SturmBot.org

This is a guide for making a day of defeat Linux dedicated server on your local LAN.
This can be used for a LAN party or just for fun… like a test bed for a dedicated server or if your Game PC has low hardware, put mods and bots on another PC to take the load of bots and admin mods.

A thought. Do you have a old Windows 10 PC or laptop sitting in a box?

Hey... if it ran Windows 10 it will very likely do the below AND serve as a network storage device too. I have a guide to convert that e-waste into something useful.

This may also be of use on a dedicated server (hosted) as basically, past installing the stemcmd files, it does show you how to install and basically configure the mods and Marine bot install.

We will use Linux Mint 22.2 Zara base: Ubuntu 24.04 noble in the guide.

Other OS types may differ in some areas. We will only use Marine Bot.

Why only Marine Bot in Linux?
Day of Defeat 1.3 was released in 2003, and most third party bot projects were built for the Linux systems of that era.

Modern Linux distributions (Mint, Ubuntu, Debian, PopOS, etc.) use newer versions of glibc, GCC, and the dynamic loader, which makes almost all legacy bot .so binaries incompatible.

As a result, Shrikebot, Sturmbot (Linux Sturmbot ver 1.5.1 for dod 3.1B) are incompatible these days.

Also because it does not a Linux version (yet) new_bot cannot run natively on current Linux HLDS servers, it would need Proton, OK if your PC can handle the extra strain (Listen server)... but no Linux version - No Linux Dedicated server support.

The only bot with a maintained, modern Linux build that still loads correctly under SteamCMD HLDS is Marine Bot.
For this reason, Marine Bot is the only fully functional, native Linux bot available at the time of writing April 2026.

Now in this guide note:

• My Linux Mint user folder is called “kim” replace that with your user folder name.
• If you see sudo apt update highlights like that, its what you copy or type in the Linux Terminal.

( Linux Terminal is scary? - don't worry every step is there to copy and paste... easier than you think)

Day of Defeat 1.3 (dod) is our target game, the bot program is Marine Bot (Linux).

•  Linux Mint 22.2 “Zara” (Ubuntu 24.04 Noble base)
• HLDS installed via SteamCMD
• Metamod
• AMX Mod X
• Marine bot (Linux)

A download for this guide.

The files we will reference below, I have placed the links there but also if you wish, the game files edited and downloaded are in a special download.

I made this download (7.12MB) as I wrote and tested the guide.

You can download that here but remember Marine Bot will get out of date quickly past April 2026.

 INDEX

Preparing the Linux Mint Environment

Optional... Before installing anything, make sure the system is fully up to date.
Open a terminal and run:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y

That may take some time, but ensures all packages, libraries, and security components are current.
A fully updated system avoids missing dependency errors later when installing HLDS, Metamod, AMXX, and Marine Bot.

Enabling 32 bit architecture (required for HLDS)

HLDS (Half Life Dedicated Server) is a 32 bit application, so Linux Mint must support 32 bit libraries.
Most modern distros disable 32 bit support by default, so we enable it manually.

Check if 32 bit architecture is already enabled

Run:
dpkg --print-foreign-architectures

If you see:
i386
…then 32 bit support is already active. (Move on to the next section)

If not, enable it:
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt update

This allows Mint to install the 32 bit libraries required for HLDS, Metamod, AMXX, and Marine Bot

Install Required 32 bit Libraries (if you found them missing)
HLDS and several DoD 1.3 components rely on older 32 bit system libraries.Linux Mint 22.2 includes most of what we need, but we install the essentials to avoid missing library errors later.

Run the following:
sudo apt install libc6:i386 libstdc++6:i386 libgcc-s1:i386

You will need your password and there will be a “Y/n” question on parts of the install. You will see the install stop and ask permission (Type "Y" for Yes and enter)

These packages provide:

• libc6:i386 – core 32 bit C runtime
• libstdc++6:i386 – standard C++ library (required by HLDS and Metamod)
• libgcc-s1:i386 – GCC runtime support

This ensures HLDS and all related mods can run correctly on a modern 64 bit Linux system.

Create the Folder Structure for SteamCMD and HLDS

To keep the server organized and easy to maintain, we create a dedicated folder for SteamCMD and another for the HLDS installation.

