Set up FastDLShort loading times instead of minutes of waiting screens

Published on September 2, 2026 · last updated on November 4, 2026

The problem FastDL solves

When someone joins your server, they need everything they do not have yet: maps, models, materials, sounds. Without FastDL, the game server transfers these files itself - via a channel that was never meant for it.

Every Garry's Mod player knows the result: a loading screen that sits there for minutes. And that is exactly where you lose visitors who wanted to try your server for the first time.

FastDL moves this transfer to a web server. Instead of crawling over the game connection, the files come via HTTP - many times faster, depending on the connection.

What you need

Two things:

• Web hosting on which the files are stored and which is reachable at a fixed address. A small package is completely sufficient - see web hosting.
• One line in the server.cfg that points to this address.

That is all. It does not relieve the server itself as far as game logic is concerned - but the loading time when joining drops considerably, and that is exactly what decides the first impression.

Setup step by step

1. Create the folder structure. On the web hosting, you reproduce the structure of the game - i.e. separate directories for maps, materials, models and sounds.
2. Upload the files. Everything your players need: maps and the content of your addons.
3. Compress. For FastDL, files are usually stored compressed, which speeds up the transfer further. The uncompressed version can stay next to it.
4. Enter the address. In the server.cfg, set the download address that points to the directory on your web hosting.
5. Allow downloads. The related settings for permitted downloads have to be set, otherwise the address does not take effect.
6. Test. Ideally with a computer that has never visited the server - only then do you see the real loading time.

Registering content

A point that is often forgotten: the server has to tell its players which files they should load in the first place. What is not registered is not transferred - even if it sits on the web hosting.

For addons from a Workshop collection, Garry's Mod largely takes care of this itself. For your own content that you uploaded via FTP, a corresponding registration belongs in a Lua file in the server directory. If it is missing, that is the most common cause of missing textures.

Missing textures and pink surfaces

The classic error pattern is missing materials - recognizable by conspicuous replacement surfaces or error models in the game. The causes in order of frequency:

• File missing on the web hosting. Only part of the content was uploaded.
• Wrong path. The structure on the web hosting has to match that of the game.
• Not registered. The server does not tell its players that they need the file.
• The client has an old state. Clearing the player's cache helps.

For testing, calling a file directly in the browser is worthwhile: if it appears, the path is right. If you get an error, it is the web hosting, not the game server.

Is it worth the effort?

For a server among friends who all have the addons anyway: hardly. For every public server: absolutely.

The calculation is simple. A new visitor decides within the first two minutes whether to stay. Anyone who stares at a loading bar during that time rarely comes back. Measured against that, web hosting for a few euros a month is one of the cheapest investments in your server - and it can be used for the community website at the same time.

How the number of addons affects things otherwise is explained in add a Workshop collection.

Frequently asked questions