Garry's Mod

64-bit Windows binaries formed the biggest upgrade in the September 16 update, covering the client, dedicated servers, and most developer tools. The same release added standalone Insurgency (2014) mounting, Hacked Manhacks, and damageable Dropships, while an earlier April update significantly improved networking and expanded built-in content.

• 64-bit and networking overhaul: Windows received a selectable 64-bit client alongside 64-bit dedicated servers and most developer tools, reducing crash risks on heavily populated servers. The April 29 update also introduced network protocol changes that shortened transfer times and reduced bandwidth usage.
• Mountable games and Sandbox additions: Garry’s Mod added standalone Insurgency (2014), Black Mesa, and Military Conflict: Vietnam as mountable games. The Combine APC became a fully driveable built-in vehicle, and Hacked Manhacks joined the spawnmenu as a new NPC variation.
• Gameplay changes: Sandbox Dropships became vulnerable to damage, making them more interactive when spawned. Combine Mines also respected the Ignore Player and Disable AI settings after the December 10 update.
• Spawnmenu and model-selection improvements: The September 16 update overhauled the player model selector with categories, a larger layout, and improved model rendering. Spawnmenu content tabs gained subcategories, while the April 29 update improved the default HUD’s weapon selector and ammo displays for 4K resolutions.
• Engine and addon compatibility: The April 23 update introduced under-the-hood changes that could break existing binary modules. Follow-up fixes restored Linux addon mounting for unusual filenames, added fallbacks for community-addon panel errors, and resolved startup crashes affecting native 32-bit Linux clients.

Counter-Strike: Source and Half-Life 2 content became available by default in July 2025, with Half-Life 2: Episode 2 also entering every player's Spawnmenu. NPC weapon support broadened Garry’s Mod’s sandbox combat, while new rendering tools gave mappers more visual options.

• Default Source content: Most Counter-Strike: Source and Half-Life 2 episodic content became available without separate mounting requirements, and Half-Life 2: Episode 2 content appeared in the Spawnmenu for all players.
• Creator tools and integrations:
  • Newer Source Engine entities: Added a large set of entities to improve map creation and compatibility.
  • Klaus Veens Treason: Added mountable maps, models, and other assets from the game.
  • Hammer FGD: Added entities that were missed from the main entity update.
  • Partial custom shader support: Enabled modders to create more advanced visual effects.
• NPC combat: Resistance-hacked Combine Mines and the Flechette Gun became usable by more NPCs, with NPC Weapon Support Improvements addressing T-posing and improving combat behavior.
• Rendering and Lua:
  • 4-Way Blend Shader: Added a new shader for more detailed map surfaces.
  • New Water Rendering Features: Added flow maps, lightmaps, and 3D skybox reflections.
  • New Lua API Features: Expanded scripting capabilities for modders.
• Security and engine safeguards: HackerOne reports led to fixes for security issues and two exploits; Garry’s Mod also blocked Lua’s load command, blacklisted additional Lua backdoor URLs, restricted .vdf and selected .cfg access, and prevented Lua from changing datacachesize to invalid values.

The March 13 sandbox and modding update was the biggest content beat, adding Portal 1 entities for owners of Portal 1, a customizable default crosshair, expanded duplicator support, and a large set of Lua API features. The Particle Editor later gained a newer Source-style layout, while Default Spawnlists exposed every base-game model with pre-generated spawnicons.