Create a folder for SteamCMD In your home directory:
mkdir ~/steamcmd

Create a folder for HLDS (Day of Defeat server)
mkdir ~/hlds

This folder will contain the actual HLDS installation, including other we are yet to do:

• dod/ (the game files)
• valve/ (base HL1 files)
• addons/ (Metamod, AMXX, Marine Bot)
• hlds_run and hlds_linux binaries

Keeping HLDS in its own directory makes it easy to back up, clone, or move to another machine.

Confirm the folders exist
In terminal:
ls ~

You should now see something like this…

Install SteamCMD

SteamCMD is the command line tool used to download HLDS and all Half Life 1–based servers.
We install it directly into the ~/steamcmd folder created earlier.

Download SteamCMD, run the following commands to change your directory and get steamcmd:
cd ~/steamcmd
wget https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steamcmd_linux.tar.gz

This downloads the official Linux SteamCMD package.

Extract SteamCMD

Run this

tar -xvzf steamcmd_linux.tar.gz

This unpacks the SteamCMD executable and support files into the same folder.

Run SteamCMD for the first time:
./steamcmd.sh

SteamCMD will:

• Update itself
• Create additional files
• Drop you into the Steam> prompt

Once you see the Steam> prompt, type:
quit

It will look something like this...

This completes the initial setup.

Install HLDS into the hlds folder

At the Steam> prompt, enter the following commands one at a time:
force_install_dir ../hlds

Result...

Then...
login anonymous

Then…
app_update 90 validate

A lot of files download, you end up with….

Then…
quit

Install Day of Defeat 1.3 into HLDS

With the base HLDS server installed, we now add the actual Day of Defeat 1.3 game files.
This uses a different AppID: dod = 30.

Start SteamCMD:
cd ~/steamcmd
./steamcmd.sh

Install Day of Defeat into the HLDS folder

At the Steam> prompt, enter the following commands in order (Similar as before):
force_install_dir ../hlds

Then...
login anonymous

Then...
app_set_config 90 mod dod

Then…
app_update 90 validate

Then...
quit

So the whole sequence there looks like this in console…

kim@kim-mint-vm:~/steamcmd$ cd ~/steamcmd
./steamcmd.sh
Redirecting stderr to '/home/kim/Steam/logs/stderr.txt'
Logging directory: '/home/kim/Steam/logs'
[ 0%] Checking for available updates...
[----] Verifying installation...
UpdateUI: skip show logo
Steam Console Client (c) Valve Corporation - version 1773426366
-- type 'quit' to exit --
Loading Steam API...OK
Steam>force_install_dir ../hlds
Steam>login anonymous
Connecting anonymously to Steam Public...OK
Waiting for client config...OK
Waiting for user info...OK
Steam>app_set_config 90 mod dod
Steam>app_update 90 validate
Update state (0x61) downloading, progress: 2.38 (9296466 / 391387184)
Update state (0x61) downloading, progress: 33.32 (130428204 / 391387184)
Update state (0x61) downloading, progress: 79.93 (312838155 / 391387184)
Update state (0x61) downloading, progress: 95.15 (372389238 / 391387184)
Update state (0x61) downloading, progress: 99.03 (387589489 / 391387184)
Update state (0x0) unknown, progress: 0.00 (0 / 0)
Success! App '90' fully installed.
Steam>quit
Unloading Steam API...OK
kim@kim-mint-vm:~/steamcmd$

Press CTRL C and close the Terminal.

First Test Launch of HLDS + DoD (Linux Mint 22.2)

This is the “smoke test” — the moment we confirm the install is healthy before adding Metamod, AMXX, bots, or plugins.
It's also time to find out where… your files are without Terminal and a lot of… command line “oh but you must use Terminal” complete and utter nonsense.

I'm sure you have had your fill of typing.

Open up your File manager, look at your home folders, note the new ones…

“hlds” “Steam” and “steamcmd”.

The “hlds” folder is the one we are interested in. Open it.
Note that you have a cstrike and dod folder, this is like a “Half-Life” folder on your local PC.
More on that later, we will visit the dod folder a lot.

OK… now go back to the “hlds” folder. We will launch a Terminal from there.

