Run a Left 4 Dead 2 dedicated server on the Windows or Linux PC you already have. NodeMesh installs it, sets the launch options and keeps it running. Left 4 Dead 2 is in Beta on NodeMesh, and we haven't run it on our own hardware yet.
Free on your own PC — one host, no time limit.
Sign up, then paste one command from your dashboard on the PC that will run the server — PowerShell on Windows, a terminal on Linux. The agent installs as a service and pairs with your account.
Choose the game in the panel. NodeMesh downloads the dedicated server, sets it up and starts it, and you watch every step in the live console.
Switch on the traffic relay for the server and the panel gives you a public address. Send it to your friends: their traffic goes through the relay to your PC, so you never open a port on your router.
The memory figures are for the game server alone. If you also play on the same PC, the game itself needs its own memory on top.
In Left 4 Dead 2, enable the developer console under Options > Keyboard/Mouse, open it with the ~ key and run connect followed by the address the panel shows you. We don't know yet whether a join through the NodeMesh relay works: if it does not, forward port 27015 (UDP and TCP) on your router and share your own address.
The server is a download of about 9.8 GB, so NodeMesh asks for 12 GB of free disk before it creates one. On Linux it is a 32-bit program: if your PC is missing the 32-bit compatibility libraries, the console tells you what to install instead of failing silently. NodeMesh starts it so that players can join directly, without going through a Steam lobby. The number of slots is set by the game mode, not by NodeMesh: 4 survivors in Co-op, Realism and Survival, 8 players in Versus and Scavenge. The game port carries both the game traffic and the RCON connection, and the RCON password is generated for you. There is no world to back up. Workshop add-ons, SourceMod and Metamod are not installed by NodeMesh yet.
One host — your own PC — is free with no time limit, for as many game servers as your hardware can run: the web panel and console, the config editor, the mod manager, auto-restart on crash and the traffic relay. Extra hosts cost credits.
See pricing →Beta: you can create this server today, but we have not run it on our own hardware yet. Expect rough edges, and tell us what you find.
No. The dedicated server is a separate free Steam tool and NodeMesh downloads it anonymously, so no Steam login is stored on your PC. Your players need the game.
NodeMesh does not ask for one. We could not find Left 4 Dead 2 servers documented as needing one, and the server starts without it. We do not yet know what players see on the server list.
That depends on the game mode: 4 in Co-op, Realism and Survival, 8 in Versus and Scavenge. More slots need server mods, which NodeMesh does not manage. We ask for 2 GB of memory as our own starting point, not a measured figure.
Steam lists the dedicated server for both. On Linux it is a 32-bit program and needs the 32-bit compatibility libraries. NodeMesh has not run it on either yet.
Yes, for one host. Running game servers on your own PC is free with no time limit — as many servers as your hardware can run, traffic relay included. You only pay, in credits, if you add more hosts.
Create an account, install the agent and pick the game. One host is free with no time limit.
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