Looking to get players on your GMod server? Look no further! At Atomic Networks, we've seen lots of GMod communities succeed, and lots of them fail. There are a lot of things you can do to control how successful your GMod community is, here are a few of the most important factors we have seen to GMod community success.
How to Advertise a GMod Server
To advertise a GMod server, there are a few basics that you can get out of the way right off the bat. These are getting your GMod server on the online server lists, configuring your GSLT token, and getting Anycast DDOS protection.
Online Server Lists: Battlemetrics and Gametracker
Battlemetrics and GameTracker are online server list websites that display different Garry's Mod servers. They are the 2 most popular websites for GMod servers to be found through Google and the wider internet. These 2 websites are easy wins to create an online presence for your GMod community. After you create an account, follow the configuration instructions for Garry's Mod servers to get your server listed on these websites.
Don't expect listing your server on these websites to get you players. In fact, it's very rare to get players directly from Battlemetrics or GameTracker. This is simply a step that every growing GMod community should take to establish their presence online.
Configuring Your GSLT Token for Your GMod Server
Configuring your GSLT token is an important step in ensuring that you are maximizing your place on the server list. To keep things simple, a GSLT token is essentially a social signal that Valve uses to determine whether or not a GMod server is owned by a real person who owns GMod. Read this guide for more information on how to set up a GSLT token for your GMod server.
Anycast GMod Server Hosting
Anycast is a type of DDOS protection that uses certain technologies to make your server have low ping and very high server ranking on the GMod server list. If you don't know much about Anycast, read our guide on what Anycast is and how it benefits your GMod server. Having Anycast on your GMod server hosting these days is the most important factor in making sure that your server stays at the top of the list for your game mode. Every major GMod community that still pulls players uses Anycast as a tool to keep their server at the top of the list for players connecting around the world.
If you are currently hosting your GMod server with a host that doesn't use Path.net Anycast (ex. Nodecraft, Hosthavoc, Bisect, Iceline, GMC, Nitrous, and way more don't use Anycast) you might want to consider switching to a host that does. Fortunately, Atomic Networks offers this service for all GMod server hosting at the lowest prices on the market. In fact, you can even see the difference for free by claiming a free GMod development server and putting it on the server list.
How to Get Players on Your GMod Server
To get players on your GMod server, you will need to be online, playing on your server as often as possible. When making a GMod server, there are a lot of things you need to worry about. Addons, server hardware, and everything else that comes with the job of having to do everything. But there is one thing that most GMod server owners fail to focus on, community.
Starting a GMod server is like pushing a snowball up a hill. The initial work it takes to get your player count to the peak is very difficult. But once you get there, it's a lot easier to continue to snowball. Growing a GMod community is not easy. It takes a lot of time, and a lot of persistence. Here are some actionable things that we've seen work really well for new communities.
Lead by example.
In a world where people have infinite choices for what they can choose to do with their time, you need to be the #1 option to create a GMod community. How do you expect to do that if you can't even invest your own time into your server? Commit to being on consistently. Show potential players that connect to your server (and your current player base) that you care, and are actively doing work to entertain them and improve their experience.
Make sure you have the basics covered.
When running our own GMod community (AtomicRP), we gathered a lot of information on what matters most to players when it comes to a good GMod server. There are 3 factors that were by far, the most important for our player base, and might be for yours too!
- Having an Engaging/Active Community
- Having an Engaged/Active Staff Team (a staff team that is active and doesn't suck)
- Fairly/Evenly Enforced Rules
Do everything you can to get all of your current players online at the same time.
The more players people see on a server while browsing the server list, the more likely they are to connect to your server. This works especially well if you run engaging events, or have other major things happening on your server around peak times.
With enough effort and drive, anyone can create a successful GMod community. We hope you're able to take some of these tips to grow yours!
Are GMod Servers Still Active?
Yes! GMod servers are still active. Garry's Mod as a game has maintained a healthy community of multiplayer servers for over a decade. With the introduction of free GMod servers, now is a better time than ever to start your own GMod server!