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What Is QLSM?

QLSM (Quake Live Server Management) is a free, open source web UI for deploying and managing Quake Live dedicated servers without using terminal.

qlsm-main

Three Deployment Modes

QLSM supports three ways to run your Quake Live servers:

  • Local (self-host) — run game servers on the same machine as QLSM itself. Good for a spare Linux box or home server.
  • Standalone — connect QLSM to any remote host: bare metal, a VPS, or a LAN server. You bring the machine; QLSM handles the rest over SSH.
  • Cloud (Vultr) — provision VMs directly from the UI using Terraform. No external tooling needed.

Key Features

  • Choice of server runtime — each host runs either minqlx or minqlxtended, picked when the host is created. Neither is pre-selected and the choice is permanent, so QLSM asks rather than guessing. Plugins are not interchangeable between the two; QLSM ships a plugin baseline for each and converts what it can when you load a preset across runtimes.
  • Live server status — current map, gametype, match state, players, and scores visible at a glance. ZMQ credentials auto-generated and displayed.
  • 99k LAN rate mode — every client is treated as LAN, enabling the high-bandwidth rate path. Real improvement for LG-heavy or large CA/FFA servers. On minqlx hosts this is a per-instance toggle implemented by patching the QLDS via LD_PRELOAD; on minqlxtended hosts it is always on and native to the runtime.
  • LD_PRELOAD hooks — upload custom native .so libraries loaded into each QLDS process at launch. System hooks (like force_rate.so, used only on minqlx hosts) are managed automatically.
  • In-browser config editors — CodeMirror-powered editors for server.cfg, mappool.txt, access.txt, and workshop.txt. Syntax highlighting, search/replace, and inline validation.
  • minqlx plugin management — enable plugins with checkboxes. Python validation built in.
  • Factory file management — select which factory files deploy to each instance.
  • Presets — save a full config/plugin/factory set as a reusable preset. Export/import presets as ZIP archives to backup/restore configuration or move setups between QLSM installs.
  • RCON Console — send commands and watch live server events in the browser.
  • Global RCON Console — send one command to many instances at once and shows each instance's reply separately.
  • Logs Retrieval — server logs, chat logs, and minqlx logs (including rotated archives), searchable.
  • Workshop management — pull Steam Workshop content updates manually or schedule automatic restarts that also pull the latest Steam Workshop content for all deployed instances.
  • Redis DB selection when deploying an instance — give each QLDS instance its own DB, or share one DB across instances that need to share plugin state.
  • QLFilter — optional eBPF/XDP anti-DDoS filter that drops reflection garbage before it reaches your QLDS ports.
  • User and API management — multi-user support, API keys, external REST API.
  • minqlx damage hook — QLSM ships minqlx with the damage event/dispatcher backported from the mgaertne/minqlx fork, available for plugins to hook.

Where To Start