How to Use Competitive Configs (ZoneMod) in L4D2

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Fair & Balanced Play

Vanilla Left 4 Dead 2 is widely considered unbalanced for high-level play due to random Tank spawns, excessive medical supplies, and over-powered weapons like the Auto-Shotgun. ZoneMod is the modern standard for rebalancing the game, removing “luck-based” factors and focusing on player skill.

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1. Installation

1. Ensure SourceMod and MetaMod are installed.
2. Download the latest ZoneMod package (standard in the competitive scene from L4DNation or GitHub).
3. Upload the folders directly to your /left4dead2/ directory (Merging addons, cfg, etc.).

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2. Activating a Match

1. Join your server and open the chat.
2. Type !match (or !slots to set player counts first).
3. Select ZoneMod from the list, followed by the format (e.g., 4v4).
4. The server will automatically restart and load the configuration.

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3. Core Mechanics of ZoneMod

• Weapon Tiers: All Tier-2 weapons (Assault Rifles, Snipers, Auto-Shotguns) are removed or replaced with Tier-1 variants (SMGs, Pump Shotguns).
• Infected Spawns: Special Infected spawn timers are fixed (e.g., 20 seconds) to ensure consistent pressure.
• Score System: Winning is based on distance traveled and health remaining, removing the “Survivor-biased” vanilla scoring.