---
title: "How to Install POD-Bot mm on a CS 1.6 Server"
excerpt: "Install POD-Bot mm as a Metamod plugin, add the per-map waypoint files it needs, and fill your server with bots."
category: "installation"
tags: "podbot, bots"
image: ""
read_time: "8 min read"
---
<p>POD-Bot mm is a classic Counter-Strike 1.6 bot &mdash; a Metamod plugin (originally by Count Floyd, kept alive on GitHub) that adds AI players which navigate using waypoint files. It is not an AMX Mod X plugin; it loads directly through Metamod's <code>plugins.ini</code>, alongside AMXX rather than under it. This guide installs it on top of an existing Metamod server.</p>
<h2>1. Confirm Metamod is loaded</h2>
<p>POD-Bot mm is a Metamod plugin, so Metamod must already be working. If you have not installed it, follow <a href="/tutorials/install-metamod-r">the Metamod-r guide</a>. Confirm from the server console that <code>meta list</code> prints your current Metamod plugins before you add the bot &mdash; if that command is unknown, Metamod itself is not loaded and the bot has nothing to hook into.</p>
<h2>2. Install the POD-Bot files</h2>
<p>POD-Bot lives in its own folder under <code>addons</code>. Copy the whole <code>podbot</code> directory &mdash; the binary plus its config and waypoint folders &mdash; into place:</p>
<pre>cstrike/addons/podbot/podbot_mm_i386.so   (Linux)
cstrike/addons/podbot/podbot_mm.dll       (Windows)
cstrike/addons/podbot/botweapons.cfg
cstrike/addons/podbot/wptdefault/</pre>
<p>The <code>wptdefault/</code> folder is where per-map waypoint files (<code>.pwf</code>) live. Keep the shipped <code>botweapons.cfg</code> &mdash; it maps the current CS 1.6 weapons the bot is allowed to buy, and a mismatched one makes bots buy nothing.</p>
<h2>3. Register it in Metamod's plugins.ini</h2>
<p>Add one line to <code>cstrike/addons/metamod/plugins.ini</code> pointing at the correct binary for your OS. This is the file that tells Metamod which plugins to load, with separate lines for win32 and linux:</p>
<pre>linux addons/podbot/podbot_mm_i386.so
win32 addons/podbot/podbot_mm.dll</pre>
<p>Use the line for your platform, or list both &mdash; Metamod ignores the one that does not match. The path columns and the win32/linux split are covered in <a href="/tutorials/metamod-plugins-ini-explained">metamod/plugins.ini explained</a>. Note that POD-Bot and AMXX are peers here: both are lines in the same <code>plugins.ini</code>, and the order between them rarely matters.</p>
<h2>4. Waypoints are mandatory</h2>
<p>POD-Bot navigates purely by waypoints &mdash; a graph of nodes for each map stored as a <code>.pwf</code> file in <code>wptdefault/</code>. On a map with no waypoint file, bots spawn and then stand still or spin uselessly, because they have no path to follow. Bundle a waypoint file for every map in your rotation, named after the map (<code>de_dust2.pwf</code>). If bots refuse to move, a missing or wrong-named waypoint is nearly always why &mdash; see <a href="/tutorials/fix-bots-stand-still-no-waypoints">bots stand still with no waypoints</a>.</p>
<h2>5. Add bots and control them</h2>
<p>POD-Bot is controlled with the <code>pb</code> console command. Change the map after editing <code>plugins.ini</code>, then:</p>
<pre>pb add
pb bot_quota 6
pb kickall</pre>
<p><code>pb add</code> drops in one bot; <code>pb bot_quota</code> keeps a fixed number filled automatically. To fill bots without typing each time, set the quota in the POD-Bot config so it applies on every map. Open the in-game control menu with <code>pb menu</code> (bind it to a key) to add, kick and set difficulty live.</p>
<h2>6. Tune difficulty and behaviour</h2>
<p>POD-Bot reads its settings from its config folder under <code>addons/podbot/</code>. There you set the default skill (roughly 0 to 100), the minimum and maximum bot count that <code>bot_quota</code> targets, whether bots chatter, and whether they respect the buy economy from <code>botweapons.cfg</code>. Set these once in the config rather than typing <code>pb</code> commands every map &mdash; console commands only last until the map changes, whereas the config is re-read on load. On a public server, keep skill mixed rather than maxed so bots feel human and do not wall-beam newer players.</p>
<h2>Troubleshooting</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Bots do not appear at all</strong> &mdash; the <code>plugins.ini</code> line is wrong or points at the wrong architecture. Confirm the path and that you used the <code>i386.so</code> on Linux. Check the console at map load for a Metamod load error.</li>
<li><strong>Bots spawn but stand still or spin</strong> &mdash; no waypoint file for this map. Add the correct <code>.pwf</code> to <code>wptdefault/</code>; this is the single most common POD-Bot problem.</li>
<li><strong>Bots buy no weapons</strong> &mdash; a missing or outdated <code>botweapons.cfg</code>. Restore the shipped file.</li>
<li><strong><code>pb</code> is an unknown command</strong> &mdash; the plugin did not load. Run <code>meta list</code> and confirm POD-Bot appears and is running, not failed.</li>
<li><strong>Bots stutter or lag the server</strong> &mdash; too many bots for the CPU, or a stale experience file (<code>.pxp</code>) from an older version. Delete old <code>.pxp</code> files and lower the quota.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Verification</h2>
<p>Change to a waypointed map, run <code>meta list</code> and confirm POD-Bot shows as loaded, then <code>pb add</code> and watch a bot spawn and immediately start pathing toward an objective &mdash; movement is the proof the waypoints loaded. Set <code>pb bot_quota 4</code> and confirm the count fills and refills as bots die. If you would rather use a bot that ships its own navigation graphs, compare <a href="/tutorials/install-yapb-bots">YaPB</a>, which installs the same way through <code>plugins.ini</code>.</p>