The thing that confuses new PVKII hosts: there is no separate mode setting. The mode is baked into the map, and you can tell which mode a map is from its name prefix. Load a bt_ map and you are playing Booty. So picking a mode means picking maps with the right prefix, which the deploy page does for you.
The modes (and their map prefixes)
- Booty (
bt_): Grab chests of loot and bank them for your team. Part combat, part smash and grab. The classic PVKII mode and the one most servers run. - Team Objective (
te_): Attackers push a series of objectives while defenders hold the line. Round-based and more tactical than Booty. - Trinket Wars (
tw_): Capture and hold trinkets to score. A tug of war over map control. - Last Team Standing (
lts_): No respawns. The last team with anyone alive wins the round. Tense, and great with a smaller group. - Deathmatch (
dm_): Free for all melee chaos, no teams. The simplest way to warm up or mess around.
Choosing and switching modes
- Pick the mode when you deploy. The server loads maps of that prefix and rotates within them.
- To switch live, changelevel to a map with a different prefix (over the web console or rcon). Load a te_ map and you are in Team Objective, load a dm_ map and you are in Deathmatch.