Set Up DarkRP on Your GMod Server

DarkRP is the roleplay gamemode where players take jobs, collect a salary, rent doors and run shops. It is not built into Garry's Mod, so it reaches your server through a Steam Workshop collection, and the Startup tab then switches the server over to it. Checked against DarkRP 2.7.0 (its GitHub source, July 2026), October 2026.

What you need

• A Workshop collection linked to your server. If you have not made one yet, start with How to add a Steam Workshop collection to your GMod server.
• DarkRP itself. The DarkRP Workshop page is the one the project's own README points to.
• A roleplay map. DarkRP maps conventionally have names that start with rp_, and the panel's DarkRP preset looks for one.
• Enough RAM for a busy collection. The table in GMod server: connect, Workshop, gamemodes shows what each plan suits, and Garry's Mod server hosting lists the plans.

Add DarkRP to your collection

1. On the Steam Workshop, add DarkRP and your rp_ map to the collection your server uses.
2. In your server's Workshop tab, check the collection is linked, then restart the server. The Console shows each addon downloading on the way up.

Switch the server to DarkRP

1. Open the Startup tab and find Gamemode presets.
2. Press Switch to DarkRP, then Switch gamemode. The preset sets Gamemode to darkrp and Map to the first installed map whose name starts with rp_.
3. Restart the server. The switch happens on the next restart.

Until DarkRP has downloaded, the preset shows "Add DarkRP to your Workshop collection, restart, and this unlocks" instead of a button. You can also skip the preset: type darkrp into Gamemode and the map's file name, without .bsp, into Map.

Check it works

Join the server and press F4, the default key for DarkRP's job and shop menu. Back in the dashboard, a DarkRP tab now sits in the tab list. It appears once DarkRP is the Gamemode or sits in garrysmod/gamemodes, and its first tile, DarkRP is the gamemode, ticks when the server starts DarkRP.

Change DarkRP's settings

The DarkRP tab edits the things most owners change first:

• Economy: Starting money, Payday every (in seconds) and Door price.
• Default laws: the laws on the board when the server starts. The mayor can add more in game but cannot remove these.
• F4 menu headings: the group headings in each F4 tab, with their colour and whether they start open.

Press Save when you are done. DarkRP reads these when the server starts, so if the server is already running, the Live on the server tile offers Restart now. The tab writes into the darkrpmodification addon, which DarkRP's authors made so you never edit DarkRP's own files.

For custom jobs, shipments and entities you need that addon's full set of files: Install DarkRP modifications on GMod. To give your server its own name, see Rename DarkRP on your GMod server.

Common problems

1. The server starts in Sandbox. Gamemode is still sandbox. Use the preset or type darkrp, then restart.
2. The preset stays locked. DarkRP has not downloaded yet. Check it is in the linked collection, which must be set to Public or Unlisted, and restart.
3. The map does not load. Map must match the map's file name exactly, without the .bsp ending.
4. A config file has a mistake. DarkRP reports it in the Console with a plain-language explanation when the server starts.