• New sandbox content: Portal 1 Entities became available in the base game for Portal 1 owners, and Default Spawnlists expanded to cover every base-game model with generated spawnicons.
• Modding toolkit: Several changes gave creators more room to build and maintain addons.
  • Particle Editor: A new layout modeled on newer Source Engine games added particle operators and initializers.
  • Lua API: The March update added a substantial set of features for mod makers, while also removing functions such as ConsoleAutoComplete, Panel.Command, and Panel.SetActionFunction.
  • Mapping limits: MAX_MAP_OVERLAYS, MAX_MAP_TEXDATA, and MAX_MAP_TEXINFO received major increases.
  • Map files: Color-correction files and vehicle scripts became usable from map files.
• Sandbox tools and customization: Default Crosshair and Customization Options, Duplicator Support Improvements, and Sandbox Bodygroup & Skin Changer Improvements made everyday building and character setup more flexible. Addon Preset Sharing, Faceposer Tool Upgrades, and Spawnmenu Improvements also improved addon management and tool navigation.
• Reliability and security: High-impact fixes addressed crashes involving ClientsideModel, ents.CreateClientProp, NWVars, texture loading, sounds, the mesh library, ragdolls, and invalid sprite textures. HackerOne reports and holiday security issues received fixes, while the DirectSoundCapture fix restored voice chat for affected setups.

The August 8, 2023 update delivered Garry’s Mod’s biggest creator-facing expansion, adding Color Lit Per Particle, five new util collision and geometry helpers, and community-contributed Derma, math, and table APIs. The June 28 Hammer Editor additions introduced new entities and static-prop lightmaps, while Script Limit for Singleplayer experimentally removed the addon-count restriction.

• Creator toolkit: August 8’s additions broadened particle, mapping, UI, and scripting tools.
  • Color Lit Per Particle: Added a particle initializer and expanded the Color Random options.
  • Geometry utilities: Added util.IntersectRayWithSphere, util.IsBoxIntersectingSphere, util.IsPointInCone, util.IsSphereIntersectingCone, and util.IsSphereIntersectingSphere.
  • Hammer Editor additions: Introduced new entities, static-prop lightmaps, and other mapper-focused tools.
  • Derma and math APIs: Added derma_icon_browser, DHScrollBar, DPanPanel, math.CHSpline, math.CubicBezier, math.QuadraticBezier, table.Flip, and table.Pack.
  • Versus Saxton Hale: Added the map category and missing TF2 map icons from recent updates.
• Sandbox systems: Script Limit for Singleplayer experimentally allowed addons regardless of installation count, while Duplicator began saving and restoring sub-materials by default.
• Modding foundation: New Lua API Additions expanded the scripting surface with community contributions, and Steamworks API v1.57 updated the game’s Steam integration.
• Physics safeguards: phys_torque forces were clamped to prevent crashes and runaway physics; the procedural texture 64k limit blocked oversized textures and addressed excessive memory allocation.

The March 10, 2022 update was the period’s biggest delivery, expanding Garry’s Mod’s scripting and sandbox toolset with NextBot.GetLastKnownArea, NextBot.ClearLastKnownArea, new func_healthcharger outputs, and persistent-prop handling. It also bundled security and crash fixes, while Steam Chat Filtering arrived in the February 2 update as the clearest player-facing change.

• March 10 update: Creator and sandbox additions included:
  • NextBot.GetLastKnownArea and NextBot.ClearLastKnownArea for navigation scripting.
  • func_healthcharger outputs—OnHalfEmpty, OnEmpty, and OnFull—to match func_recharge.
  • Persistent props could be physgunned when persistence was disabled, while save loading more reliably assigned spawned entities to players.
  • Security fixes and crash prevention covered npc_apcdriver, NPC:SetNPCClass, the DSP system, bad ADPCM files, and vehicle physics creation.
• December 15 update: The Duplicator Tool began recording required Steam Workshop items, and Map Saves gained support for installing necessary maps. The new Permissions tab also let players review and manage temporary or permanent server permissions; servers had to update before players could rejoin after the release.
• Steam Chat Filtering: The default in-game chat adopted Steam’s filtering system with an option to disable it, alongside the TEXT_FILTER_ enums and util.FilterText.
• Persistence and Hoverballs: The February 2 update adjusted disabled Hoverballs mass, improved their Duplicator support, and clarified sbox_persist behavior so disabling persistence no longer cleaned up the map; the Stop Persisting property was also hidden when persistence was off.
• March 17 update: The voice-packet kick-warning threshold was relaxed, while npc_apcdriver received removal warnings and a fix for crashes when its vehicle was missing.