Run HLDS from the hlds folder:

Right click in a blank area of the “hlds” folder.
Select “Open in Terminal”

Now put this in...
./hlds_run -game dod +maxplayers 12 +map dod_anzio

What you should see

• HLDS banner
• Engine version (legacy)
• DoD game DLL loading
• No missing .so libraries
• No segmentation faults
• Server binds to port 27015
• Map loads successfully

The console output will look something like this at the end:
couldn't exec listip.cfg
couldn't exec banned.cfg
Connection to Steam servers successful.
VAC secure mode is activated.

Go to a client PC on your local LAN, open dod, look at the LAN tab and join your server.

Important: Get used to doing this next part correctly.

We will do this for a while yet, then make a desktop launcher later on.

To stop your HLDS server in Terminal

1. press CTRL C then
2. close the Terminal window.

Let’s move on and install the admin mods.

Install Metamod

Note: I do have these in the guide support download.

Visit the AMX Mod X website (downloads). https://www.amxmodx.org/downloads.php

Download these files
Metamod
v1.21.1-am (all OSes) (or whatever the latest release is)

While there download the AMX Mod X files too. One for the base and one for dod.

AMX Mod X Base
1.10-5474 Linux

Day of Defeat Addon
1.10-5474 Linux

These are (traditionally) downloaded to your “downloads” folder.
Right click on the metamod-1.21.1-am.zip and select “Extract here”

An addons folder is there now.
Do the same with the other compressed files, but doing them in order…

Do the base first… amxmodx-1.10.0-git5474-base-linux.tar.gz
Then the dod addon…amxmodx-1.10.0-git5474-dod-linux.tar.gz

Note when promoted do overwrite the files when the dod addon is extracted.

You now have a addons folder ready to place under the “dod” folder…

Finding your dod folder and install the mod folders

Before moving on, copy the “addons” folder we made in the downloads folder.

Then click on the “Home” icon on the left side, note the “hlds” folder in the main window.

Open the “hlds” folder, the dod folder is in there, paste the “addons” folder in that.

The mods are installed now but they need some files made and altered, configured to start.

Tell HLDS to load Metamod
Open the DoD folder
In the file manager open the dod folder and find the file liblist.gam, its a text file so right click and open with “Text Editor” or whatever your text editor (like Kate) is named.

Find this line… gamedll_linux "dlls/dod.so"
Replace it with… gamedll_linux "addons/metamod/dlls/metamod.so"

Select “File” and Save” Close the Text Editor.

Tell Metamod to load AMX Mod X
We are still in the “dod” folder, go to the “addons” folder open it and the “metamod” folder.
We need a file in that folder called “plugins.ini”

Depending on your downloaded version, the file may or may not be there.

If the file is not there...
Right click there, select “Create New Document” > “Empty Document”
Name it… plugins.ini

Now edit the file..
Open it “Open with Text Editor” and put in this line…
linux addons/amxmodx/dlls/amxmodx_mm_i386.so
… save it, close the text editor.

Now metamod knows AMX Mod X is on the file system and where it is, so it will start.

Test the server so far and check it.

Right now we are in the directory... /home/kim/hlds/dod/addons/metamod
Go to your “hlds” directory and right click anywhere… “Open in Terminal”

Paste or type this in…
./hlds_run -game dod +map dod_anzio

If you made zero errors the terminal fills up and you can read at the top items like…
Metamod version 1.21.1-am Co….
and
AMX Mod X version 1.10.0.5474 Copyri...
And so on.

At the end type in… meta list you should see
meta list
Currently loaded plugins:
description stat pend file vers src load unlod
[ 1] AMX Mod X RUN - amxmodx_mm_i386. v1.10.0. ini Start ANY
[ 2] DoDX RUN - dodx_amxx_i386.s v1.10.0. pl1 ANY ANY
2 plugins, 2 running

Then type in amxx plugins you should see
amxx plugins
Currently loaded plugins:
id name version author url file status
[ 1] 0 Admin Base 1.10.0.547 AMXX Dev Team admin.amxx running
[ 2] 1 Admin Commands 1.10.0.547 AMXX Dev Team admincmd.am running
[ 3] 2 Admin Help 1.10.0.547 AMXX Dev Team adminhelp.a running
[ 4] 3 Slots Reservation 1.10.0.547 AMXX Dev Team…
and so on

Remember these two commands meta list for Metamod and amxx plugins for AMX Mod X so you can see whats running and... if it is healthy like a “badf” beside the name normally means you told it to load but the actual files were not found… perhaps in the wrong folder.

