Rename DarkRP on Your GMod Server

DarkRP's README says not to touch its core files, so you cannot rename DarkRP by editing it. The route its author provides is the "derived gamemode", a minimal gamemode that loads DarkRP underneath and carries a name of your choosing. This guide sets one up. Checked against the derived DarkRP release on GitHub and DarkRP 2.7.0, October 2026.

Is a rename what you need?

If you only want your server to read as your own in the server browser, change the hostname line in garrysmod/cfg/server.cfg instead. GMod server: connect, Workshop, gamemodes shows how. Use the steps below when you want a gamemode with its own name. The derived gamemode needs DarkRP itself to stay installed, which also lets you update DarkRP separately.

Set up the derived gamemode

1. Download derivedrp.zip from the derived release on DarkRP's GitHub page.
2. In your server's File Manager, open garrysmod/gamemodes and press Upload files to add the ZIP.
3. Press Extract here on the ZIP. A folder called derivedrp appears.
4. Use Rename to change the folder to your gamemode's name, such as mycityrp. Keep it lowercase with no spaces, because the folder name is the gamemode's name.
5. Open the folder and rename derivedrp.txt to match, here mycityrp.txt. Garry's Mod expects a text file named after the folder.

Change the name

Open mycityrp.txt in the File Manager. It looks like this, and the part to change is the title:

"darkrp"
{
	"base"		"darkrp"
    "title"  "DerivedRP"
    "version"   "1.0.0"
    "menusystem"	"1"

1. Change the title to the name players should see, such as "title" "My City RP". Titles may contain spaces and capitals.
2. Leave "base" "darkrp" alone. That line is what makes it DarkRP underneath.
3. Open gamemode/init.lua and change GM.Name = "DerivedRP" to your name. In gamemode/cl_init.lua the line reads GM.Name = "DarkRP", so set it to the same name.

Press Save on each file.

Start the server on it

1. Make sure DarkRP is still installed. It must be, because your gamemode loads it. See Set up DarkRP on your GMod server.
2. Open the Startup tab and type your folder name, mycityrp, into Gamemode.
3. Restart the server.

Common problems

1. The server starts in Sandbox. Gamemode in the Startup tab does not match the folder name. They must be identical.
2. The gamemode will not load. Check the files sit exactly where Garry's Mod looks for them: garrysmod/gamemodes/mycityrp/mycityrp.txt and garrysmod/gamemodes/mycityrp/gamemode/init.lua.
3. The DarkRP tab says "DarkRP is installed, but the server starts mycityrp". That is expected, because the tab's first tile only ticks when the Gamemode is darkrp. It also only appears while DarkRP is the Gamemode or sits in garrysmod/gamemodes, so if it is gone, edit the DarkRP files in the File Manager instead.