July 2021’s updates delivered Garry’s Mod’s largest bundle of new scripting and engine-facing features, while also addressing major crash and security risks. G String became a mountable game, and Server Browser Improvements made it easier to find suitable communities and gamemodes.

• Mountable game: G String was added as a new mountable title.
• Server discovery and creation tools:
  • Gamemode Categories added filterable classifications for server-browser listings.
  • Server Location and Language Display added country flags showing server location and spoken language.
  • Server Browser Improvements introduced new filtering, sorting, and browser usability changes.
  • Hammer Editor Improvements added UI changes, crash fixes, and the new Sprinkler tool.
• Sandbox and player systems:
  • Colorable Ropes allowed rope-based Sandbox constraints to use colors and supported materials.
  • Per Player Voice Chat Scaling let players adjust individual voice volumes where gamemodes and servers implemented it.
  • Problems Menu helped identify common issues and sort Lua errors by addon.
  • Sound Effects received a separate volume slider to improve the balance with voice chat.
• Scripting and engine changes:
  • Vehicle.SetVehicleParams changed in a way that could break existing vehicle-speed scripts.
  • util.MD5/SHA1/SHA256 and IsConCommandBlocked expanded the Lua API, while Entity.ManipulateBoneAngles/Position gained an experimental client-networking option.
  • Entity.SetMoveParent received cyclic-parent and crash safeguards, and util.TableToJSON gained stack-overflow protection.
  • The updates also addressed BASS.DLL crashes, render targets and web browser integration exploits, and server crashes involving npc_fastzombie and item_ammo_crate.

Addon Presets added a fast way to save and toggle groups of addons, while The Stanley Parable and Fistful of Frags became mountable games. Garry's Mod also announced 64-bit Builds and Chromium alongside the ISteamUGC API transition; the Chromium/CEF update was later delayed rather than fully delivered in this window.

• Workshop and addon management: Addon Presets streamlined enabling and disabling collections, while the announced ISteamUGC API changes covered addon limits up to 2GB, real uncompressed-size displays, reduced disk usage, and in-game updates for Dupes, Saves, and Demos. Third-party publishing tools also had to adopt gmpublish.exe v1.2.
• Sandbox additions: The Stanley Parable and Fistful of Frags were added as mountable games. The Super Gravity Gun became usable in its super state for Citadel levels and later regained its full functionality behind a console variable, while Hoverball gained a toggle.
• Creator workflow: Spawnlist Customization gained drag-and-drop editing, unsaved-change reversion, persistent resizing, and protection for core entries. Quick NPC Spawn enabled right-click weapon selection, and the Player Model Selector gained a search bar.
• Server operations: Steam Game Server Login Tokens (GSLT) became necessary to avoid ranking penalties, with anonymous servers pushed down in the browser. The Server Update Requirement blocked joins to outdated servers, while Workshop download handling and addon networking were improved.
• Engine and developer support: 64-bit Builds and Chromium remained an announced platform step after the CEF Update was delayed. New Features and Improvements for Modders expanded support for Lua, Hammer, and map compiling tools, and Voice Chat Quality Improvements raised multiplayer audio quality.

HEV Suit Functionality returned on November 12, 2019, restoring Half-Life 2-style limited flashlight, oxygen, and sprint energy. The broader Half-Life: Source integration also expanded Garry’s Mod’s built-in weapons and entities, while Half-Life campaign support received several notable gameplay improvements.

• Half-Life: Source content: Half-Life: Source entities joined the game in February, followed by Half-Life: Source weapons and entities becoming directly available through the Spawnmenu in July.
• Half-Life campaigns and NPC combat: Half-Life campaign support gained proper level transitions, restored Gauss Guns for Jeeps, and adjusted suit charger armor restoration. Scripted weapons also received better NPC support, while built-in Half-Life 2 weapons and NPC weapon use—including the .357 Magnum and Glock—were substantially improved.
• Rendering and modding tools:
  • Dynamic Render To Texture Shadow Angles added customizable console variables for dynamic shadow direction.
  • util.GetModelMeshes gave Lua developers new ways to modify existing models.
  • Hammer Editor gained .vmf drag-and-drop support and fixed checkerboard reflection problems.
• Cross-game map support: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive maps received improved static-prop colors, Physics Gun and bullet behavior, map loading, and visual reliability. Left 4 Dead and CS:GO maps also saw fixes for flickering models and unexpected water effects.
• Security and server integrity: The Lua file hashing algorithm was changed to prevent improperly run clientside code, while the Server Update Requirement prevented players from joining servers that had not updated and blocked downgrades. The gm_giveswep and SQLite exploits were also resolved.

