
    fq_set_botsnum(0);              // Report 0 bots

    // Log the operation results
    log_status(fq_set_players(total_players), "players");
    log_status(fq_set_maxplayers(max_players), "max players");
    log_status(fq_set_botsnum(0), "bots");
}

count_total_players()
{
    new count = 0, maxPlayers = get_maxplayers();
    for (new i = 1; i <= maxPlayers; ++i)
    {
        if (is_user_connected(i))  // Check if the slot is occupied
            count++;
    }
    return count;
}

log_status(result, const description[])
{
    if (result != 0)  // Change to check for non-zero return, assuming non-zero means failure
        server_print("^4[Count Bots as Players]^1 Failed to set %s.", description);
}

prepare:

cd addons/amxmodx/scripting/
compile with ./amxxpc botcount.sma
put the result in the addons/amxmodx/plugins with mv botcount.amxx ../plugins
enable by adding botcount.amxx to addons/amxmodx/configs/plugins.ini

making podbots less obviously bots

finally make it less obvious that there’s podbots.

cd cs16/cstrike/addons/podbot

edit podbot.cfg specifically these:

pb_detailnames 0
pb_chat 0
pb_radio 0

Finally read this section carefully. I thought just having four would be enticing to people, while being maybe kind of plausible if they all dropped off or something when there’s not a waypoint file for next map or whatever:

# These lines below are adding automatically the bots to the server when^M
# the new game is created on the listenserver or the dedicated server^M
# is starting.^M
# As many such lines like "pb add" is here as many bots will be added ^M
# to the server (unless You will not exceed pb_maxbots setting).^M
pb add 100^M
pb add 100^M
pb add 100^M
pb add 100^M

Now edit the bot names in botnames.txt.

Set up statistics

Basically assumes you have an nginx setup running, see my #nginx tag.

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Server_queries#Goldsource_Server

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install qstat

Try this command:

 % quakestat -a2s localhost:27015
ADDRESS           PLAYERS      MAP   RESPONSE TIME    NAME
localhost:27015        0/20  0/0   de_dust      0 / 0  cstrike Counter-Strike 1.6 Server

then make this in /usr/local/bin/cs_stats.sh:

#!/bin/bash

# Run quakestat and capture the output, skipping the header line
output=$(quakestat -a2s localhost:27015 | tail -n +2)

# Find the PID of the process named 'hlds_linux'
PID=$(pgrep -f hlds_linux)

# Check if the PID was found
if [ -z "$PID" ]; then
    echo "Process not found."
    exit 1
fi

# Calculate the uptime in days and store it in a variable
uptime_days=$(ps -p $PID -o etime= | awk -F'[:-]' '{if (NF == 4) {print $1 " days"} else {print "0 days"}}')

# Parse the output using awk
json=$(echo "$output" | awk -v uptime="$uptime_days" '
BEGIN {
    # Initialize JSON string
    printf "{"
}
{
    # Split the players field into current and max players
    split($2, players, "/");

    # Replace all double quotes with escaped double quotes in the server name
    gsub(/"/, "\\\"", $6);

    # Construct JSON
    printf "\"address\": \"%s\", ", $1;
    printf "\"currentPlayers\": \"%s\", ", players[1];
    printf "\"maxPlayers\": \"%s\", ", players[2];
    printf "\"map\": \"%s\", ", $4;
    printf "\"uptimeDays\": \"%s\"", uptime; # Add uptimeDays to the JSON
}
END {
    # Close JSON string
    printf "}"
}')

echo $json

then sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/cs_stats.sh

sudo mkdir /var/www/cs16.someodd.zip
% sudo chown -R someuser:someuser /var/www/cs16.someodd.zip

edit sudo vi /etc/nginx/sites-available/cs16.someodd.zip.conf:

server {
    listen 8765;
    listen 8888 ssl;
    server_name cs16.someodd.zip;
    root /var/www/cs16.someodd.zip;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/cs16.someodd.zip/cert.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/cs16.someodd.zip/privkey.pem;
    
    location /stats.json {
        # Add CORS headers
        add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' '*';
        add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Methods' 'GET, POST, OPTIONS';
        add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Headers' 'Origin, X-Requested-With, Content-Type, Accept';
        add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Credentials' 'true';
    }

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/cs16.someodd.zip.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

crontab -e:

*/30 * * * * /usr/local/bin/cs_stats.sh > /var/www/cs16.someodd.zip/stats.json 2>&1

Create the certificate or whatever I selected webroot when prompted):

sudo certbot certonly --webroot-path="/var/www/cs16.someodd.zip" -d 'cs16.someodd.zip'

maybe setup the hook for renewal edit /etc/letsencrypt/renewal/cs16.someodd.zip.conf under [renewalparams]:

post_hook = service nginx restart

and maybe the other one in that config too…

Validate that the above command works correctly:

sudo certbot renew --dry-run

Linux client setup

You can try using Steam:

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install steam-installer 

I had trouble using Steam from the Debian Sid repo, so I instead used the Steam flatpak:

flatpak install ./com.valvesoftware.Steam.flatpakref
flatpak run com.valvesoftware.Steam

todo

i want to add quake sounds

Counter-Strike 1.6 Server (Linux)

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