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Team Fortress 2 > Guides > Ashref's Guides
229 ratings
Play with friends in your local server (Without Steam Networking)
By Ashref
A simple (and fairly outdated) method to make your listen server joinnable to friends.
No port-forwarding or other programs required.
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Created by
Ashref
Offline
Category: Co-op, Maps or Levels, Modding or Configuration, Multiplayer, Secrets
Languages: English
Posted
Updated
15 Oct, 2023 @ 9:06am
1 Mar @ 3:06am
3,727 Unique Visitors
428 Current Favorites
Guide Index
Overview
1) Copy this and paste it into your game's launch options 
2) Launch tf2 and paste this into your console 
3) Find and copy the server's IP address 
That's it 
Useful commands 
What's going on? What is -enablefakeip? And how does it work? 
Comments
1) Copy this and paste it into your game's launch options
-enablefakeip -console +sv_lan 0
-enablefakeip is the key to making this work.

2) Launch tf2 and paste this into your console
connect x; disconnect; map [MAP_NAME_HERE]
Alternatively, run the map command twice. Doing it once will get you stuck with stock items.



3) Find and copy the server's IP address
Look for this line:
FakeIP allocation succeeded:
and copy the IP address in front of it.

That's it
Share that IP address with a friend of yours and expect them to join your local server by typing:
connect [IP_ADDRESS_HERE]
or by joining through the server list.
Useful commands
  • hostname [SERVER_NAME_HERE] // Change the server's name.
  • sv_password [PASSWORD_HERE] // Add password to your server.
  • changelevel [MAP_NAME_HERE] // change the map without losing connection.
  • mp_timelimit [TIME_IN_MINUTES] // How long the server stays on a map before map change.
  • hide_server 1 // Hide your server from the server browser.
  • tf_mm_strict 0 // Remove the "hidden" tag in case friends couldn't join your server.
  • sv_lan 0 // Make sure to not let it reset back to 1 when launching a server without console.
  • sv_pure -1 // Allow custom content such as mods, skins, custom textures etc.
  • net_maxfilesize 64 // Set maximum map size allowed for the game to download.
etc...
What's going on? What is -enablefakeip? And how does it work?
No idea. But someone conveniently made a video breaking it down:

37 Comments
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A Motivated Man 21 Apr, 2024 @ 2:47am 
By which I mean random people who aren't on your friends list. This 64 bit update actually made getting a server with people much easier to do as random ones can join now!
A Motivated Man 21 Apr, 2024 @ 2:35am 
So I was going to test a plugin for a server with the SteamCMD thing again. A clueless F2P was able to join (little dumbass tried using the !sm_admin command when he ain't). PEOPLE CAN JOIN VIA THE STEAMCMD METHOD NOW YOU NO LONGER HAVE TO GIVE YOUR IP OUT ANYMORE!
Ashref  [author] 21 Apr, 2024 @ 2:08am 
@A_Motivated_Man wow that's an interesting sight. I personally have no idea what's going on behind the scenes, so I think stuff like that should be documented at this point.
A Motivated Man 21 Apr, 2024 @ 1:57am 
So an absolute MIRACLE happened. I guess the latest update to TF2 updated how the SteamCMD servers work because 3 people were actually able to join my game, and they weren't on my friends list! Sadly the server killed itself before we actually got to do a game but it was still amazing. Either that or there's a small and very slim chance that your sourcemod server through the SteamCMD method shows up on the search results.
Ashref  [author] 21 Apr, 2024 @ 12:31am 
@Light Dunno.

It is a bit annoying yeah, but even if the game did let them download the map automatically, the download speed would be so comically slow you'd rather just send them the map's download link and move on.
Basically Source moment.
Light 20 Apr, 2024 @ 3:32pm 
how do i have my friends automatically download the map im using?
its a bit annoying for them all to have to manually install it
Ashref  [author] 19 Apr, 2024 @ 8:46pm 
@Yer Lmao can't help it then.

Nobody complained about that in the comments below until now. So it's probably from your end. See if @A_Motivated_Man's comments here are relevant to your issue. Otherwise check the other guide I referenced at the very end of this guide; it elaborates on the more technical side of things.
Yer 19 Apr, 2024 @ 1:29pm 
..I used the console.
Ashref  [author] 19 Apr, 2024 @ 10:04am 
@Yer Make sure to NOT launch your server through the "Create server" button.

Doing so will automatically make the game switch the sv_lan command to 1 , and we don't want that.
Use the console throughout.
Yer 18 Apr, 2024 @ 9:58pm 
I see my server on the LAN tab, but not on the internet tab and nobody joins, I do have the launch options but nobody joins, And yes i did try hide_server 0