The February 26, 2018 update was Garry’s Mod’s main delivery, bringing the latest TTT version, new NPC and entity scripting functions, and better built-in weapon support for NPCs. The May 29 update expanded posing and animation tools, while the August 14 Lua security hotfix closed an exploit that allowed arbitrary script execution on servers.

• TTT and NPC support: The February 26 update refreshed Trouble in Terrorist Town (TTT) and improved how built-in weapons worked with NPCs.
  • NPC.GetCurrentSchedule and other NPC/entity functions expanded addon control.
  • CNavArea.SetCostSoFar, CreatePhysCollideBox, and ENT:GetRenderMesh added new navigation, physics, and rendering hooks.
  • NPC.RemoveMemory was removed, and NextBot functions now errored properly when used with invalid entities.
• Gameplay and posing: The May 29 update made bone manipulation affect player and NPC hitboxes, improved 3rd-person reload animations, and allowed Eye Poser and Finger Poser to work on Effects.
• Faceposer and creator tools: Faceposer gained a quick filter for searching flexes, cleaner flex names, and a less cramped list; updated Hammer .fgd files added Garry’s Mod Sandbox key values.
• Security and reliability: The August 14 Lua Script Exploit hotfix blocked arbitrary Lua execution on servers. The February 26 update also addressed SQLite database lag spikes, weapon-function crashes, and crashes from hammer_update_entity.
• Medkit and engine behavior: The May 29 Medkit Weapon adjustment correctly capped healing at maximum health and added lag compensation, while the February 26 update improved vrad.exe performance and prevented rollermine entities from spawning below ground.

The July 10 update was Garry's Mod's biggest content beat, expanding its Lua API, addon management, Hammer editor, and Trouble in Terrorist Town tools. The November 21 Physgun exploit fix and the November 15 Remove property restrictions also hardened servers against crashes and destructive clients.

• Lua and addon tools: July 10 added Entity:PhysicsInitStatic, Entity:RemoveCallback, Entity:GetCallbacks, and CLuaEmitter:IsValid, while November 15 added input.SelectWeapon(entity). Quick Preset and Utilities menu presets streamlined saved configurations, and the Addons menu gained search and bulk unsubscribe support.
• Trouble in Terrorist Town: The mode gained sortable scoreboards and corpses that retained dead players’ skins and bodygroups. Its fall-damage problem and two denial-of-service exploits were also addressed.
• Hammer and map support: Hammer received improved 2D/3D view performance, scroll rendering, a 32,000-unit render distance, more forgiving vertex merging, and correctly rendered blended textures. Support also improved for CS:GO, Portal 2, and TF2 maps.
• Server security and compatibility: The February and May Security Hotfixes blocked malicious server-crash methods, while the July 25 remote-code-execution fix addressed a major exploit. The November 15 startup-exploit fixes and November 21 Physgun crash fix added further protection; the ILuaInterface compatibility changes, however, meant some third-party binary modules no longer functioned.

Steam Peer-To-Peer Feature gave Garry’s Mod a simpler way to host and join games without router or firewall configuration. Queued (Multicore) Rendering brought potentially major frame-rate gains, while the October 2016 update expanded the Base Sandbox Tools and Physgun.

