Garry's Mod: Complete Guide

Everything a new or returning Garry's Mod player needs: Sandbox controls, the Physics Gun and Tool Gun, mounting games, Workshop addons, the popular multiplayer gamemodes, and fixes for the classic ERROR and missing-texture problems.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the September 2026 Update (64-bit Windows builds on the main branch, hotfixed September 17, 2026). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

Press Q for the spawn menu, C for the context menu. Everything in Sandbox (props, NPCs, weapons, vehicles, tools, settings) lives in these two menus.
The Physics Gun (Physgun) is your main tool. Left-click to grab, right-click while holding to freeze, and the mouse wheel moves the object closer or farther away.
Z undoes your last spawn or tool action. You'll use it constantly.
Mount Counter-Strike: Source (and other Source games you own) to fix most purple-and-black checker textures and red ERROR models on community servers.
Subscribe to Workshop addons from the Steam Workshop or the in-game Addons menu. They download automatically on the next launch or server join.
Enable the developer console (Options, Keyboard, Advanced) and open it with the tilde key [~]. Plenty of fixes and settings live there.
Every multiplayer server is a different game. DarkRP, TTT, Prop Hunt and the rest have their own rules. Read the MOTD and the server rules before you play.
Pick the 64-bit client. Since the September 2026 Update, the main branch ships 64-bit Windows binaries. Choose the 64-bit client from Steam's launch options when you hit Play. It greatly reduces out-of-memory crashes on heavily modded servers.

Sandbox Controls (default PC)

Key	Action
W A S D	Move
Space	Jump
Ctrl	Crouch
Shift	Sprint
Q (hold)	Spawn menu
C (hold)	Context menu (tool settings, properties, edit mode)
E	Use / interact
Z	Undo
V	Noclip (if the server allows it)
F	Flashlight
R	Reload (with the Physgun: unfreeze held/touching object; with the Tool Gun: tool-specific)
G	Drop weapon (on many gamemodes)
Mouse wheel / number keys	Switch weapons
[~]	Developer console (once enabled)

Physics Gun

Input	Result
Left-click (hold)	Grab and move an object
Right-click while holding	Freeze the object in place
Mouse wheel while holding	Push away / pull closer
E + mouse while holding	Rotate the object
E + Shift + mouse while holding	Rotate with 45-degree snapping
R while looking at frozen props	Unfreeze everything connected to that prop

Tool Gun

Select a tool from the Tools tab in the Q menu. Left-click usually applies the tool, right-click does a secondary action, and R reloads or clears. Core tools worth learning first:

Tool	Use
Weld	Rigidly joins two props
Nocollide	Stops two props from colliding with each other
Rope / Elastic / Winch	Flexible connections, suspension, cranes
Axis / Ballsocket	Hinges and joints (doors, wheels, arms)
Wheel	Adds motorized wheels bound to keys (for cars)
Thruster	Adds directional thrust bound to keys (for hovercraft and rockets)
Hoverball	Holds height; adjustable with keys
Remover	Deletes the targeted entity
Colour / Material	Recolor props or change their texture
Duplicator	Copies a whole contraption and pastes it elsewhere; save dupes to reuse later
Faceposer / Finger Poser	Posing ragdolls for screenshots and machinima
Camera	Places viewpoints you can switch between

Spawnlists: Props sorted by game (Half-Life 2, mounted games, addons). Make custom spawnlists for your favorite props.
Weapons: HL2 weapons plus any addon weapons. Click to equip, and middle-click to spawn as a pickup.
Entities: Items, ammo, health chargers, and more.
NPCs: Spawns citizens, Combine, zombies and addon NPCs. The September 2026 Update added Hacked Manhacks, and the Combine Dropship can now take damage in Sandbox instead of being invulnerable. Content tabs now support sub-categories, which makes big addon packs easier to browse.
Vehicles: Jeep, airboat, chairs and pods, plus the drivable Combine APC (added in the April 2026 Update).
Post-process tab: Visual filters like bloom, bokeh and color modification for screenshots.
Saves, Dupes and Demos: Sandbox saves your worlds and contraptions. As of the September 2026 Update, you can favorite saves, dupes and demos.

