KF2ServerTool - Killing Floor 2 Server Manager Overview

KF2ServerTool is a free utility by darkdks for installing and maintaining a Killing Floor 2 dedicated server without hand-editing config files. Its main job is Workshop content: you paste a Workshop link or browse the Workshop inside the app, click a button, and the tool downloads the map, adds the server subscription, the map entry, the map cycle entry and, when needed, the download redirect. It is the tool most KF2 hosting guides recommend, including our custom maps and mods setup guide.

What it does

• Installs a new KF2 dedicated server or works with an existing one
• Adds, updates and removes maps and mods from the Steam Workshop or a custom redirect
• Server maintenance: update the server and verify file integrity, for the current version or the Beta/Preview branch
• Starts the server with chosen map, difficulty, length, mode, password and custom mutators
• Profiles with different settings
• WebAdmin configuration and a built-in WebAdmin tab
• Workshop Download Manager configuration
• Cleanup tools for the download cache and Workshop data

To update an outdated Workshop item, right-click it in the list and choose update.

Screenshots

The Maps tab in list view. Green check marks show which steps (subscription, map entry, cycle entry, cache) are done for each map.

Icon mode shows map previews, here the official maps from KF-Airship to KF-KrampusLair.

The Server tab: pick a profile, map, length, difficulty, mode and password, add extra launch parameters such as mutators, and start the server.

The "Additional parameters" field takes standard KF2 URL options. The tool's own examples:

?Mutator=KFMutator.KFMutator_MaxPlayersV2?MaxPlayers=15?MaxMonsters=64
?Game=MyCustoGameMode.GameMode?Mutator=MyMutator.Mutator

The Options tab: Workshop Download Manager, WebAdmin and port, custom redirect URL, server update and integrity check (current or Beta/Preview), cache cleanup, language and theme.

The redirect shown in this 2018 screenshot is a public redirect that no longer works. Use your own redirect or the Workshop download manager instead; see KF2 custom map redirect with nginx.

Installing the Windows version

Download the latest KF2ServerToolX.X.X.zip from the project's GitHub releases page.

Existing server:

1. Extract all files from the zip into the server folder (where the .bat that starts the server lives).
2. Run KF2ServerTool.exe and add maps or mods by browsing the Workshop or pasting an item ID or URL.

New server:

1. Extract the files into the folder where the server should be installed.
2. Run KF2ServerTool.exe and choose to install a new server in the tool's folder.
3. When the download finishes, close the tool and start the server once so it creates its config files.

If you have never set up client downloads from the Workshop, open the Options tab and enable the Workshop Download Manager.

KF2ServerToolCMD (Windows and Linux)

The command-line version runs on Windows and Linux, which makes it useful for headless servers.

1. Put KF2ServerToolCMD in the server folder and run it from a terminal with -list. This creates KF2ServerToolCMD.ini, where you can set the paths of the KFEngine and KFGame configs if you do not use the defaults.
2. Install SteamCMD if needed (on Linux apt-get install steamcmd, or use the copy in the repository) and set its path in the ini: steamcmd.sh on Linux, steamcmd.exe on Windows.
3. Run KF2ServerToolCMD -help for all commands.

KF2ServerToolCMD help screen.

Option	What it does
-list	List installed items
-report	Report installed items without formatting
-addmap <WorkshopID>	Download a map and add all its entries
-addmod <WorkshopID>	Download a mod and add its entries
-remove <WorkshopID>	Fully remove an item
-update <WorkshopID>	Update an item from the Workshop
-validate	Re-download all subscribed Workshop files
-custom <args>	Run only selected steps (see below)
-ini <file>	Use a custom KF2ServerToolCMD ini
-ig	Ignore that the server is running (not recommended)

-custom steps: aws/rws add or remove a Workshop subscription, ame/rme add or remove a map entry, amc/rmc add or remove a map from the cycle, adl/rdl download or remove an item in the cache. Example that adds only the map entry, the cycle entry and the subscription:

KF2ServerToolCMD -custom ame=KF-MyMap amc=KF-MyMap aws=1234567891

Several servers in one folder

If you run multiple server instances from one install with separate config files, start the tool with its own config file per server:

KF2ServerTool -config KFServerTool_sv2.ini
KF2ServerToolCMD -config KFServerTool_sv2.ini -info

The tool creates the file; edit it to point to that server's own PCServer-KFGame.ini, PCServer-KFEngine.ini and so on. In the GUI version you can also set OnlyShowItemsFromConfig=true in the GENERAL section so the lists show only that server's maps and mods.

Version history highlights

Version	Released	Notable changes
1.1.3	February 2018	First public release on GitHub
1.3.7	December 2019	Objective mode and automatic restart option in the launcher
1.3.8	November 2020	Server install fixes, language choice on first launch
1.4.0	January 2021	Multiple server setup and management, server name and port editable in the tool, safer start and stop
1.5.0	July 2024	Map cycle sort order option, updated SteamCMD, Chinese and Russian translations

The project wiki on GitHub has more help.