• Steam multiplayer: Steam Peer-To-Peer Feature allowed players to connect more easily, and Peer-To-Peer Listen Servers let users join games started through the main menu’s Start New Game option. Peer-To-Peer Friends Only Mode also restricted sessions to Steam friends.
• Sandbox tools and physics: Updates to Base Sandbox Tools added features across the default toolset, while Physgun Improvements refined the Physics Gun. Sandbox Spawnmenu Updates & Optimization refreshed the spawn menu and related interface elements, and New Main Menu Backgrounds added community-created artwork.
• Rendering and networking: Queued (Multicore) Rendering improved performance, with the July refinement making results more robust across different hardware and scenes. NPC Networking Optimizations also improved how non-player characters were handled over the network.
• Modding support: Lua API Improvements and New Features for Modders expanded development capabilities. GetLuaTable Crash Fix, HTTP Request Leak Fix, Scripted Weapons Functionality, and Lua Console Commands Removal addressed several issues affecting Lua-heavy servers and addons.
• Security and campaign reliability: Crash and Security Fixes addressed serious stability and security problems, while Half-Life 2 Campaign Fixes improved the built-in campaign. Fixes for Exploits and Regressions also rolled back several problems introduced by earlier updates.

Support for Latest Team Fortress 2 Maps was the biggest content addition, bringing the newest Team Fortress 2 maps into Garry’s Mod. Handy Additions for Developers expanded the game’s developer tooling, while improved nextbot and navmesh scripting strengthened custom gameplay creation.

• Team Fortress 2 map support: Added compatibility for the latest Team Fortress 2 maps.
• Handy Additions for Developers: Introduced new developer features and tools, alongside the Stability Improvements and Various Exploit Fixes from the same update.
• Nextbot and navmesh scripting: Improved scripting support for nextbots and navmeshes expanded what custom AI and navigation systems could do; Minor optimizations and Fixes for various bugs and exploits also accompanied the June update.

The Source Engine File Sending Mechanism exploit fix was the marquee change, closing a vulnerability that let attackers send files with any extension to clients or servers. Entity:SetLegacyTransform(bool) restored older scaling behavior, while GLIBC_2.15 introduced a notable Linux dedicated-server requirement.

• Source Engine File Sending Mechanism exploit fix: The security update blocked arbitrary-extension file sending, while Cleanup from Exploit Activity addressed spam that changed chat and server names.
• Entity:SetLegacyTransform(bool) and audio APIs: The July addition restored legacy entity scaling, while IGModAudioChannel:IsBlockStreamed added a way to identify block-streamed audio channels.
• Model, combat, and multiplayer behavior: Entity:SetModelScale and Entity:EnableMatrix no longer applied transformations twice; TTT ironsights worked again; Entity:FireBullets stopped applying ammo-specific damage when damage was zero without an explicit ammo type; and Father Grigori regained his “king of animals” behavior. Non-ASCII player names also remained intact after an exploit-related regression.
• GLIBC_2.15 and server scripting: Linux dedicated servers required glibc 2.15. properties.HaloThink was removed, _restart was removed from the blocked concommand list, and plugin_load worked again.

Workshop Addons Download on Server Join added automatic Workshop content downloads when players joined servers, making addon-heavy Garry’s Mod servers easier to access. Update 153 also introduced Kinect support, while the Workshop update added the developer-facing resource.AddWorkshop function.

• Workshop integration: Workshop Addons Download on Server Join let servers provide their required Workshop content automatically. resource.AddWorkshop( workshopid ) gave developers a direct way to register those resources; the update also fixed the map-start crash, invisible fonts after resolution changes, and the sound.PlayURL callback issue.
• Kinect support: Update 153 introduced support for Kinect.
• Cheater bans: Banned 1,500 Cheaters in a major enforcement action against players disrupting Garry’s Mod servers.

Garry’s Mod 13 overhauled how players find, install and share creations. The October update replaced Toybox with Steam Workshop integration, refreshed the stock maps and menus, and gave Sandbox players more ways to manipulate objects and NPCs.

