{"id":23191,"date":"2026-07-17T21:00:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T21:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T21:00:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T21:00:36","slug":"ground-branch-server-settings-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"GROUND BRANCH Server Settings Guide: Server.ini, MapList &#038; Admins"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Running a <strong>GROUND BRANCH<\/strong> dedicated server means controlling every detail of how your matches play \u2014 player count, AI numbers, difficulty, round length, map rotation and who has admin power. This guide walks through the key server settings across <code>Server.ini<\/code>, <code>MapList.ini<\/code> and <code>Admin.ini<\/code>, so you can tune your server exactly how your group likes it.<\/p>\n<h2>The three config files<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><code>Server.ini<\/code><\/strong> \u2014 core server settings: name, player limit, password and global gameplay options.<\/li>\n<li><strong><code>MapList.ini<\/code><\/strong> \u2014 your map rotation, pairing each map with a mission (game mode) and per-map options.<\/li>\n<li><strong><code>Admin.ini<\/code><\/strong> \u2014 the Steam IDs of players who get admin\/RCON control.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>On managed <a href=\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/ground-branch-server-hosting\">XGamingServer hosting<\/a>, you can edit these in the visual panel instead of by hand.<\/p>\n<h2>Key gameplay settings<\/h2>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Setting<\/th>\n<th>Range<\/th>\n<th>What it does<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>MaxPlayers<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>8\u201316<\/td>\n<td>Player slots. 16 is the hard limit; 8 is typical for co-op, 16 for PvP.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>MaxAI<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>0\u201350<\/td>\n<td>Absolute cap on AI. Set 0 to disable modes that need enemies.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>OpForCount<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>1\u2013MaxAI<\/td>\n<td>How many AI actually spawn in Terrorist Hunt \/ Intel Retrieval.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Difficulty<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>1\u20134 (0 = custom)<\/td>\n<td>AI skill for the co-op PvE modes.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>RoundTime<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>3+ min<\/td>\n<td>How long each round lasts before it ends.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>Building your map rotation (MapList.ini)<\/h2>\n<p>Each <code>MapList.ini<\/code> entry pairs a map with a mission and per-map options. For example, a co-op Intel Retrieval round on SmallTown with 30 AI on difficulty 2:<\/p>\n<pre><code>MapList=\/Game\/GroundBranch\/Maps\/SmallTown\/SmallTown?Mission=\/Game\/GroundBranch\/Mission\/SmallTown\/IntelRetrieval?opforcount=30?difficulty=2?roundtime=60?timeofday=0800<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>Available missions include <code>TerroristHunt<\/code>, <code>IntelRetrieval<\/code>, <code>Extraction<\/code>, <code>Uplink<\/code>, <code>Defuse<\/code>, <code>Deathmatch<\/code> and <code>TeamElimination<\/code> \u2014 availability varies per map. You can also change the map on the fly from the in-game admin menu. Full walkthrough: <a href=\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/docs\/ground-branch\/change-map\">change map &amp; mission<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Setting a name, password and admins<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Server name<\/strong> \u2014 set the hostname players see in the browser (<a href=\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/docs\/ground-branch\/change-server-name\">guide<\/a>).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Password<\/strong> \u2014 lock the server for private co-op or scrims (<a href=\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/docs\/ground-branch\/set-a-password\">guide<\/a>).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Admins<\/strong> \u2014 add trusted players&#8217; Steam IDs to <code>Admin.ini<\/code> so they can manage the server in-game (<a href=\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/docs\/ground-branch\/adding-admins\">guide<\/a>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Skip the INIs entirely<\/h2>\n<p>If you&#8217;d rather not hand-edit config files, <a href=\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/ground-branch-server-hosting\">XGamingServer&#8217;s GROUND BRANCH hosting<\/a> exposes all of this in a visual panel on AMD Ryzen 9 7950X hardware \u2014 change maps, AI count, difficulty and slots with a click, plus one-click updates and DDoS protection. See our full <a href=\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/docs\/ground-branch\/configure-your-server\">configuration docs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Read more<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/how-to-set-up-a-ground-branch-dedicated-server\/\">How to Set Up a GROUND BRANCH Dedicated Server<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-ai-difficulty-guide\/\">GROUND BRANCH AI &amp; Difficulty Guide<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-game-modes-explained\/\">GROUND BRANCH Game Modes Explained<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Running a GROUND BRANCH dedicated server means controlling every detail of how your matches play \u2014 player count, AI numbers, difficulty, round length, map rotation and who has admin power. This guide walks through the key server settings across Server.ini, MapList.ini and Admin.ini, so you can tune your server exactly how your group likes it. