Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Dedicated Servers

From Valve Developer Community

Contents [hide] 1 Downloading the CS:GO Dedicated Server 2 Starting the Server 3 Linux script to manage the server 4 Advanced Configuration 4.1 gamemodes.txt 4.2 gamemodes_server.txt 4.2.1 Bots 4.2.2 Round Convars 4.2.3 Gun Game and Demolition Progression 4.2.4 Maps 4.3 autoexec.cfg 4.4 server.cfg 5 FAQ and known issues

Downloading the CS:GO Dedicated Server

This describes the process of updating the CS:GO dedicated server application. These steps are required every time the game is updated. To automate this process for future updates, see SteamCMD#Automating SteamCMD.

1. Download and install SteamCMD.

2. Start SteamCMD. At the Steam> prompt, set your CS:GO Dedicated Server install directory.

Bug:On some Linux distributions the path cannot contain any capital letters

Examples:

• Windows:

force_install_dir c:\csgo-ds\
force_install_dir .\csgo-ds\

• Linux:

force_install_dir /full/path/to/csgo-ds/

3. Install or Update CS:GO.

If this is your first time installing or if you are trying to verify the integrity of the server files:

app_update 740 validate

If this is simply an update to an existing CS:GO dedicated server:

app_update 740

4. Once finished, type quit at the Steam> prompt to properly log off of the Steam servers.

Starting the Server

Classic Casual:

srcds -game csgo -console -usercon +game_type 0 +game_mode 0 +mapgroup mg_bomb +map de_dust

Classic Competitive:

srcds -game csgo -console -usercon +game_type 0 +game_mode 1 +mapgroup mg_bomb +map de_dust 

Arms Race:

srcds -game csgo -console -usercon +game_type 1 +game_mode 0 +mapgroup mg_armsrace +map ar_shoots

Demolition:

srcds -game csgo -console -usercon +game_type 1 +game_mode 1 +mapgroup mg_demolition +map de_lake

Linux script to manage the server

A simple script has been created to manage the server. It was tested on Debian and Ubuntu distributions and it can start, stop, restart, update the server. You can also display the console via the console command. If you are in console mod, don't forget to press CTRL+A then D to stop the screen without stopping the server.

This script is available on GitHub : csgo-server-launcher

Advanced Configuration

Configuring your new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive server differs from what server administrators have seen with previous dedicated servers. There are some primary differences, which we'll cover here.

gamemodes.txt

This file can be found under the \csgo\ folder.

Essentially, this file defines Valve's standard "rules" for each game mode. For example, a classic casual game gives defuse kits to CTs automatically, while in a classic competitive game they are purchasable like in previous versions of CS. You should not edit this file because Valve may decide to change the rules for a particular game mode at any time. If you customize this file, and not the gamemodes_server.txt file, your changes will be wiped out any time Valve chooses to push an update to this file.

Even though you shouldn't edit this file, it's still useful to use this file to determine how exactly to make a particular convar change. Find the section you want to edit, and you'll see the group of appropriate convars you can set. Again, you will need to make your actual changes in gamemodes_server.txt.

Each section of the file is separated by the game type. The game types are Casual, Competitive, Arms Race (Gun Game) and Demolition (gungametrbomb).

gamemodes_server.txt

This file must be created or otherwise generated from gamemodes_server.txt.example under the \csgo\ folder. This file allows the server administrator to customize each game mode for their own server. It overrides and defaults set by Valve in gamemodes.txt. With this file, for example, you can change the maxrounds for a game type from the default, or enable friendly fire but reduce the amount of damage friendlies deal.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO MAINTAIN THE SAME HIERARCHY AND SYNTAX AS GAMEMODES.TXT!!! Included with your server installation is a gamemodes_server.txt.example file to help you learn the syntax. There is no file specifically named gamemodes_server.txt in the standard server install. You must rename, copy, or make a new file called gamemodes_server.txt to be able to customize your game modes.

Tool for creating a gamemodes_server.txt Gamemodes Helper

Bots

You can change the amount of bots, the way the bots populate the server and how chatty they are by updating the convars below:

"bot_quota_mode"     "fill"
"bot_defer_to_human_items"   "1"
"bot_defer_to_human_goals"   "0"
"bot_difficulty"     "1"
"bot_dont_shoot"     "0"
"bot_chatter"        "normal"
"bot_autodifficulty_threshold_low" "-2.0"  // Value between -20.0 and 20.0 (Amount below avg human contribution score, below which a bot should raise its difficulty)
"bot_autodifficulty_threshold_high"  "0.0" // Value between -20.0 and 20.0 (Amount above avg human contribution score, above which a bot should lower its difficulty)

Round Convars

The following convars can be changed to update how the rounds are played out. You can change from round limits to time limits, to how long you force players to freeze in place to buy to forcing the camera to only specatating your team members while dead. Each convar is set specifically for each game type, so you'll have to go through each of the different game modes to get them all updated!

