Recently, Valve added community workshop support to Counter-Strike 2. Simultaneously, enthusiasts began creating numerous maps focused on solo play or individual practice, as well as playing with friends, reminiscent of the legendary 'maniac' mode in CS:GO.

However, ordinary players still can't launch games with friends on their private servers as they could in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. So, what to do? Waiting for Valve to add open lobby support isn't necessary because there's an alternative way to play with friends on a private server.

Therefore, specifically for the readers of bo3.gg, we've written a detailed guide on how to set up your private server in CS2.

Basics

Setting up your own Counter-Strike 2 server offers extensive game control. Unlike public community servers, you can organize a private online game where other players' participation is excluded, giving you the right to choose who plays. You also have complete freedom in selecting maps and game settings, such as enabling or disabling friendly fire and choosing the number of rounds.

Typically, a CS2 server can be installed on your home Windows computer. However, in this case, the server will only be available when your computer is running.

Additionally, the quality and speed of home internet connections often don't meet the requirements for supporting a gaming server. For the best gaming experience, it is recommended to rent server equipment from a specialized provider.

In this article, we will cover the most popular method of launching your private server in Counter-Strike 2.

Requirements for starting your own server in CS2

To ensure the uninterrupted operation of a CS2 server without lag and crashes, crucial for successful multiplayer gameplay, you need to choose high-performance server equipment that meets the specifications for dedicated servers.

This is a key element in ensuring a quality gaming experience. System requirements vary depending on factors like the actual load on the dedicated CS2 server. Here are the minimum parameters recommended for a Counter-Strike 2 server:

• CPU Power: at least 3.0 GHz (quad-core)
• RAM: at least 6 GB
• Free Disk Space: at least 50 GB
• Besides the server software requirements, it's important to consider the requirements of the operating system.

For instance, for Windows Server 2022, the following resources should be allocated:

• Processor: 1.4 GHz (64-bit)
• RAM: 512 MB or 2 GB (with or without a graphical user interface)
• Disk Space: 32 or 36 GB (with or without a graphical user interface)

How to launch a dedicated CS2 Server

Let's start the process of setting up a server for CS2. You might assume that the first step is to launch the game, but it's not. First, check your router model and find out how to access its settings through a web browser.

Step 1: Configure your router to open port 27015 for UDP using IPv4. This is why we recommended checking the model and instructions in advance. Since there are many models, there's no universal method, making this the most complex part of the setup. But after this, everything should go smoothly.

Step 2: Create a shortcut that points to the cs2.exe file, located in the Steam folder: \steamapps\common\Counter-Strike Global Offensive\game\bin\win64\cs2.exe.

Step 3: After creating the shortcut, right-click on it and go to its properties. In the "Target" field, after CS2.exe and the closing quotes, insert a space and add:

-dedicated -usercon +game_type 0 +game_mode 1 +map de_inferno.

NOTE: You can replace de_inferno with any other map to launch it.

Step 4: Launch Steam and, from there, through the library (NOT using the shortcut you created!), open CS2.

Step 5: Then launch the shortcut you created. A console will appear.

Step 6: Now your server should be running (as we did in step 5), so minimize the game, open the console, and enter connect localhost. Note: This won't work if the console and game are on different PCs.

Step 7: Switch to a separate server console (the one you launched in step 5) and enter the command status.

Step 8: In the displayed information, find the udp/ip section and write down or copy the IP address in parentheses next to the word public.

Step 9: Share this IP address with your friends so they can join the game by entering connect XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX in the console, replacing the Xs with the numbers you provided.

Step 10: Enjoy playing with friends on any map from the workshop.

Conclusion

To play with friends on a separate server, you don't need to wait for a community server to be empty or for Valve to add this feature. It's much easier than that.