To stop the server press CTRL C and close Terminal.

 Add yourself as an admin

This is a dedicated server and unlike a local pc (listen server) on a local lan you you do need to edit a file with your Steam ID.

Some Steam users know their Steam ID, some don’t.

1. Go to your steam profile, up the top right where your avatar/name is, click on your name and select “Account details: Your Name”
2. On that page look for this (small fonts) under your name… Steam ID: 6456378328764 (lots of numbers) Copy those numbers.
3. Now go to a site that looks up profiles and shows Steam ID’s different ways… its safe, this one for example SteamI/O https://steamid.io/
4. Paste your long number in the input box and press enter.

What you get is a lot of info… copy and paste it into a text file if you wish and save it somewhere.
But what we are looking for is the top one… steamID STEAM_0:1:146889
Copy that now.

Next open a file in /home/kim/hlds/dod/addons/amxmodx/configs “users.ini” Right click, open with Text Editor.

Go to the bottom
Paste in your steam ID.

Now just read above…
; Examples of admin accounts:
; "STEAM_0:0:123456" "" "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuv" "ce"

So do this format for your steam ID
"STEAM_0:1:146889" "" "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuv" "ce"

Save the file.

Right now we are in the directory... /home/kim/hlds/dod/addons/metamod

Go to your “hlds” directory and right click anywhere… “Open in Terminal”
Paste or type this in…
./hlds_run -game dod +map dod_anzio

Now open your dod client and if you have a bind set correctly your admin menu will show on the screen.

I use this for a bind… bind F11 amxmodmenu just put that in the clients developer console now if you have not made one, press F11 and test it.

Close the client PC game and the server (CTRL C on the server PC)

Install and configure Marine Bot

Please see the official files page…

Install from the download or visit the Main website.
I have a version in the download, but you should also visit the Marine Bot pages as Frank does do updates all the time.

Read his news page regularly… http://marinebot.xf.cz/index.html
Visit his Files page… http://marinebot.xf.cz/files.html

For dod… scroll down and find these titles…

• Alpha versions… “Marine Bot test versions (call it an alpha release if you wish)”
• Stable versions… “Marine Bot ports for different Half-Life 1 mods”

For waypoints and matching maps… see this website link..
https://sturmbot.org/index.php/marine-bot/129-marine-bot-waypoint-and-dod-map-links

Note in the article download (up neat the index)... the marine bot customwpts and defaultwpts folders have a huge amount of waypoint files.

Configure Marine Bot

For a test start you don’t need to edit anything.

However, right now grab a coffee, do go to… /home/kim/hlds/dod/marinebot
In there you will find some HTML files… that’s a manual.

• console_commands.html – huge amount on what the commands do.
• faq.html – basic questions you may have...answered.

A trick to reading these (very comprehensive) files Frank McNeil has assembled.
Frank will put in everything… that also make it hard to read, but not when you actually find the issue.

• Use word search in your browser, say you want to adjust the skill on your bots.
• Use CTRL F and in the Find box put… skill
• So you will see that mentioned (highlighted) in the recruit (adding bots) section and then this one…

setbotskill <number 1-5>Sets bot skill level for all bots already in game. Lower numbers mean better skills.

Now look at the ones below that… HEAPS of info’

So configuration in this guide… out of scope… just read the damn (beautiful) manual Frank provided… it may be hard to find things but, oh man… its awesome.

Best in the business. More configureation to come...for now, test.

Test the Server with Marine bot

Once the line is added, restart your server. Go to your “hlds” directory and right click anywhere… “Open in Terminal”

Paste or type this in…
./hlds_run -game dod +map dod_anzio +localinfo mm_gamedll marinebot/marinebot.so

The server will run. The bots join. Start you game client and test.

Quit the server via CTRL C and close Terminal.

Linux Mint Desktop Shortcut for Starting the DoD Server

This will create a more user friendly way of starting the server.
Don’t forget… in the guide my home folder is “kim” replace that for yours.

Also, my server size is 12 bots and players.