"mp_afterroundmoney"   "0"
"mp_playercashawards"    "1"
"mp_teamcashawards"    "1"
"mp_maxrounds"     "30"
"mp_timelimit"     "0"
"mp_roundtime"     "2"
"mp_freezetime"      "15"
"mp_buytime"     "45"
"mp_forcecamera"   "1" // Set to 1 for team only spectating.
"mp_defuser_allocation"    "0"
"mp_death_drop_gun"    "1" // 0=none, 1=best, 2=current or best
"mp_death_drop_grenade"    "2" // 0=none, 1=best, 2=current or best
"mp_death_drop_defuser"    "1"

Gun Game and Demolition Progression

You'll find convars available to update how the server progresses individuals through the weapons in both Gun Game modes. You can set the weapon order and the kill requirements in order to move on to the next weapon. These convars are separated by team, so be careful to make changes for both sides or you could potentially unbalance the matches on your server.

As an example, here is a list of the convars of weapon progression on Arms Race for a single team:

"mp9"    { "kills" "1" }
"mac10"    { "kills" "1" }
"mp7"    { "kills" "1" }
"bizon"    { "kills" "1" }
"ump45"    { "kills" "1" }
"p90"    { "kills" "1" }
"nova"   { "kills" "1" }
"mag7"   { "kills" "1" }
"xm1014" { "kills" "1" }
"sawedoff" { "kills" "1" }
"galilar"  { "kills" "1" }
"famas"    { "kills" "1" }
"ak47"   { "kills" "1" }
"m4a1"   { "kills" "1" }
"sg556"    { "kills" "1" }
"aug"    { "kills" "1" }
"awp"    { "kills" "1" }
"m249"   { "kills" "1" }
"negev"    { "kills" "1" }
"glock"    { "kills" "1" }
"hkp2000"  { "kills" "1" }
"tec9"   { "kills" "1" }
"p250"   { "kills" "1" }
"deagle" { "kills" "1" }
"fiveseven"  { "kills" "1" }
"elite"    { "kills" "1" }
"knifegg"  { "kills" "1" }

Here is an example of the weapon progression on Demolition for a single team:

"m4a1"   { "kills" "1" }
"p90"    { "kills" "1" }
"ump45"    { "kills" "1" }
"deagle" { "kills" "1" }
"nova"   { "kills" "1" }
"fiveseven"  { "kills" "1" }
"hkp2000"  { "kills" "1" }
"ssg08"    { "kills" "1" }
"awp"    { "kills" "1" }
"Scar20" { "kills" "1" }

Maps

The types of maps you play are now controlled by map groups.

autoexec.cfg

The file has to be created in \csgo\cfg.

This file is executed before the first map starts. The valve.rc executes the autoexec.cfg and in the next line the cmd stuffcmds, which will execute the parameters with + from the commandline.

In your autoexec.cfg you can set cvars which may need a mapchange or have to be set only one time

log on //This is set to turn on logging! Don't put this in your server.cfg
//sv_password //Only set this if you intend to have a private server and don't want that a mapchange will reset your password. 

server.cfg

The server.cfg file can be found under \csgo\cfg. (make it if it doesn't exist)'

Here is an example of a very simple server.cfg file:

hostname "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Dedicated Server"
rcon_password "yourrconpassword"
sv_password "" //Only set this if you intend to have a private server!

From here, you can add additional commands to customize your server's game play experience:

mp_freezetime 5 //The amount of time players are frozen to buy items
mp_join_grace_time 15 //The amount of time players can join teams after a round has started
mp_match_end_restart 0 // Defines whether a map should be restarted after a game has ended 
sv_cheats 0 //This should always be set, so you know it's not on
sv_lan 0 //This should always be set, so you know it's not on
//**The bot commands below are mostly default with the exception of 
bot_difficulty 1
bot_chatter "off"
bot_join_after_player 1
bot_quota 10
bot_quota_mode "fill"
//**The following commands manage kicks and bans
exec banned_user.cfg
exec banned_ip.cfg
writeid
writeip

Once you've launched your dedicated server, you can type in the following command to output all available convars that can be altered using server.cfg:

//The output file will be located in the csgo folder of your dedicated server
cvarlist log cvarlist.txt

FAQ and known issues

For known issues and workarounds, please visit CSGO DS known issues.