A gamemode is the set of rules a Garry's Mod server runs. Sandbox lets you build anything, DarkRP is city roleplay, and TTT, Prop Hunt and Murder are short rounds of hiding and hunting. Each one is explained below, followed by how to find servers for them.
Sandbox
Sandbox is the default gamemode and the one you're in when you click Start New Game. There's no goal. You spawn props, NPCs, vehicles and weapons from the spawn menu (hold Q) and build whatever you like with the physgun and toolgun.
Sandbox is the best place to learn the game. Start with our controls guide, then the tool guides.
DarkRP
DarkRP is roleplay in a city. You pick a job, earn money and build a life, or a criminal empire. Standard DarkRP has jobs such as Citizen, Gangster, Gun Dealer, Medic, Civil Protection and Mayor. The Mayor sets laws, and the police enforce them.
You buy property, run money-making entities, build a base and defend it from raids. DarkRP is one of the most played gamemodes in Garry's Mod, and every server writes its own rules and adds its own jobs. Read the rules before you play, because breaking them can get you banned.
Justified is a DarkRP server with its own jobs, progression and city. Have a look at justified.gg, or read our DarkRP guides.
Trouble in Terrorist Town (TTT)
TTT comes with Garry's Mod, so you can play it without installing anything. Each round, a few players are secretly Traitors. Everyone else is Innocent, and the Traitors win by killing them all. The Innocents win by working out who the Traitors are and killing them first.
Detectives are Innocents everyone can see. They investigate bodies and lead the hunt. Traitors and Detectives earn credits and spend them on gear in the Equipment Menu, which opens with C. TTT maps start with ttt_.
Prop Hunt
Prop Hunt is hide and seek. One team, the props, hides by disguising as objects around the map, like a chair or a barrel. Press E on a prop to turn into it.
The other team, the hunters, gets a short wait while the props hide, then hunts them down. Shooting the wrong prop hurts the hunter, so you can't spray every chair in the room. Teams swap at the end of each round.
Murder
Murder is a smaller, tenser cousin of TTT. One player is the murderer, armed with a knife they can swing or throw. Everyone else is a bystander, and nobody knows who's who.
One bystander starts with the only gun. The others collect clues around the map, and enough clues earns another gun. Shoot an innocent bystander and you drop your gun and slow down for a while. Names are hidden, so you're tracking strangers by colour, not by who you know.
The Murder Workshop page says you need Counter-Strike: Source. See How to Mount Games.
Deathrun
Deathrun splits the server into two teams. The runners race through an obstacle course to the end. A smaller death team waits along the route and sets off the traps built into the map to kill them. Deathrun maps usually start with deathrun_.
Jailbreak
Jailbreak is prison roleplay with guards and prisoners. One guard becomes the warden and gives orders: line up, play a minigame, stand in the corner. Guards can shoot prisoners who rebel or ignore orders, but a good rebellion can win the round.
When one prisoner is left, they usually get a last request, a final game or duel of their choosing. Rules change a lot between servers, so read them before you play.
Zombie Survival
Zombie Survival puts a team of humans against a horde of zombies, and every zombie is a player. Die as a human and you come back as a zombie. Humans nail props together with a hammer into barricades and earn points by hurting zombies. You spend points on weapons and ammo at arsenal crates.
Rounds come in waves, and new zombie classes unlock as they go. The humans win by surviving to the end or completing the map's objectives. Its original author stopped developing it in 2018.
Other Gamemodes
The Workshop has hundreds more gamemodes. The server browser is the best way to see what people are playing right now, and the Gamemodes tab under Addons lists the rest.
How to Find Servers for a Gamemode
Open the Server Browser
Click Find Multiplayer Game on the main menu.
Pick the Gamemode
The browser lists every gamemode that has servers, busiest first. Type in Search gamemodes to find one by name.
Join a Server
Pick a server with players and a low ping, then click Join Server. GMod downloads whatever the server needs.
Our server joining guide covers filters, favourites and joining by IP.
Play a Gamemode Yourself
To play a gamemode on your own or with friends, you need it installed.
Subscribe to it on the Workshop, or click Addons, then Gamemodes on the main menu. See How to Install Addons.
Click the gamemode button at the bottom right of the main menu and pick it.
Click Start New Game and choose a map made for it.
Ready to play? Justified is a Garry's Mod DarkRP server: justified.gg
