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The Competitive Standard

Versus mode is the heart of competitive Left 4 Dead 2. Transforming a standard lobby into a tournament-ready environment requires breaking the default 4-player survivor limit, disabling disruptive vanilla mechanics (like Tier-2 weapon spawns), and ensuring the server can remain active without human players present.
Reading TimeDifficultyLast Updated
6 minutesIntermediateJanuary 2026

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1. Core Configuration (server.cfg)

Before installing plugins, ensure your base game settings are optimized for a stable Versus environment: 
mp_gamemode versus      // Force the Versus gamemode
sv_cheats 0             // Ensure cheats are disabled
sb_all_bot_game 1       // Prevents the server from shutting down when all players leave
sv_allow_lobby_connect_only 0 // Allows players to join directly via IP

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2. Unlocking the 8-Player Limit

By default, Left 4 Dead 2 limits the entire server to 4 players. For 4v4 Versus, you must use the L4DToolZ extension to unlock the slots.
  1. Install Metamod and SourceMod.
  2. Upload the L4DToolZ extension to /addons/sourcemod/extensions/.
  3. Add these lines to your server.cfg:
    • sv_maxplayers 8
    • sv_visiblemaxplayers 8

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3. Balancing the Game

Vanilla Versus is often considered unbalanced due to “infinite” medkits and powerful laser-sighted snipers. To resolve this, most competitive servers run a MatchMode plugin like ZoneMod.
  • ZoneMod automatically removes Tier-2 weapons.
  • It fixes Tank and Witch spawn locations for fairness.
  • It replaces medical kits with pills to encourage faster, more aggressive gameplay.

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Last Updated: January 2026 | L4D2: Versus ready.