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":23192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[149],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ground-branch"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.5 (Yoast SEO v26.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>GROUND BRANCH Server Settings Guide: Server.ini, MapList &amp; Admins - XGamingServer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GROUND BRANCH Server Settings Guide: Server.ini, MapList &amp; Admins\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Running a GROUND BRANCH dedicated server means controlling every detail of how your matches play \u2014 player count, AI numbers, difficulty, round length, map rotation and who has admin power. This guide walks through the key server settings across Server.ini, MapList.ini and Admin.ini, so you can tune your server exactly how your group likes it. [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"XGamingServer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/xgamingserver69\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-17T21:00:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@xgamingserver\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@xgamingserver\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"GROUND BRANCH Server Settings Guide: Server.ini, MapList &#038; Admins\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-17T21:00:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/\"},\"wordCount\":352,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/gb_v10_4-1.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Ground Branch\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/\",\"name\":\"GROUND BRANCH Server Settings Guide: Server.ini, MapList & Admins - XGamingServer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/gb_v10_4-1.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-17T21:00:36+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/gb_v10_4-1.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/gb_v10_4-1.webp\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":563},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ground Branch\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/category\/ground-branch\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"GROUND BRANCH Server Settings Guide: Server.ini, MapList &#038; Admins\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"XGamingServer\",\"description\":\"Dedicated Game Server Hosting\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"XGamingServer\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/logo.svg\",\"width\":\"1024\",\"height\":\"1024\",\"caption\":\"XGamingServer\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/xgamingserver69\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/xgamingserver\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/xgamingserver\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/xgamingserver\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/xgamingserver\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCHnOtWxpzaL2r3jM9Jm40EQ\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"GROUND BRANCH Server Settings Guide: Server.ini, MapList & Admins - XGamingServer","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"GROUND BRANCH Server Settings Guide: Server.ini, MapList & Admins","og_description":"Running a GROUND BRANCH dedicated server means controlling every detail of how your matches play \u2014 player count, AI numbers, difficulty, round length, map rotation and who has admin power. This guide walks through the key server settings across Server.ini, MapList.ini and Admin.ini, so you can tune your server exactly how your group likes it. [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/","og_site_name":"XGamingServer","article_publisher":"https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/xgamingserver69\/","article_published_time":"2026-07-17T21:00:36+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@xgamingserver","twitter_site":"@xgamingserver","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"GROUND BRANCH Server Settings Guide: Server.ini, MapList &#038; Admins","datePublished":"2026-07-17T21:00:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/"},"wordCount":352,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/gb_v10_4-1.webp","articleSection":["Ground Branch"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/","url":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/","name":"GROUND BRANCH Server Settings Guide: Server.ini, MapList & Admins - XGamingServer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/gb_v10_4-1.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-17T21:00:36+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/gb_v10_4-1.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/gb_v10_4-1.webp","width":1000,"height":563},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/ground-branch-server-settings-guide\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ground Branch","item":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/category\/ground-branch\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"GROUND BRANCH Server Settings Guide: Server.ini, MapList &#038; Admins"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/","name":"XGamingServer","description":"Dedicated Game Server Hosting","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"XGamingServer","url":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/logo.svg","width":"1024","height":"1024","caption":"XGamingServer"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/xgamingserver69\/","https:\/\/x.com\/xgamingserver","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/xgamingserver\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/xgamingserver\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/xgamingserver\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCHnOtWxpzaL2r3jM9Jm40EQ"]}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/gb_v10_4-1.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}