The player model selector (context menu, Player Model) was overhauled in September 2026 with categories and a bigger preview.

Mounting Games

Garry's Mod ships with Half-Life 2 content. Other Source games you own on Steam can be mounted so their maps, models and textures are available.

Open the main menu, click the controller icon in the bottom right, and tick the games you own.
Counter-Strike: Source is the big one. Most community servers (especially TTT, DarkRP and Prop Hunt) use CS:S textures and models.
Commonly mounted games: CS:S, Half-Life 2: Episode One/Two, Team Fortress 2, Portal, Left 4 Dead 2, Day of Defeat: Source.
New mountable games in 2026: Black Mesa and Military Conflict: Vietnam (April 2026 Update), plus standalone Insurgency (2014) (September 2026 Update).
You must own and install the game for its content to mount.

Workshop and Addons

Browse the Garry's Mod Workshop on Steam, or use the in-game Addons menu from the main menu.
Categories include gamemodes, maps, weapons, NPCs, tools, vehicles, models and effects.
Too many addons slow load times and cause conflicts. If something breaks, disable addons in halves until you find the culprit.
Joining servers downloads that server's required content automatically (through Workshop or FastDL), which can take a while on the first join. Tick "Allow custom content" in the multiplayer settings.
Popular Sandbox addons: Wiremod (logic gates, sensors, Expression 2 scripting), Advanced Duplicator 2 (better dupes), and various vehicle bases and weapon packs (check each one's compatibility notes after big updates like the 64-bit switch).

Gamemodes

Gamemode	Ships with game?	What it is	Beginner tip
Sandbox	Yes	Free-build physics playground	Learn weld, nocollide and the Duplicator first
Trouble in Terrorist Town (TTT)	Yes	Social deduction: Innocents, Detectives and hidden Traitors	Don't RDM (random deathmatch). Only shoot with evidence, and use the scoreboard and body identification
Prop Hunt	Workshop / server	Hiders disguise as props, seekers hunt them	Pick a prop that matches the room and stop moving
DarkRP	Workshop / server	Roleplay economy (jobs, money, printers, laws)	Read the rules: NLR, RDM and "FailRP" definitions vary by server
Murder	Workshop / server	One murderer with a knife, one bystander with a gun	Collect loot, stay in groups, watch footprints
Deathrun	Workshop / server	Runners dodge traps triggered by a death team	Learn trap timings on each map
Jailbreak	Workshop / server	Guards command prisoners through games	Follow the warden's orders to the letter
Sledbuild / Elevator / others	Workshop / server	Niche and party modes	Check the server description

TTT essentials

Roles: Innocents (majority), Traitors (secret; buy equipment with credits from the C menu), and Detectives (public; they have their own shop, which includes the DNA Scanner).
Search bodies with E to reveal their role and clues like the killer's weapon and time of death.
Credits: Traitors and Detectives earn credits and spend them on gear such as C4, disguisers, radar, health stations and body armor.
Karma: Killing teammates lowers your karma, which lowers your damage and can get you kicked. Play clean.

DarkRP essentials

F4 opens the jobs and shop menu on most DarkRP servers. F1 often shows the rules.
Common rules: NLR (New Life Rule; don't return to where you died for a set time), RDM and RDA (random death/arrest), Metagaming (using out-of-character info in-character).
Rules are per server, and staff enforce them. Read them before you raid or mug anyone.

Performance and Troubleshooting

Purple/black checkers and ERROR models

Mount Counter-Strike: Source (and any other game the server mentions).
Enable custom content downloads in Options, Multiplayer.
Resubscribe to or verify the server's Workshop collection.