• Workshop integration: The update introduced a new addon format and let dedicated servers subscribe to Workshop addons.
• Sharing constructions: Players could save duplications, publish them to the Workshop and spawn saved creations on servers.
• Maps and navigation: Construct and Flatgrass received updates. The main menu gained a game mode selector, while the spawn menu added a customizable category tree and browsing for addon models.
• Sandbox tools: Entity driving and a bone manipulator arrived, along with tools for posing and resizing NPCs.
• Loading and mounted content: Load times improved, and players could change which games supplied content without restarting Garry’s Mod.

Updates expanded what players could bring into the sandbox, from Half-Life: Source NPCs to assets from Left 4 Dead and other Source games. Toybox saves became easier to restore, and Trouble in Terrorist Town gained clearer round information and better spectator controls.

• Half-Life: Source NPCs: Owners could spawn characters from that game directly in Garry’s Mod. March also let downloaded particle effects load without restarting.
• Toybox saves: Players could save scenes containing Toybox entities. The game would fetch those entities before loading the save.
• Mountable games: April added content from Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Dystopia, Age of Chivalry and three other Source titles.
• Sandbox and TTT controls: Players could pick up objects with the Use key, subject to a server setting. TTT added round phase timers, more precise damage logs and the option for spectators to view a corpse’s perspective.

Toybox moved custom content into the spawn menu, letting players download entities and their supporting assets from the game. Subsequent September and October updates expanded Toybox, improved sandbox controls and added Prop Hunt.

• Downloadable entities: The September 7 patch added the Toybox tab and let entities bring along required models, materials and sounds. It also fixed stutter during Toybox downloads.
• Maps and game setup: A later September update added in-game Toybox map downloads, combined the singleplayer and multiplayer New Game dialogs and let players hide the tool menu.
• Prop Hunt: The October update added Prop Hunt and switched Toybox sign-in to Steam’s ticket system, alongside fixes for Toybox crashes.
• Server and Lua fixes: Valve patched administrator Steam ID spoofing, improved Lua argument checks and error reporting, and addressed large memory leaks on Linux.

Map browsing and sandbox tools improved through the September and November 2009 updates. Players gained better organization for Team Fortress 2 maps, favourites for frequently played maps, more visual effects and higher limits for the physics simulation.

• Map selection: The browser began grouping Team Fortress 2 Arena and King of the Hill maps properly. November added a right-click option to favourite a map and gave the main menu a new background.
• Sandbox settings: The September update added a server setting for spawning without weapons. November raised maximum physics velocity and the collision limit before objects froze, and made switching into noclip predicted.
• Animation and effects: Jigglebones worked on ragdolls and were fixed on NPCs. The later update introduced a Sobel post-processing filter, a new thruster effect and more thruster sounds.
• Save stability: The September release also addressed a crash that could occur when saving or loading.

Update 44 cut the network overhead of entities and made custom particle effects easier for modders to load. It also repaired Lua entity searches and restored the spawn menu’s ability to remember panel sizing and layout.

• Network traffic: Internal changes reduced entity bandwidth, targeting snapshot overflow problems that could disrupt play.
• Particle effects: Addons could use effects from files in the particles folder without adding them to a manifest. Effects downloaded from a server still required a restart before players could use them.
• Lua tools: Box and sphere queries returned the entities they previously missed. New methods let scripts read and change player step size and jump power.
• Settings and storage: The spawn menu again remembered the size and layout of some components. The update also addressed SQLite errors and cookies that failed to restore.

Spring updates expanded what the Duplicator could copy and hold, making it easier to build several constructions during one session. The same releases brought in Valve’s updated chat interface and fixed recording and stability issues that affected other game modes.

• Duplicator workflow: Players could keep several copied entity groups and place them from the point they originally clicked. A later update added effect duplication, made ragdolls visible while placing a copy and fixed cases where objects lost their frozen state.
• Chat and multiplayer: A merge with Valve’s newer Source code introduced the updated chat box. Joining a server showed clearer feedback, and the game cached downloaded files more effectively.
• Demos and stability: Demo recording worked in game modes beyond Sandbox. The April fixes also addressed crashes involving third-party scripts, multiplayer snipers and the physgun.
• Server and Lua tools: A command let server operators change the map and game mode together. Lua authors gained chat hooks and options for recording script errors.