The Admin Mod Configuration Files

Introducing Configuration Files

If you have run a Half-Life dedicated server for more than a minute or two already, then you know that the server uses configuration files (usually with a file extension of .cfg) to set many optional configuration variables that the server reads when it is started. Admin Mod has a similar set of files, which determine how the Admin Mod is configured and behaves. Most of Admin Mod's configuration files have an extension of ".ini" - although some of Admin Mod's configuration options are set in a ".cfg."

 

Include Directives in Ini Files

From Admin mod 2.50.58 onwards .ini files can now make use of include directives. Programmers of C or related/similar languages will be familiar with the preprocessor syntax and idea behind this feature. For those of you who aren't programmers heres a quick summary.

 

in the ini files a line is started with with symbol and keyword combination #include and is followed the relative path to another file enclosed in double quotes, like this "otherfile.ini". When Admin Mod loads the ini file it will read the path in the double quotes and attempt to load the file that it points to as an ini file of the current type. This means that files included in this way in the users.ini will be treated as users.ini formatted files, similarly files loaded from include directives in the plugins.ini will be treated as plugins.ini style files.

 

So in users.ini the line

#include "..\..\host-administrators.ini"

will be found and the file host-administrators.ini from two directories above the current ini file will be loaded as a file which contains users.

 

The Configuration Files

Here's a quick description of what each of the specific Admin Mod .cfg and .ini files are used for with links to detailed descriptions:

 

adminmod.cfg

The adminmod.cfg was a new addition to 2.50.50, so as to conform with the new Addon Development Standards. All Admin Mod cvars are now located in this file.

 

See: Setting up your server.cfg and adminmod.cfg files

 

 

users.ini

The users.ini file is used to specify who will have special rights on your server (by name, IP Address or WON ID) and what commands they have permissions to execute.

 

See: Setting up your users.ini file

 

 

ips.ini

The ips.ini file is used for slot reservation on your server based on IP address. All you have to do is specify the IP addresses of the computers that can use one of your reserved slots.

 

See: Setting up your ips.ini file

 

 

models.ini

The models.ini file is used for model reservation. It prevents players from using the specified models unless they set the correct password. It lets you protect any given model from use by unauthorized players.

 

See: Setting up your models.ini file

 

 

maps.ini

The maps.ini file is used to control which maps users can vote for. It has the same format at the mapcycle.txt file. Note that it does not replace the mapcycle.txt file (which controls the maps that run on your server and the order they are played in). Instead, it is just a list of maps available to be started via an Admin Mod vote.

 

See: Setting up your maps.ini file

 

 

plugin.ini

New to version 2.50, this file is used to denote the compiled script files that are to be used on your server. The scripts that come with Admin Mod 2.50.50 are organized and split into chunks by functionality and by game type. So, to add a custom script or disable certain parts of the functionality, one has the option with this file to do so without having to recompile every piece of functionality, every time you make a change. Want to test a new script? Just compile it, dump it into the mod's dlls directory, add the script name to the plugin.ini file and reload - presto, you can test away, and you didn't have to modify (and possibly break) your already existing scripts.

 

See: Setting up your plugin.ini file

 

 

wordlist.txt

This file contains the list of banned words for the server. Each word should be placed on its own line within this file. The list is made available to through the check_words() and censor_words() scripting functions. There is no ability to use wildcard or regular expression matches in this file, all banned words must be entered verbatim individually.

 

 

Another file, named "liblist.gam," is a plain text file on your server that the server program reads when started to determine what it should do and some of the files it should load and run. This file is not unique to Admin Mod -- all servers utilize this file to specify what base runtime options and resources the server should use. Admin Mod requires that this file be changed in order to allow the server to start Admin Mod when the server itself is fired up. The specifics of this file and it's setup for Admin Mod are discussed later in a section covering manual installation. If you are doing the standard, automated installation, this file is configured for you.