Understanding mp_maxrounds & mp_winlimit

oxy

L5: Dapper Member
Nov 27, 2007
208
30
Hey all. I am still having problems understanding how these commands work within TF2. Do they behave differently for different types of maps?

Does a flag cap count at a round does a PL point count as a win?

Can somebody please help understand how I should set these as my maps are still changing in the middle of gameplay, normally during a CP map.

Thanks

..oxy..
 

Apex_

L3: Member
Jan 23, 2008
122
14
Hey all. I am still having problems understanding how these commands work within TF2. Do they behave differently for different types of maps?

Does a flag cap count at a round does a PL point count as a win?

Can somebody please help understand how I should set these as my maps are still changing in the middle of gameplay, normally during a CP map.

Thanks

..oxy..

You hit the nail on the head with your second sentence. Scoring in TF2 has a wide range of methods from 1 capture being 1 round (most CTF maps) to a single checkpoint counting as 1 "round" for the team (some PL maps).

The best way to keep everything running smoothly is to have config files set up for each map, to set the winlimit and maxrounds accordingly when the map loads. If you use an admin mod, it should have a directory for these configs like cfg/beetlesmod/ etc, but you can name a config file after a map (pl_goldrush.cfg) and place it in the server's /cfg/ folder to have TF2 load it I believe.

If you can, ask the author what the scoring method is. Youme is nice enough to provide a recommended config for Hoodoo, which I wish more authors would do. If you can't contact the author, load the map up and set the two values well above normal and play one full round to see the scoring pattern. Use the attackers on multi-stage CP maps and PL to make sure you've got enough headroom, or else you'll cut off the stages!

Hope that helps, and if you need any example values for certain maps let me know.
 

oxy

L5: Dapper Member
Nov 27, 2007
208
30
Thanks for your reply.

I am still quite confused.

Are you saying that each flag capture is one 'round'? Or, like in 2fort the first team to cap the flag 3 times wins on 'round'? Does that round count as a win towards winlimit?

Ideally, On attack/defend cp maps and on PL maps I would like each team to have a chance attacking and defending. How do I know how many rounds a map is?

Maybe some examples would help.

Thanks again. :confused:
 

Apex_

L3: Member
Jan 23, 2008
122
14
Thanks for your reply.

I am still quite confused.

Are you saying that each flag capture is one 'round'? Or, like in 2fort the first team to cap the flag 3 times wins on 'round'? Does that round count as a win towards winlimit?

Ideally, On attack/defend cp maps and on PL maps I would like each team to have a chance attacking and defending. How do I know how many rounds a map is?

Maybe some examples would help.

Thanks again. :confused:

I think examples would definitely help, since there are at least half a dozen scoring methods out there...

2fort, and most CTF maps follow the same method however. Generally the default is 3 caps = 1 round = 1 "team point", which is my term for the overall score at the top of the scoreboard when you hit tab. You can alter that via a cvar to make 5 caps = 1 round, etc, but the vast majority of people use 3.

PL on the other hand requires some fiddling. Most of them (goldrush as the main example) use 1 checkpoint as 1 "team point". To confuse things even MORE, it doesn't award points to the defense for winning, only the offense for the checkpoints they captured up until they were stopped.

*edit* I ran a quick test on Goldrush and the "maxrounds" value only applies to team switches. So when Red successfully defends and teams swap, that's 1 round and vice versa with Blue completing all 3 stages. This applies to attack/defend CP as well I believe.

The confusion stems from a round in CTF or linear/Gravelpit style CP maps counting as 1 win or "team point". So if you get 3 flag caps on 2fort, you get 1 win and that was a single round. In these cases Maxrounds and Winlimit are linked (often a 3:2 ratio respectively) and have an odd number to prevent ties. PL doesn't work that way though.

Hope that clears things up a little bit!
 
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Laz

L420: High Member
Jul 5, 2008
461
35
Let's say on a vanilla server, with all stock maps in rotation, what would the settings be? mp_winlimit 5 cuts the map off at the first cap of the third stage on pl_goldrush.

Im trying to run my server as the game was intended. only some admin mods to kick and such, but altering as little as possible on the gameplay, with some custom maps ofcourse.
any settings you can recommend?
 

Apex_

L3: Member
Jan 23, 2008
122
14
Let's say on a vanilla server, with all stock maps in rotation, what would the settings be? mp_winlimit 5 cuts the map off at the first cap of the third stage on pl_goldrush.

Im trying to run my server as the game was intended. only some admin mods to kick and such, but altering as little as possible on the gameplay, with some custom maps ofcourse.
any settings you can recommend?

Winlimit cuts the map off because one "win" on a PL map is most often a single checkpoint capture. Thus, a map like Goldrush has 7 "wins" if you capture every checkpoint to win all three stages.

