[MegaBrutal]

Now I got really confused. I thought as long as sv_allowupload is "1", players can upload their custom playermodels onto the server when they connect so other players will download it and see the proper model. They just need to set a model they have locally and the client uploads the custom model when they join the server. I recently got told by 2 people that it's not how it works, server admins must upload custom playermodels manually and this is the only way.

Then I went to check my server to list the models/player directory to see what models it collected to prove them wrong. Heck, I even "uploaded" (or so I thought) my own custom model to test the feature. But I only found the standard models there. I was thinking maybe the uploaded models are stored in a cache/temp file like custom.hpk, but couldn't succeed to find them so far.

Pretty strange because players even complimented my model in game, and so I assumed they got it downloaded from my server because I uploaded it previously. I'm not sure but I think I've even seen custom models used by other players on my own server. But maybe we just got the models from other servers and my server didn't play any role in their distribution.

So how does it work actually? Can players upload models and do they get stored on the server, or do I need to hand-pick and manually upload the models I want my server to support?

[bigdaddy424]

Players cannot upload their models to the server.
Those 2 people were telling the truth.
If you replace a default model with a custom model on your game directory than it only applies to you and only you.
You need to hand-pick and manually upload the models
sv_allowupload "1" allows you to use your custom spray on public servers.
Browse sprays here https://gamebanana.com/sprays/cats/610
Spray is you press T on your keyboard near a wall, a typical old school player sprays every time he gets a kill, an old habit.
To find description of any cvar follow this link http://txdv.github.io/cstrike-cvarlist/

[fysiks]

For custom player models, you also need a plugin to precache it (so people download it) and to change the model dynamically. Just uploading a model to the server doesn't do anything. Also, make sure that you never overwrite an existing model on the server. If you want to change a model, you have to set it up with a new file name.

[evil85]

Here you have a plugin with the fuction of changing the default models to custom ones -> https://forums.alliedmods.net/showthread.php?t=43979

[MegaBrutal]

Thanks for the answers, now I'm really enlightened on this matter. Finding model packs seem easy. To help people who also find this thread looking for answers, I got the following playermodel packs (not sure how much is the overlap):
https://www.moddb.com/games/half-lif...er-models-v-11
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfil...?id=2011883968

Originally Posted by fysiks For custom player models, you also need a plugin to precache it (so people download it) and to change the model dynamically. Just uploading a model to the server doesn't do anything.

Now this is the real problem I haven't solved yet! For starters, I'm experimenting on a LAN server and installed Metamod and AMX Mod X. Vanilla AMXX is pretty intrusive (though I know you love it because this very forum is dedicated to it), but I'm sure if can be toned down by disabling some of its default plugins (e.g. I don't think I'll need menu and langmenu).

Now I'm hoping to find a playermodel precacher plugin, either for AMXX or for Metamod directly, which intelligently precaches models those are actually being used by players, because precaching all 100 or 1000 models whouldn't be feasible. Obviously if someone joins mid-game, their model can't be precached and downloaded by other clients, but by the next round, everything could be sorted, because the server now knows which models are in use, thus needs to precache. I hope I can find a plugin that work like this. Hard to believe that I would be the first person in human history that needs this functionality.

Originally Posted by evil85 Here you have a plugin with the fuction of changing the default models to custom ones -> https://forums.alliedmods.net/showthread.php?t=43979

Thank you, but it doesn't seem to help me. This precaches or even replaces a configured set of models. My solution should work with hundreds of arbitraty models and should be dynamic: only precache the models those are being used.

[fysiks]

All models that you want to be seen by other players will need to be precached and the files that are precached are set in stone at the beginning of the map.

There is a plugin called Player Models by Connor. I've never used it so you'll have to check it out.

[MegaBrutal]

Meanwhile I made this Metamod plugin and it's available here:
http://git.megabrutal.com/?p=pmprecache.git

As for now, I don't publish pre-compiled binaries, but I might if there is a need. Any criticism is welcome, especially if you find memory safety issues.

I'm wondering where should I post this so people can potentially find it. If I understand it correctly, this forum only accepts AMXX plugins, while my plugin interfaces with Metamod directly.

[fysiks]

What does the MetaMod plugin do? Precaching player models is trivial to do in an AMX Mod X plugin.