In Source engine games, when are server.cfg and autoexec.cfg executed?

Question

On a dedicated server for Source engine games, there are two "global" configuration files - server.cfg and autoexec.cfg. Are these files executed at different times? What sort of configurations should go in which file?

Answer 1

autoexec.cfg is automatically executed once when the server starts before a map loads

server.cfg is automatically executed each time a map loads, including map changes

There's also map specific configs that are named after the map. These are executed last.

You usually want to put all of your server configuration in server.cfg so that any setting changes, such as from a mapname.cfg file, are reset when the map changes. The autoexec.cfg is used for anything that should be done before a map loads, such as sv_pure settings.

Also, you can change which file is executed on map change using the servercfgfile cvar. This is handy if you want to have different modes on a server, or run multiple servers from the same installation.

Answer 2

While it might work for servers, autoexec.cfg is meant for clients. server.cfg only works on the server-side, which is useful since it will only be run if you launch a server (eg a listen server) not when you just join one. autoexec.cfg will fire in both cases.