To make sure that works correctly the server size needs to be 14 slots (2 spare slots). The bots will be set at maximum 12 and minimum 2 later in marinebot.cfg.

Create the launcher script

Inside /home/kim/hlds... Right click and “Open in Terminal” Type this in…
nano /home/kim/hlds/start_dedicated_server.sh

Paste this inside Nano:
#!/bin/bash
cd /home/kim/hlds
./hlds_run -game dod +maxplayers 14 +map dod_anzio +localinfo mm_gamedll marinebot/marinebot.so

Note the +maxplayers 14 above. That is up to you… I am aiming for 12 bots so I need 2 slots spare to join. More on that later.

Save & exit Nano:
Press CTRL + O → Enter
Press CTRL + X

Now the file exists.

Make it executable
chmod +x /home/kim/hlds/start_dedicated_server.sh

This keeps everything self contained inside your HLDS folder — exactly your preferred workflow: no clutter in $HOME, no scattered files, no confusion.

Next is making a desktop shortcut… a launcher.

Desktop Shortcut Using This Script
Right click Desktop → Create New Launcher
Fill in:

• Name: DoD MarineBot Server
• Command: /home/kim/hlds/start_dedicated_server.sh
• Comment: Launches the DoD 1.3 dedicated server
• Tick – Launch in Terminal?
• Press OK
• You can put it in the menu if you like...or not.

Double click → terminal opens → HLDS launches → Marine Bot loads → server is live.

Now make sure you always shut the server down correctly.

•  Make sure the Terminal window is your active window
• CTRL C shuts it down
• Close Terminal.

If some strange text happens on using the launcher…
In your “hlds” folder Open in Terminal”… run…
ps aux | grep hlds

If you see a running hlds_linux or hlds_run, kill it:

killall hlds_linux
killall hlds_run

Close the terminal.
Try the launcher again.

REMEMBER: if you need to edit that command line, like a change of map or maxplayers… the file start_dedicated_server.sh is in /home/kim/hlds and can be edited with your text editor.

The final touches- the server size and bot-human control

OK… next, if you do the same as me 12 bot server and a spare 2 slots…
Marine Bot has a configuration file called marine.cfg in /home/kim/hlds/dod/marinebot

Lets visit that file and change some items.

Editing some basic items in marine.cfg
As I said before, I’m not going into the massive amount of Marine Bot adjustments you can do.
But for server size lets look at the top of the file and set it up for my 12 bot/player server.

Open marine.cfg in /home/kim/hlds/dod/marinebot
You can adjust others like skill, but the first adjustment (server size only) is…

auto_balance "30"
Read what this is… basically look for after you join you will make the server uneven.
However, after 30 seconds the bot on the uneven side is removed.
Adjust that time but the default works fine for me.

min_bots "2"
Read what that is, you can take that to “0” if you have a lot of Humans coming in.
max_bots "12"
As above, read about it… it is important as we have set the maxplayers at 14 and on the advice there we should add 2 slots less than that.

Custom Recruiting section… (adding bots)
This entire section has a lot of options. Frank has set a default of 15 bots, most with a team and a class.

Read that and the manual on how to recruit (add) bots.

Here is what I like for a generic load out of bots, it’s covered in my website section… https://sturmbot.org/index.php/marine-bot/126-marine-bot-introduction#marineconfig
Per side: 3 rifles 2 support and a sniper

recruit
addmarine team "allies" class "1"
addmarine team "axis" class "1"
addmarine team "allies" class "1"
addmarine team "axis" class "1"
addmarine team "allies" class "2"
addmarine team "axis" class "2"
addmarine team "allies" class "5"
addmarine team "axis" class "5"
addmarine team "allies" class "6"
addmarine team "axis" class "4"
addmarine team "allies" class "6"
addmarine team "axis" class "4"
recruit-end

 
So decide what you want… read the manual, adjust the server size and load out in marine.cfg.

But wait there is more.
Marine bot has a mapscfg folder.
It has two jobs… waypointers can correct actual map errors in the bsp for the bots to cope with that.

But it can also take the marine.cfg, be placed in there, the name changed by prefixing a map name… like for map dod_anzio = dod_anzio_marine.cfg is the new file name.
Then you can change values in that config… it overrides the marine.cfg on that map load only.

