Steam Dedicated TF2 Server Crashes

Hardware

• Crashes caused by hardware issues such as overheating or faulty components can force a computer to reboot spontaneously, ending the server session in the process. While this kind of issue can be easily fixed if your server is hosted on your own machine, troubleshooting it can be more difficult if your "Team Fortress 2" server is hosted on a remote computer. Depending on the remote server's configuration, administrators may simply see that the source dedicated server has stopped running and may not even notice that a reboot took place. Administrators who suspect a hardware cause for frequent remote server crashes should contact the Web host's technical support department to request a diagnostic of the machine.

Operating System

• Conflicts between applications can also cause source dedicated server crashes. It is therefore important to always keep your operating system up to date. While Web hosts typically update the server's operating system for their customers, administrators who host a "Team Fortress 2" server on a local computer should frequently check and install updates by visiting Windows Update.

Source Dedicated Server

• The Source dedicated server application can sometimes spontaneously crash for various reasons, such as exploits used by malicious players or bugs. To prevent those issues, administrators should keep the source dedicated server up to date by running the update tool that can be found on Valve's website. Valve frequently releases updates to its server application which, in addition to bringing new features to the game, also patch known issues and potential exploits.

Plugins

• One of the most common causes of crashes is a conflict between plugins. Add-ons such as Metamod and Sourcemod allow administrators to install a multitude of plugins that add features to the game. Those plugins are developed by enthusiasts and can sometimes contain bugs or conflict with each other. If your "Team Fortress 2" server regularly crashes, try disabling its plugins by typing "sm plugins unload_all" in the console. Let your server run for a day or more to see if crashes still take place after disabling the plugins.