Matches and the rotation

A match is one map played in one game mode, such as yard in team deathmatch. When it ends, the next starts, without anyone reconnecting: each player sees the loading screen while their game loads the new map.

The rotation

The rotation setting lists the matches to play in turn, each a map and a game mode:

server --set 'rotation=[{"map": "yard", "gametype": "tdm"}, {"map": "testbed", "gametype": "zombies"}]'

rotation_order says how it goes round:

• in_order plays the list from the top, again and again.
• shuffle deals the whole list in a random order, then deals it again, never starting with the match just played.

A game mode must be one the map’s file lists, and one the mod has. The server refuses any other.

The first match is the one --map and --gametype name, else the rotation’s first, else testbed. Without a game mode, a map plays the first its file lists. The rotation starts over when the server restarts or the list or its order changes.

As each match starts, the server tells players which comes next, and prints it: match 3: tdm on yard comes next. Their games download its files while they play, so the next map loads quickly. A next match that fails to load is printed, and the one playing starts again.

The stock game modes

Game mode	What it is
tdm	team deathmatch, to 50 points or 10 minutes
sd	search and destroy, to 4 rounds won
ctf	capture the flag, to 3 captures or 10 minutes
zom	humans against zombies who are players; the killed come back as zombies
zombies	waves of zombies the server runs, until everyone is dead or wave 10 is cleared

Changing the match

Admins change it from the chat box or the server’s console:

Command	What it does
/match <map> <gametype>	plays that match now
/match_next	plays the rotation’s next match now
/match_restart	plays this match again from the start
/match_rotation	shows the rotation and where it is