Crashes and low FPS

Use the 64-bit client. Since the September 2026 Update it ships on the main branch for Windows and is selected from Steam's launch options, so you no longer need the old x86-64 beta branch for the memory headroom. If you were on a beta branch, you can switch back to the default in Steam, Properties, Betas.
Verify game files in Steam.
Cut down on subscribed addons, especially large map and model packs you don't use.
Lower Model Detail, Shadow Detail and Multicore rendering-related settings in Options, Video, Advanced, and turn off post-processing effects.
Clear the garrysmod/cache folder if downloads keep corrupting.

Useful console commands

Command	Effect
`retry`	Reconnect to the last server
`connect [ip:port]`	Join a server directly
`disconnect`	Leave the server
`kill`	Respawn (if the server allows it)
`cl_showfps 1`	Shows your framerate
`net_graph 1`	Shows FPS, ping and network info
`gmod_admin_cleanup`	Cleans up the map (admin / single-player)
`sv_cheats 1`	Enables cheat commands in single-player / listen servers

Hosting and Playing with Friends

Listen server: From the main menu choose Start New Game, pick a map, set the player count above 1, then invite friends through Steam. Choose "Local Server" or "Peer to Peer" depending on your network.
Dedicated server: Install the Garry's Mod Dedicated Server through SteamCMD. It got 64-bit Windows binaries in the September 2026 Update. Set a Workshop collection and a server.cfg.
Tell friends to mount the same games you have, or stick to HL2-only content.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Not mounting CS:S and then wondering why every server is checkerboards.
Subscribing to hundreds of addons. Long load times and weird conflicts follow.
Joining DarkRP or TTT without reading the rules. Many bans come from RDM or NLR violations.
Welding everything to everything. Overly complex welds cause physics lag. Use nocollide and fewer, stronger joints.
Leaving unfrozen props everywhere on a server. Most servers have prop limits and anti-lag systems that will clean them up or kick you.
Still launching the 32-bit client. Since the September 2026 Update, the main branch carries 64-bit on Windows. Pick it from Steam's launch options.

Advanced Tips

Use the Duplicator (or Advanced Duplicator 2) to save and share builds. Paste them onto new maps in seconds.
Freeze your base parts and parent the rest. Fewer physics-simulated objects mean better server performance.
Learn Expression 2 (Wiremod) for automation: turrets, elevators, HUDs, custom vehicles.
Lua scripting: Gamemodes and addons are written in Lua. The official Garry's Mod Wiki has the full API reference if you want to make your own.
Posing and screenshots: Combine the Faceposer, Finger Poser, Inflator (visuals improved in September 2026), post-process effects and the Camera tool for clean poster shots.
Server browser filters: Sort by ping and check the gamemode and map before joining. Favorite good communities.

FAQ

How do I fix the purple and black checkerboard textures? Mount Counter-Strike: Source (you need to own it) and any other game the server requires, then enable custom content downloads.

Is Garry's Mod 64-bit now? Yes. The September 2026 Update brought 64-bit Windows binaries to the main branch for the game client, dedicated servers and developer tools (including Hammer). For the client, select the 64-bit option in Steam's launch options.

What games can I mount in Garry's Mod? Most Source-engine games you own, including CS:S, HL2 episodes, TF2, Portal and L4D2. Black Mesa and Military Conflict: Vietnam were added in April 2026, and Insurgency (2014) in September 2026.

Does Garry's Mod come with TTT? Yes, Trouble in Terrorist Town ships with the game. DarkRP, Prop Hunt and Murder come from the Workshop or from servers.

How do I spawn things? Hold Q to open the spawn menu and click a prop, NPC, weapon or vehicle. Press Z to undo.

Why can't I use noclip or spawn props on a server? The server controls permissions. Many gamemodes restrict or disable Sandbox tools for non-admins.

Is s&box a replacement for Garry's Mod? s&box is Facepunch's separate project. Garry's Mod keeps getting updates, as the April and September 2026 Updates show.