A plugin sits at bad load in amxx plugins, and the AMX Mod X log has a line like this:

L 10/12/2026 - 18:04:11: [AMXX] Plugin "shop.amxx" failed to load: Module/Library "cstrike" required for plugin.  Check modules.ini.

This is a plugin error with a module cause. When a plugin is compiled with #include <cstrike>, the compiled .amxx records that it needs the cstrike library. Every time a map starts, AMX Mod X checks each plugin's list against the modules that are actually running. If nothing running provides cstrike, that plugin is refused and the others keep working. So the fix is never inside the plugin: it is making the module load. Older guides quote it as Module "cstrike" required for plugin, which is how AMXX 1.71 and earlier worded it. Same error.

1. Find the exact line and the plugin

The line is printed to the server console at map start and written to the daily AMXX log, addons/amxmodx/logs/LYYYYMMDD.log. It is a normal log entry, so do not look for it in error_YYYYMMDD.log. Pull every occurrence at once:

cd /home/steam/hlds/cstrike/addons/amxmodx/logs
grep -h "required for plugin" L*.log | tail -n 20

Search for that phrase rather than the whole sentence: depending on how the plugin declared the dependency, there are one or two spaces before Check modules.ini. The first quoted name is the plugin file, the second is the library it wants. The same error appears with fakemeta, hamsandwich, engine, fun or reapi in place of cstrike, and everything below applies to them too (ReAPI has extra requirements of its own, see installing ReAPI).

A variant reads Module/Library Class "xstats" required for plugin. A class is a role a module fills: xstats is provided by csx, so stats plugins fail this way when csx is missing or broken.

In the console, amxx plugins lists the failed plugin as bad load with unknown name and version (its init code never ran), and below the table prints one line per failure:

(  7) Load fails: Module/Library "cstrike" required for plugin.  Check modules.ini.

The number in parentheses matches the [ 7] row in the table, which shows the file name.

2. Ask AMX Mod X what it actually loaded

amxx modules

Find the CStrike row. There are three possibilities, and each points to a different fix:

• CStrike is not listed at all. AMXX never loaded the file: either it is not there (step 3) or nothing asked for it (step 4). When a plugin asks for a module, AMXX looks for one exact file name and silently gives up if it is missing.
• CStrike is listed with a status other than running (bad load, newer, old, bad game). The file was found but the module failed, and the plugin error is only the knock-on effect. Go to step 5, or step 6 for bad game.
• CStrike is running. Then the error is not current for cstrike: you are reading a line from before a restart, or the line names a different library. Re-read it.

3. The module file is not in modules/

This is the most common cause. The AMX Mod X Base package does not contain the Counter-Strike modules: cstrike and csx ship in the separate Counter-Strike package. Install only Base and every CS plugin fails with this error. Check:

ls -l /home/steam/hlds/cstrike/addons/amxmodx/modules/ | grep -E 'cstrike|csx'

You want cstrike_amxx_i386.so and csx_amxx_i386.so (on Windows, cstrike_amxx.dll and csx_amxx.dll). If they are missing, read your core version with amxx version, download the Counter-Strike package of exactly that version, and copy the two files from its addons/amxmodx/modules/ into yours. On a fresh install you can extract the whole package in cstrike/ like Base, but not over a configured server: it also carries plugins.ini, modules.ini and amxx.cfg and would replace yours. A cstrike module from a different release fails in another way (step 5).

The file name matters. AMXX builds it from the library name, so cstrike becomes modules/cstrike_amxx_i386.so on Linux and modules/cstrike_amxx.dll on Windows. Linux is case-sensitive, so Cstrike_amxx_i386.so or a file renamed to cstrike.so is never found, and a Windows .dll in a Linux install is ignored. If cstrike is enabled in modules.ini but the file is missing, it shows up as bad load with No such file or directory in the log instead.

4. Auto-load is off and modules.ini has it commented out

The stock modules.ini in 1.9 and 1.10 ships with ;cstrike and ;csx commented out, under a note saying these modules are auto-detected (1.8.2 shipped them enabled). Auto-detection works because the stock cstrike.inc makes the compiler write two things into the plugin: "this plugin requires cstrike" and "load cstrike for me". A plugin compiled with #define AMXMODX_NOAUTOLOAD keeps only the first, so it fails unless something else already loaded the module. Load it explicitly:

; addons/amxmodx/configs/modules.ini
cstrike
csx

Short name only, no semicolon, no _amxx_i386.so. A module listed here loads at startup whether or not a plugin asks for it, so you no longer depend on auto-load, and listing a module that would have auto-loaded anyway does no harm. Installing AMXX modules explains both loading mechanisms.

5. The module is there but failed to load

When amxx modules shows CStrike with a bad status, the reason is in the same L log, a few lines above the plugin error. Two you will meet:

[AMXX] Module "cstrike/addons/amxmodx/modules/cstrike_amxx_i386.so" failed to load (cstrike/addons/amxmodx/modules/cstrike_amxx_i386.so: wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS64)
[AMXX] Module requested a not exisitng function (file "cstrike/addons/amxmodx/modules/cstrike_amxx_i386.so") (func "GetConfigManager")

The first is a 64-bit build. HLDS and every module in it are 32-bit; file cstrike_amxx_i386.so must say ELF 32-bit LSB shared object, Intel 80386. See the ELFCLASS64 fix. The second (status newer) is a 1.9 or 1.10 cstrike module inside a 1.8.2 install: the module asks the core for a function that 1.8.2 does not have. The misspelling is 1.8.2's own; newer cores print not existing. Take Base and Counter-Strike from one release.

Every other module failure is covered in Module failed to load. Fix the module first: once it reads running, the plugin error disappears by itself, because the plugin was never the problem.

6. The server is not running Counter-Strike

The cstrike and csx modules only agree to load when the game folder is cstrike or czero. On Half-Life, Day of Defeat, TFC or any other mod you get a line like:

[AMXX] Module "valve/addons/amxmodx/modules/cstrike_amxx_i386.so" (version "1.10.0.5487") reported that it cannot load on game "valve"

and the status bad game. No setting changes this. A plugin that includes cstrike calls Counter-Strike functions (money, CS teams, CS weapons) that do not exist in other games, so a CS plugin cannot run on another mod. Find a version of the plugin written for your game, or remove it.

The check uses the name of the game folder passed with -game, so a Counter-Strike server running from a renamed folder is refused the same way. Name it cstrike again. ReGameDLL is fine: it is still Counter-Strike in the cstrike folder.

7. Restart, do not just change map

After you copy or fix module files, restart the server process. A module that already failed stays registered as failed until the process exits, so a changelevel does not retry it.

Common causes

• CStrike missing from amxx modules - the Counter-Strike package was never installed, or the file is misnamed. Copy the modules from the matching Counter-Strike package.
• CStrike shows bad load - wrong architecture, a missing file listed in modules.ini, or a damaged upload. The log line says which.
• CStrike shows newer - the module is from a newer AMXX than the core. Use one release for both.
• CStrike shows bad game - not a Counter-Strike server, or the game folder was renamed.
• Module file present, nothing in the log about it, one plugin still fails - that plugin was compiled with auto-load disabled. Enable the module in modules.ini.
• Stats plugins fail with Class "xstats" - csx is missing or failed. Same steps with csx_amxx_i386.so.

Verification checklist

1. amxx modules lists CStrike (and CSX if you run stats) as running, and the last line reads N modules, N correct.
2. amxx plugins prints no Load fails lines.
3. grep "required for plugin" on today's L log finds nothing after the restart.
4. The plugin's feature works in game. For anything still odd, see reading the AMXX logs.