Fix - Could not establish connection to Steam servers - Use +ip HLDS command line

If you are here, you have Steam and you want to set up a Dedicated Server. You can install a Dedicated server using the Dedicated Server in Steam installed via steam or separately using HLDS update tool.

To know how to install dedicated server using HLDS Update  Tool, view this post on Installing HLDS. Once you install it, you can run the dedicated server using the HLDS.exe. But you may get this error saying,

Could not establish connection to Steam servers

This error occurs if your network IP is used in creating the dedicated server. For using you IP address from the ISP, you need to manually add it in the parameters. If you know how to insert +ip parameters, you can do it directly, else, see the explanation below.

For fixing this error, you need to give some parameters to the HLDS while running it. To do this, you should first create a shortcut to the HLDS.exe. Right click the shortcut and go to Properties. In the properties window, you will see a text box with the name Target. This box should be edited such that those parameters will be executed while running the application. The following examples lets you understand the commands and parameters,

"C:\Program Files\Valve\HLServer\hlds.exe" -game cstrike +map de_dust2 -console +port 27019 +hostname "Counter Strike 1.6" +sv_lan 0 +ip xx.xx.xx.xx

This is how the target should be set. Give IP and the error must be fixed. If you want to know your IP, just go to who.is and the website displays you the IP of your computer. Make sure you are not using local IP address.

Optional parameters like -console, can also be added in this target command.