TheVille

Updated to reflect the latest update. You should set the Server Type option to Best Available Dedicated either when you create the lobby or in lobby settings. Otherwise it will scan all the official Valve servers before looking for our servers with the search key, which can take too long and time out the search.

you can also force your lobby to a specific server by using
ms_force_dedicated_server server:port
in console if you are lobby leader.

Hoho! That sounds very useful!

should note that using the
ms_force_dedicated_server <server:port>

console command will fail if the destination server is not running the scenario/map/mode that the lobby is running.

e.g. If the lobbby is a Versus No Mercy, the server has to be running the vs_hospital
e.g. lobby = Blood Harvest Coop + Server = vs_hospital = fail

i had to remove the search key from my l4d option because it would never find a ville server anymore

it wouldnt find anything...just timeout

Valve updated the master servers today, so it should work again.

I haven't been able to find a ville server with the search key the past two days. It just takes a while then ends up going as a local server. Did something change or is it just me? The servers were empty at the time

I could see them last night to put together a campaign lobby. . .

We had an issue finding them last night as well. CheckM8 and I both tried in separate lobbies with the search key entered with no luck.

If you guys really have trouble, you can always force a dedicated server in a similar way - just use one of the following commands (Just bear in mind that if someone is on the specific server you chose the command won't work)

Edit: Knew I was off by a bit. Stevo's got the right command below.

If you need to check for an empty server, just check out this page.

The Valve master servers have been unreliable lately, so that may be why some are having problems.

The command Masa suggested is actually no longer valid. They replaced it with mm_dedicated_force_servers which allows a list of servers.

L4D:
mm_dedicated_force_servers "216.75.12.158:27017,216.75.12.158:27018"

L4D2:
mm_dedicated_force_servers "66.240.208.143:27016,66.240.208.143:27017,66.240.208.143:27018,66.240.208.143:27019"

Thx Stevo.

This may seem obvious, but...

LOL Stevo, you have far too much time on your hands....

John Doe wrote:LOL Stevo, you have far too much time on your hands....

Actually that was made while waiting in the lobby. It is surprisingly easy to make these with Screenr.