A guide on how to compile SourceMod plugins.

SourceMod plugins are custom scripts or addons created to enhance and modify the functionality of game servers that run on the Source engine.

The programming language associated with SourceMod plugin's source code is SourcePawn. The file extension for SourcePawn is sp.

Compiling SourceMod plugins is quite easy and will be explained below.

Table Of Contents

• Downloading SourceMod
• Compiling SourceMod Plugins
  • Windows
    • Windows File Explorer
    • Command Line
  • Linux
• Additional Command Line Options
• Include Files
• Conclusion

Downloading SourceMod

Refer to the following guide on how to download and extract SourceMod. You do not need to install SourceMod onto your server to build plugins.

https://forum.moddingcommunity.com/t/how-to-install-update-metamod-sourcemod/60

After extracting the SourceMod files, go to the addons/sourcemod/scripting directory on Linux (or addons\sourcemod\scripting folder on Windows).

Compiling SourceMod Plugins

Compiling SourceMod plugins is usually quite easy, especially on Windows.

Windows

Windows File Explorer

If you want to quickly compile plugins, you can drag and drop the plugin's source code file into the compile.exe executable located in the scripting folder. A Command Prompt window will open and you'll see the output of the build. If the build was successful, you'll see the built plugins inside of the compiled folder. Built SourceMod plugins typically have the smx file extension.

While this method is quick and easy, the command line method explained below includes more options you can set.

Command Line

If you want to compile plugins using through the command line using Command Prompt or PowerShell, you will first need to launch a terminal and change to the scripting folder.

Next, you'll want to use the spcomp.exe or spcomp64.exe (for 64-bit support) executables to compile the plugins.

Here is a basic command that compiles a plugin.

.\spcomp.exe <Plugin File Name With Extension>

For example, if we want to compile the included basechat plugin, we'd use the following command.

.\spcomp.exe basechat.sp

Linux

To compile SourceMod plugins through a Linux terminal, you may use a similar process to the command line method on Windows explained above. You will need to either use the spcomp or spcomp64 (for 64-bit support) executables to compile the plugins.

Here is a basic command that compiles a plugin.

./spcomp <Plugin File Name With Extension>

For example, if we want to compile the included basechat plugin, we'd use the following command.

./spcomp basechat.sp

If the build was successful, you'll see the new built plugin file in the same directory as the source code (scripting/).

Additional Command Line Options

As stated above, compiling plugins through the command line allows you to set additional options. Here is the help menu output which provides a list of flags and arguments you may set.

SourcePawn Compiler 1.11.0.6969
Copyright (c) 1997-2006 ITB CompuPhase
Copyright (c) 2004-2021 AlliedModders LLC

Usage: ./spcomp [options] <filename> [filename...]

optional arguments:
  --show-stats              Show compiler statistics on exit.
  -D                        Active directory path
  --active-dir=ACTIVE_DIR
  -e                        Error file path
  --error-file=ERROR_FILE
  -E, --warnings-as-errors  Treat warnings as errors
  -h, --show-includes       Show included file paths
  -z
  --compress-level=COMPRESS_LEVEL
                            Compression level, default 9 (0=none, 1=worst,
                            9=best)
  -t, --tabsize=TABSIZE     TAB indent size (in character positions,
                            default=8)
  -v, --verbose=VERBOSE     Verbosity level; 0=quiet, 1=normal, 2=verbose
  -p, --prefix=PREFIX       Set name of "prefix" file
  -o, --output=OUTPUT       Set base name of (P-code) output file
  -O, --opt-level=OPT_LEVEL
                            Deprecated; has no effect
  -i, --include=INCLUDE     Path for include files
  -w, --warning=WARNING     Disable a specific warning by its number.
  -;, --require-semicolons  Require a semicolon to end each statement.
  --syntax-only             Perform a dry-run (No file output) on the input
  --use-stderr              Use stderr instead of stdout for error messages.
  --no-verify               Disable opcode verification (for debugging).
  sym=val                   Define constant "sym" with value "val".
  sym=                      Define constant "sym" with value 0.

For example, on Linux, if want the successfully built basechat plugin to go inside the compiled/ directory, we'd use the following command(s).

# Make sure compiled directory is made.
mkdir -p compiled

# Output: compiled/basechat.smx
./spcomp -o compiled/basechat basechat.sp

Include Files

There are many published SourceMod plugins that contain include files with the inc file extension. These files need to go into the include/ directory/folder. Otherwise, the plugins will likely fail to compile.

Additionally, you can use the -i flag when compiling through the command line to include directories and folders outside of the default include directory and folder.

Conclusion

That's all! You should now know how all methods on compiling SourceMod plugins.

If you have any questions or have feedback, please reply to this topic!