Update Your GMod Server

Your Garry's Mod server updates itself when it starts. There is no update button to hunt for: when Garry's Mod gets a new version, a restart brings the server up to date, and the same restart refreshes your Workshop addons. This guide explains what the server does on each start, how to read the lines it prints, and what to do when an update stalls.

Update the server

1. Open your server's Console tab.
2. Press Restart. If the server is off, press Start.
3. Watch the Console as it boots. It prints a line saying whether it updated or skipped the update.

That is the whole update.

Facepunch's wiki notes that a Garry's Mod update can require servers to update before players can join them again. If players can't join after a Garry's Mod update, restart your server.

What the Console says

With Smart update on, the server compares the version it has with Steam's current public version on every start. You will see one of two lines near the top:

• [PYW] Server is on the current build (...) - skipping the SteamCMD update pass. The server is already up to date, so it skips Steam's update pass.
• [PYW] Running SteamCMD update (installed: ..., public: ...)... The server is running Steam's updater before it starts. That happens when a new version is out, and also when the installed version is unknown or unfinished or Steam's version feed can't be reached.

Workshop addons update on start as well. Facepunch's wiki says the server checks that the addons in your collection are up to date every time it restarts, so changes you or the authors make on Steam arrive on the next restart.

The Updates setting

In the Startup tab, the Server card has an Updates setting with two choices:

• Smart update (recommended) only runs Steam's updater when Steam has a new version. This is the default.
• Full update every start runs it on every start, which is slow. With this on, neither of the two lines above prints.

Stay on Smart update. Switch to Full update every start for one boot if an update went wrong or a Workshop download keeps failing, then switch back. Press Save changes after each change, and restart for it to apply.

If an update stalls

If Steam doesn't finish an update, the server tells you and tries again by itself:

• [PYW] Steam did not finish updating the game. Clearing its update record and trying once more (your world and settings are not touched).
• [PYW] The game update still did not finish, so the server is starting on the version it already has. If players cannot join, restart to try again or contact support.

Restart once more. If that second line comes back each time, open a support ticket with those lines from the Console.

Keep it current without thinking about it

A nightly restart keeps the server current. The Schedules tab has no one-click card for Garry's Mod, but you can create a task with a Power action set to Restart that runs every day. How to schedule automatic restarts walks through it.