How to Make a DarkRP Server in Garry's Mod

DarkRP is the most popular game mode for Garry's Mod, turning a sandbox game into a role-playing experience with jobs, money, properties, and laws. This guide walks you through installing DarkRP on your server and getting it running.

Prerequisites

You need a running Garry's Mod server. If you haven't set one up yet, see our How to Make a GMod Server guide, or get started with Garry's Mod hosting.

Step 1: Download DarkRP

A "game mode" defines the rules of your server — DarkRP adds jobs, money, properties, and laws on top of the base sandbox game.

1. Visit the official DarkRP GitHub page: github.com/FPtje/DarkRP.
2. Click the green Code button and select Download ZIP.
3. Extract the ZIP file on your computer. You will get a folder named DarkRP-master or similar.
4. Rename the folder to exactly darkrp (all lowercase) — game mode folder names are case-sensitive.

Step 2: Upload DarkRP to Your Server

1. Log in to the NolimitHost Game Panel and click on your Garry's Mod server from the dashboard. Press Stop if it is running.
2. In the left sidebar, click Management > File Manager. The File Manager lets you view and edit the files on your server.
3. Navigate to garrysmod/gamemodes/ — this is the folder where the server looks for game modes.
4. Upload the darkrp folder into this directory.

Step 3: Set the Game Mode to DarkRP

1. In the Game Panel sidebar, go to Startup or Server Options.
2. Find the Game Mode field and set it to darkrp.
3. Save the changes.

Alternatively, in garrysmod/cfg/server.cfg set:

gamemode darkrp

server.cfg is the main configuration file for your server — it's where settings like the hostname, password, and game mode are stored. If you use this method, stop the server before editing the file and start it again afterwards so the change is applied.

Step 4: Restart and Verify

Restart your server (press Restart, or Stop then Start). Once it finishes loading, connect and check the F4 menu — the F4 menu is the in-game menu DarkRP uses for jobs and settings. If you see the DarkRP job selection screen, the install was successful.

Step 5: Install DarkRPModification (Recommended)

The DarkRPModification addon lets you customize jobs, shipments, entities, and settings without touching the core DarkRP files. Download it from the DarkRPModification GitHub. Stop your server first, upload it to garrysmod/addons/ via the File Manager, then start the server again.

Next Steps

• Add ULX for admin management — see our How to Set Yourself as Superadmin guide.
• Install a Workshop collection with DarkRP-compatible addons and models.
• Edit darkrpmodification/lua/darkrp_customthings/jobs.lua to create your own custom jobs and categories — remember to stop the server before editing and restart it afterwards to apply your changes.