In this case, you would decide how many rounds you wanted per map. If you want say 4 rounds (each team defends and attacks twice) then your mp_maxrounds is just that, 4. Winlimit would then be set to something like 3/4 of the total captures possible in 4 rounds. In 4 total rounds, there are 28 checkpoints, so three quarters of that would be mp_winlimit 21. This is to prevent one team steamrolling an entire map and you losing all of your players out of frustration. You can use an odd number of rounds if you like, but I use an even number so both teams have an equal amount of time on offense and defense.

This same formula applies to attack/defend CP maps like Dustbowl. Instead of checkpoints you have capture points, that's about the only difference.

For CTF there's a link between winlimit and maxrounds. By default one round in CTF is 3 flag captures, and once a team gets 3 captures they get 1 "win" on the scoreboard. That's both a win and a round, unlike PL/CP where rounds and wins have no connection at all. Also unlike attack/defend type maps you don't want to have an even amount of wins or rounds or else you'll have ties. Short CTF games are usually best 2 out of 3 (winlimit 2, maxrounds 3) or 3 out of 5. Long games can be any amounts, but I follow the rule of "maxrounds = 2 times winlimit minus one" to make sure ties aren't possible.

Examples:

Code:
//All normal CTF maps, e.g. Turbine, 2fort...
mp_winlimit 3
mp_maxrounds 5

//PL and Attack/Defend CP maps
//Note that winlimit can be anything above the total checkpoints/CPs
//The maxrounds amount is more important
mp_winlimit 21
mp_maxrounds 4

I really wish the scoring in TF2 was less nebulous...
 

oxy

L5: Dapper Member
Nov 27, 2007
208
30
This forum rocks! Thanks a bunch for your input. I will try to tweak our server and report my results here.

You really helped me demystify this topic.


..oxy..
 

Apex_

L3: Member
Jan 23, 2008
122
14
This forum rocks! Thanks a bunch for your input. I will try to tweak our server and report my results here.

You really helped me demystify this topic.


..oxy..

No problem at all, I just wish the topic didn't need to be demystified in the first place! I learned all of this from hours of trial and error, so hopefully my long winded explanations and a couple of examples can save a few folks the same trouble.
 

oxy

L5: Dapper Member
Nov 27, 2007
208
30
Sorry to dig this back up but we would like to create custom .CFG files for our maps. Having a complete custom maps server means that there are many different maps with different scoring methods. Can anybody point me to or show me a way to make .CFG's for the maps we are hosting and how to implement them.

Thanks again!

..oxy..
 

flubber

L4: Comfortable Member
Nov 16, 2007
171
35
Honestly i have 2 full customs servers but having winlimit = 0 et maxrounds = 2 make it good for all maps, never had to change any other file.
Anyway if you still want to, just put a texte file rename it mapname.cfg into /maps/cfg/ and it should work fine.

example our tc_hydro:
mp_maxrounds 2
mp_winlimit 0
mp_timelimit 0
//class limit settings.
//sm_classrestrict_enabled 1
//sm_classrestrict_blu_demomen -1
//sm_classrestrict_blu_engineers -1
//sm_classrestrict_blu_heavies -1
//sm_classrestrict_blu_medics -1
//sm_classrestrict_blu_pyros -1
//sm_classrestrict_blu_scouts -1
//sm_classrestrict_blu_snipers -1
//sm_classrestrict_blu_soldiers -1
//sm_classrestrict_blu_spies -1
//sm_classrestrict_red_demomen -1
//sm_classrestrict_red_engineers -1
//sm_classrestrict_red_heavies -1
//sm_classrestrict_red_medics -1
//sm_classrestrict_red_pyros -1
//sm_classrestrict_red_scouts -1
//sm_classrestrict_red_snipers -1
//sm_classrestrict_red_soldiers -1
//sm_classrestrict_red_spies -1
 

3choE

L1: Registered
Feb 20, 2010
14
1
Hi all,

Sorry for pulling up this old thread, but it was the thread I got my answers for setting up CP & PL maps. :p


I am planning to host a TF2 server, with King of the Hill maps, and got a few questions to ask:


1)
Can I mix and cycle the KOTH maps with the regular CP/PL/CTF maps?

For example, like in the following:

CP --> KOTH --> PL --> KOTH --> CTF


2)
Can I get some suggestions on setting the round time for the KOTH maps?

- mp_enableroundwaittime
- mp_bonusroundtime
- mp_restartround
- mp_stalemate_timelimit
- mp_timelimit
- mp_winlimit
- mp_maxrounds


3)
While I mainly need help on setting up a KOTH server, I want to ask the same #2 for a 24/7 2fort server.

Besides:

- mp_timelimit
- mp_winlimit
- mp_maxrounds

the other ones I have been using default values, which they have been working fine, but I would like to see other settings.


Thanks. :p