http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/s ... p=12955554

1. Install Steam(Direct DL) onto the computer you are using as the server

2. Once finished, create a new Steam account (even if you already have one)

3. With your new account navigate to the "Tools" tab in Steam

4. Find "L4D2 Dedicated Server" and install it

5. While that is installing, it's time to open the port.
-To host a game on L4D2 you will need to open port 27015

If you know how to open your ports then you can skip to the text at the bottom. If not, continue reading

First you will need to set your server's IP to a static IP
Follow this guide if you don't know how
You will need to log into your router. Usually this can be done by using a web browser and typing either 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1
If you are still having problems go to PortForward.com and choose your router from that list and follow the directions on there
Once in your router navigate to something like Security Settings, or Port Forwarding. Again, all routers are different and if you are having trouble use PortForward.com
Now add a new port to forward. Enter the IP Address of the Server (which should be static) and open UDP & TCP ports 27015
A nice tool I like to use to test my ports is this port checker(Direct DL) by PortForward.com]


Do a check with the port checker, if your ports are open, congrats you can skip to the text at the bottom. If not keep reading.
So your ports are still closed. If your using windows, it's most likely because you have the firewall enabled. What we have to do now is open a specific port. Hopefully your smart enough to realize you should be on your server for this part.

Go to Start > Control Pannel > System & Security > Windows Firewall > Advanced Settings > Inbound Rules > New Rule > Choose "Port" > Next > TCP > Specific Local Ports (type 27015 here) > Next > Allow The Connection > Next > Next > Name it 27015 > Finish

You should now see it on your Inbound Rules list. Now you need to enable the UDP port inbound:

New Rule > Choose "Port" > Next > UDP > Specific Local Ports (type 27015 here) > Next > Allow The Connection > Next > Next > Name it "27015 UDP" > Finish

Again, it should show up. Now you'll have to click "Outbound Rules" and do the same thing as above for both TCP and UDP.
Check your work with the Port Checker. If your ports are still closed, there is one last thing to try.
Log back into your router and find something that says "DMZ Host"(or something similar such as "DMZ")
Set the DMZ Host to your Server by typing the IP address (again, should be static). Test using port checker and you should be set.

All that's left to do now is set up the actual server. Just double click the L4D2 Dedicated server you just downloaded from Steam and a kind of Wizard pops up. Fill in the spaces and fire up. If the server is on your local network it will show up on the bottom right corner of your screen when you fire the game up. Connect, invite friends and enjoy.

Good stuff. I don't have a second PC but you do, don't you Peltz? What are the specs?

Actually i have 2 extra PCs i can use. Im running a server on one of them now but you guys cant connect to it untill my ISP opens the port 27015. They have all ports closed by default so theres not much i can do at the moment.

Im going to drop some links here for use with the L4D2 server setup. You should only read em if you care otherwise its just minutes you will never get back.

1. http://www.blog.last-save.com/2008/11/l ... ver-setup/

2. http://www.inx-gaming.com/gaming-blog/l ... r-home-pc/ Ridiculous, comments more useful.

3. http://www.blogcatalog.com/blog/segment ... bac14f911d Useful commands for cfg file.

Again stuff for me.

http://www.guardianforce.co.uk/2009/gam ... ed-server/

http://www.left4dead411.com/l4d_cvar_list.pdf

This isn't a fucking blog, shitbrick. Someone ban this turd muncher.

lol jk

lol... maybe I'll just change the title to 'Peltz's blog'.

I CANT for the love of modems open the god damn UDP 27015 Port. Ive been at it for more than 6hours now.

At the moment the most plausible reason for failing to open the port is a broken firmware because i can open ports below 10000 range but anything above it remains closed. My cousin who works for my isp is coming over tomorrow and i told him to bring another modem.

heh...hilarious. I'm surprised L4d2 doesn't allow you to specify custom ports. If it's anything like l4d, your dedicated server is still required to register itself to a central Steam server...you would think you could adjust a cvar or something for port number. I never got my l4d1 dedicated server working, though, so I may just be confused.

Well the good news is that

1. the server was up and ocram could join.

The bad news is

1. It ran off a borrowed router.
2. His ping was 130ish.
3. I have to learn to configure the server
4. In order to get to the server from a lobby it is necessary to configre autoexec something something so the game would choose server when launching from a lobby.
5. It will take some time, time that is in short supply.

While were on the general subject, does anyone have a clue as to how me and ocram are getting pings of 1600 when connected to someone locally (or some dedicated servers) whereas when Rinox managed to find a particular dedicated server to connect to we had pings of 50?

I can make guesses, but without more info it's impossible to say with any certainty. My suggestion... connect to one of these 1600 ping servers, drop to a dos windows, do a netstat to try to figure out the ip address of the server you're connected to (there may be easier ways), then do a tracert (trace route) to the server and see where your ping spikes.

My initial guess is your ISP sucks and has some sort of shitty peering arrangement to get to that IP range. If that's the case, you'll see low pings through your ISP's network, then a huge spike as you transition across the crappy peer connection. It could also just be an overused link, but it's still your crappy ISP's fault.

What i don't get is that I used to be able to run a local server perfectly fine off my box with Derf and O'Cram (as they are close) getting stable pings of 70-80, yet these days any attempts to do so in L4D2 will result in their insane pings.

One thing that has to be said is that, for all its awesomeness, L4D2 has the shittiest consolified auto-searcher for servers I have ever seen. If I am in a lobby with say, Derf, O'Cram and Peltz it will sometimes take 7-8 tries to find a decent server, ie where 3 out of 4 have a ping around 80 at least. If if open the serverbrowser in console and select a server manually we usually have a empty, stable server with excellent ping (40-50, even less) all over the board on our first attempt. Wtf?! How hard can it be to write a program that selects the best server that's free? And why not making the manual server browser a standard feature instead of a console command? I'd also like to be able to set up a lobby and select a server from there myself, but that's impossible. So we never get to choose our character models, which can be confusing (like when derf played as Ellis and Ocram as Nick, was constantly thinking Derf was Nick and vice versa). Gah.

Yes the problem escalates with realism mode for instance when derf is being pounced by a hunter but i see his character right next to me only to realize its actually Ocram.

As for the server choosing, the games lobby mechanism is highly configurable through the autoexec something something but digging through all the available materials takes lots of time. I'll keep at it untill we sort this mess out.