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Installation

ReHLDS is a drop-in replacement for the HLDS engine binary. You install it by downloading a base HLDS server through Steam, then overwriting the engine binary with the ReHLDS build.

1. Install the base HLDS server​

ReHLDS requires the pre-anniversary Steam build of HLDS (engine version 8684 or lower). Download it with steamcmd:

app_set_config 90 mod cstrike
app_update 90 -beta steam_legacy validate

Change mod cstrike to your target mod if you are not running Counter-Strike 1.6.

warning

ReHLDS is not compatible with old 5xxx-and-below builds installed through the legacy hldsupdatetool. Always install through steamcmd as shown above.

2. Download ReHLDS​

Get a build from one of:

  • Release builds — stable, recommended for production servers.
  • Dev builds — latest CI artifacts, useful for testing upcoming fixes.

Pick the archive matching your server's platform (Windows or Linux 32-bit).

3. Replace the engine binary​

  1. Stop the server completely.
  2. Back up your current engine binary.
  3. Copy the ReHLDS binary over the original:
PlatformReplaceOptional debug symbols
Windowsswds.dllswds.pdb
Linuxengine_i486.so—

The Windows archive also ships hlds.exe / hltv.exe and the ReHLTV component DLLs (core.dll, proxy.dll, demoplayer.dll, director.dll, filesystem_stdio.dll); copy the ones your setup uses along with swds.dll.

  1. On Linux, make sure the replaced file keeps the same permissions (readable and executable by the account running the server).
  2. Start the server. ReHLDS identifies itself in the startup console output, so you can confirm the replacement worked by checking the log.

Linux release archives are signed with GPG. The public key fingerprint is:

63547829004f07716f7be4856c32c4282e60fb67
  1. Download the key from a keyserver, for example keyserver.ubuntu.com.
  2. Import it:
gpg --import 63547829004f07716f7be4856c32c4282e60fb67.asc
  1. Download both the release archive and its accompanying .asc signature file.
  2. Verify:
gpg --verify some-rehlds.zip.asc some-rehlds.zip

Compatibility notes​

  • ReHLDS is not binary-compatible with the original HLDS (it is built with different compilers). Plugins that do raw binary patching or signature scanning of the engine — Orpheu being a known example — may not work unless they explicitly support ReHLDS.
  • If you plan to run Metamod-R, ReAPI, or ReGameDLL_CS, install ReHLDS first — those projects assume ReHLDS is already in place. See Metamod-R installation and ReGameDLL_CS installation.