Probably the fastest and easiest way to set up an old-school Half-Life Deathmatch Dedicated Server (HLDS). You don't need to know anything about Linux or HLDS to start a server. You just need Docker and this image.
Start a new server by running:
docker run -it --rm -d -p27015:27015 -p27015:27015/udp spezifanta/hldm
Change the player slot size, map or rcon_password
by running:
docker run -it --rm -d --name hldm -p27015:27015 -p27015:27015/udp spezifanta/hldm +map crossfire +maxplayers 12 +rcon_password SECRET_PASSWORD
Note: Any server config command can be passed by using
+
. But it has to follow after the image namespezifanta/hldm
.
The following default maps are available:
- boot_camp
- bounce
- crossfire
- datacore
- frenzy
- gasworks
- lambda_bunker
- rapidcore
- snark_pit
- stalkyard
- subtransit
- undertow
In order to use a custom content like maps or server config file, create a directory named gamedir
and place your files there.
For an example of a custom server.cfg
run:
mkdir gamedir && echo 'echo "Executing custom server.cfg"' > gamedir/server.cfg
Add your settings to the server.cfg
and mount the directory as volume by running:
docker run -it --rm -d -p27015:27015 -p27015:27015/udp -v gamedir:/tmp/gamedir spezifanta/hldm
You should see Executing custom server.cfg
in the server log when starting the server.
This image uses the latest version of Half-life, which can be installed via SteamCMD and patched versions of:
Patches: https://github.com/spezifanta/metamod-p
Setting up a new HLDS from scratch can be a bit tedious because since a few years now SteamCMD will fail to download all the files on the first try.
The general workaround is just by retrying. And retrying, and retrying, and... 🔫. A more promising workaround is replacing certain files and forcing a redownload. But even this can fail sometimes.
Anyway, just searching for the download link of SteamCMD takes longer than just copying & pasting the Docker run
command from above (yes, this assumes you have Docker installed. But why haven't you already?).
Also, there are a couple of server commands, which need tweaking, and plugins, that need to be installed and configured.
So this image saves a lot of time.
Half-Life is more than 20 years old now. Many major community pages and tutorials are offline. I am not saying, that Half-Life will die, but the sites with the step by step instructions, workarounds and plugins might not be around for ever. Furthermore not everybody, who likes playing Half-Life and wants to set up a server, is a Linux geek. You don't need to know anything about Linux or HLDS to start a server by using this image. That's why I build this image.
I want HLDM to live forever!
- In most cases, you have to wrap
hlds_run
anyway by using something likescreen
,tmux
,wmux
orsystemd
, because the server will exit as soon as you close your terminal. So why not add Docker to that list. - Decoupling. To set up a HLDS you need to install 32bit libraries. On a 64bit system, this is somewhat less than perfect. On a company PC, you might need extra permissions to do so. With Docker on the other hand... I hope you get my point ;).
- Scalability.
MIT
Connect to steamcalculator.com:27015
to give it a try.