Play custom maps

Play a community-made map on your own PC. You put the map file in the right folder, load it from the console, and take it out before normal matches.

What you need

DeadlockThe dev console on

A map mod

downloaded or your own

You load maps from the dev console. Test your mod in game shows how to turn it on.

What custom maps exist

Valve has released no map tools for Deadlock, and the game has no Steam Workshop. Community maps are VPK files, and only a few dozen exist as of October 2026.

This guide covers playing alone. Playing a custom map with friends needs a community server or console tricks, and this wiki does not cover them.

Want to build your own map? Map makers use Hammer from CSDK 12 with the full game files. This wiki does not cover mapping yet.

Play a map

Install a map

1. Pick a map mod you downloaded, or one you made.
2. Unpack it if it came as an archive, and find the .vpk file. A map never needs an .exe file. What's allowed and how to stay safe shows what a real mod looks like.
3. In Steam, right-click Deadlock and choose ManageBrowse local filesManage, then Browse local files.
4. Open game/citadel/maps/. Valve's own maps are in this folder too.
5. Copy the map .vpk into maps. Do not put it in addons.
6. Keep the file name as it is. The file name is the map name you type later.

Leave Valve's map files alone. Some maps install through Deadlock Mod Manager instead. Follow the map's page if it says so.

Load it from the console

1. Start Deadlock.
2. Press F7 to open the console.
3. Type map and the file name without .vpk, then press Enter. For dl_harbor.vpk, type map dl_harbor.
4. Pick your team and hero.

Read the map's page before you play. Some maps need extra console settings to work. Some, like Jump School, need the map command twice.

Remove it before matchmaking

Take maps out before a normal match

Custom maps don't work in Valve's matches. With a map installed, the normal map may fail to load, or you may not get into matchmaking. One map author also warns of desyncs and crashes.

By handDeadlock Mod Manager

1. Close Deadlock.
2. Move your custom map VPKs out of game/citadel/maps/ into a folder outside the Deadlock folder.
3. Start Deadlock and queue.

To play a map again later, copy it back in.

It warns you before launch when map mods are installed. Click Disable Map Mods & Launch before a normal match.

Common map problems

Next steps

Install mods with Deadlock Mod Manager

Beginner

Manage your mods in one app. It warns you before a normal match when map mods are installed.

Credits

This guide is based on the work of these creators. Check out their original maps and guides.

• Map: dl_harbor (WIP) by OhSeismic.
• Map: dl_express by BestNameExisting.
• Map: Jump School Map by 1Lomi.
• Guide: Hosting a Local Listen Server from Deadlock Modding Notes.
• Tool: Deadlock Mod Manager by Stormix and contributors.
• Data: GameTracking-Deadlock by SteamTracking, for Valve's map files.