At the Steam control panel, Right Click the "Left 4 Dead 2" option, and select "Properties" under the "My Games" tab. In the General tab, select "Set Launch Options", enter "-console" and accept it. Start the game, and the console window should appear at the main menu. Enter "bind p toggleconsole" as a console command. Then, type one of the following "map [map name]" codes and press enter to load the corresponding map. Note: The same entries can be used with the "changelevel [map name]" or "changelevel [map name]" codes during the game.


Alternately, at the main menu, select "Options", then choose the "Keyboard/Mouse" selection. Enable the "Allow Developers Console" option.


Press ~ to display the console window. Enter "bind p toggleconsole" as a console command. Then type one of the following "map [map name]" codes and press enter to load the corresponding map:

Dead Center
map c1m1_hotel
map c1m2_streets
map c1m3_mall
map c1m4_atrium

Dark Carnival
map c2m1_highway
map c2m2_fairgrounds
map c2m3_coaster
map c2m4_barns
map c2m5_concert

Swamp Fever
map c3m1_plankcountry
map c3m2_swamp
map c3m3_shantytown
map c3m4_plantation

Hard Rain
map c4m1_milltown_a
map c4m2_sugarmill_a
map c4m3_sugarmill_b (Mill Escape level)
map c4m4_milltown_b (Return To Town level)
map c4m5_milltown_escape

The Parish
map c5m1_waterfront_sndscape (Demo level; will glitch graphics until you quit the game)
map c5m1_waterfront
map c5m2_park
map c5m3_cemetery
map c5m4_quarter
map c5m5_bridge

While playing the game, press P or ~ to display the console window. Enter "sv_cheats 1" to enable cheat mode. If you entered the code correctly, the message "Server cvar 'sv_cheats' changed to 1" will appear. You can now enter one of the following codes to activate the corresponding cheat function. Note: Enabling cheat codes will disable achievements from being earned.

First of all, locate your Steam installation directory (by default it is under Program files or Program Files(x86) > Steam > Steamapps > common > Left 4 Dead 2 > left4dead2 > Addons) Once you've found your Steam installation directory, add the map file (.vpk, .zip, or .rar) to the appropriate folder. Next, launch Left 4 Dead 2 from Steam. From the main menu, click on Add-Ons and then enable whichever map you'd like to play by clicking the checkbox next to the name. Click on the appropriate game type for the map and start a server. From there, you should see the map select menu. Click on it and choose Addons, and you should see the map you added if you are in the game type the map was created for. Alternatively you can open your custom map by entering "map [mapname]" in the console.