So each map can have a separate config file, different values inside them.

Inside the mapscfg folder read about that there and in the manual.

One more setting most look at here before we move on. Skill.
Read “Default Skill” in marine.cfg

spawn_skill "3" is the default, Marine Bot from testing, this bot can be turned up and be quite hard.
I do like the “1” setting myself (1 - best accuracy and quickest fire rate) “3” is in the middle.

1 - best accuracy and quickest fire rate
2 - good accuracy and fast fire rate
3 - moderate accuracy and normal fire rate
4 - poor accuracy and slow fire rate
5 - worst accuracy and slowest fire rate

Something to remember too… you can set your server up for each bot to have a class, if you want all your snipers and MG bot to be a bit slower, less accurate, yes you can do that.

OK, no more on configuration of the Bot… please do read the information provided.
You should back those files up… when upgrading Marine Bot.

The next fun item… AMX MOD X plugins

I found the best one is DoD Field Medic - For Day of Defeat 1.3 by Vet
https://forums.alliedmods.net/showthread.php?p=488976

Now reading that it shows how it works and how to configure it. Also what bind command to use.
Read that and make sure you look at the date, also if someone has made changes later on, had issues.

In this case the first post files are OK, at the very bottom we have the "Attached Files" block.

There are two types as mentioned above...
Note:
There are 2 versions offered...
V2.0 (dod_fieldmedic.sma) is for those who use Amxmodx prior to v1.8.
V2.1H (dod_fieldmedic_H.sma) utilizes features in the Hamsandwich module.

That's an important choice. We are using a AMX Mod X version above 1.8 so... we need the dod_fieldmedic_H version.

Go back to the Attached Files block
There are four download links not two.

The Get Plugin or Get Source (dod_fieldmedic_H.sma - 3447 views - 9.4 KB)

We need the Get Plugin download of dod_fieldmedic_H.

The other one called Get Source is... a source file (the written code .sma file) that makes the .amxx plugin file. You need it only if you intend to alter and recompile the plugin.

OK you downloaded the right one.

Place the dod_fieldmedic_H.amxx file in dod\addons\amxmodx\plugins

Now go to dod\addons\amxmodx\configs\plugins.ini and enable the plugin via pasting this at the bottom…

dod_fieldmedic_H.amxx

The plugin will now start. Now in reading our plugin needs a module to be active... hamsandwich... remember this?
V2.1H (dod_fieldmedic_H.sma) utilizes features in the Hamsandwich module.

A quick check, is that module active?

Check the file dod\addons\amxmodx\configs\modules.ini you will find it is by default, same format as the plugins.ini, there is no ";" in front of hamsandwich.

It is something to remember... be careful reading these pages, they assume you know what you are doing and know the basics.

In fact while you are there… enable these too…
fun
engine
fakemeta
;geoip
;sockets
;regex
;nvault
dodfun
dodx
hamsandwich

The next scrap of information is the bind we need to activate a medic "call' where pressing the bind if injured (like 20% health left).

The command is say_team /medic

I use this... bind "MOUSE4" "say_team /medic"

So pick your own key, open dod and the console record your choice and press submit.

Try it out in the game

After you reach around 20% of health left... press the bind and watch your health restore... you can do that twice in a game.

Revisit the plugin page and look at all the CVAR's you can alter, put them in amxx.cfg dod\addons\amxmodx\configs\ and alter the plugin settings.

Conculsion.

I hope that helped someone at least get the basics of whats involved in setting up a dedicated server for dod 1.3... adding mods and bots and getting it to work well.

Now I may come back and add some more plugins, maybe even any other bots should they support linux.
Before I go.

Now I did test Gun Game, its a special patched version. Marine Bots load OK, weapons do swap... however they don't attack you or other bots.
So if you find that plugin, sorry while it does work with other windows bots, Marine bots..no.

However, don't let that stop you, try other plugins. 
Marine Bot is the premium bot for dod if you are looking for a bot that can really test your limits... or configure it for a casual game.

Running a local dedicated server on your LAN, its a little more effort but if your PC is a lower spec'... it does take quite a load off your client PC...so you can add more bots and plugins.
Go nuts.

INsane

Webmaster Sturmbot.org
Contact me.