Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Dedicated Servers

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Revision as of 07:25, 31 March 2016 by RavuAlHemio (talk | contribs) (Gun Game and Demolition Progression: add how to disable random weapons in Arms Race)

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This page outlines the basics of setting up and running Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Dedicated Server.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Note:For information on how to host Maps Workshop maps on a dedicated server, please visit CSGO Workshop For Server Operators.
Note:For known issues and workarounds, please visit CSGO DS 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


  • 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.

Registering Game Server Login Token

CS:GO game servers and GOTV relays not logged in to a persistent game server account with a Game Server Login Token (GSLT) will only allow clients to connect from the same LAN RFC1918 addresses (,, If your server has a public routable IP address and clients need to connect from outside the server LAN then you need to get registered for GSLT.

To create your GSLTs, visit the GSLT creation utility and follow the instructions here:

Each GSLT is restricted for use on one dedicated server instance only, and should be passed on command line with +sv_setsteamaccount THISGSLTHERE. You can also use command line setting -net_port_try 1 to avoid instances from reusing the same GSLT by accident.

Starting the Server

Note:For information about ports to be forwarded see the general SRCDS page.
Note:For Linux use ./srcds_run instead of srcds.
Note:For public server also add +sv_setsteamaccount THISGSLTHERE -net_port_try 1 to use your GSLT.

Classic Casual:


Classic Competitive:


Arms Race:

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


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


Note:Read the gamemodes.txt file for all of the game_types and modes.

Linux Scripts


A simple script has been created to manage the server. It was tested on Debian and Ubuntu distributions and it can create, 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.


  • start - Start the server with the PARAM_START var in a screen.
  • stop - Stop the server and close the screen loaded.
  • status - Display the status of the server (screen down or up)
  • restart - Restart the server (stop && start)
  • console - Display the server console where you can enter commands.
  • update - Update the server based on the PARAM_UPDATE then save the log file in LOG_DIR and send an e-mail to LOG_EMAIL if the var is filled.
  • create - Create a server (script must be configured first).

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

LGSM csgoserver

Linux Game Server Manager

Part of Linux Game Server Managers scripts, csgoserver is a command line tool for quick, simple deployment and management of a Counter Strike: Global Offensive Linux dedicated server.

Main Features

  • Server installer (SteamCMD).
  • Loads of default start parameters (including workshop support)
  • Start/Stop/Restart server.
  • Server console.
  • Server monitoring (including email notification).
  • Server update (SteamCMD).
  • Server backup.


The Linux Game Server Manager is tested to work on the following Linux distributions :

  • Debian based distros (Ubuntu, Mint etc.).
  • Redhat based distros (CentOS, Fedora etc.).

Get the script at

Get more info : Github Wiki.

Get help : LGSM Steam group.

Windows Software/Scripts



GitHub Repo:


A simple script to launch 3 different servers in any of the 4 game modes available. My First ever attempt at any sort of scripting.


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.


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 that have to be set only one time:

log on //This is set to turn on logging! Don't put this in your server.cfg
hostname "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Dedicated Server"
rcon_password "yourrconpassword"
sv_password "" //Only set this if you intend to have a private server!
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
exec banned_user.cfg
exec banned_ip.cfg


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

This file is executed every map change, and before the gamemode files listed below. Here is an example of a very simple server.cfg file:

mp_autoteambalance 1
mp_limitteams 1


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, 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 (gungameprogressive), Demolition (gungametrbomb), and Deathmatch.


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.


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! These may be overridden by settings in cfg/gamemode_XXX.cfg and cfg/gamemode_XXX_server.cfg, the details of which are specified below.

"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" }

Note that Arms Race uses random weapons by default. To force the custom list to be used, set mp_ggprogressive_use_random_weapons to 0.


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


Files gamemode_casual_server.cfg and gamemode_casual.cfg reside in the cfg directory. The latter (gamemode_casual.cfg) is configured by Valve, and contains the convars that are set at the beginning of each Classic Casual match (they are set each time the server loads a map). A similar file exists for each game mode (replace casual with the appropriate mode ie. competitive, or armsrace). The format of this file is simple, it is "convar setting //optional comment". For example, from gamemode_casual.cfg:

bot_autodifficulty_threshold_high     0.0     // Value between -20.0 and 20.0 (Amo...
cash_player_bomb_defused     200

Admins should not modify the gamemode_XXX.cfg files. Valve's file naming convention suggests that these files may be modified in the future, and your settings may be overwritten. Instead, modify the file ending in _server.cfg you create.

Each gamemode_XXX.cfg file may have a corresponding gamemode_XXX_server.cfg file within the cfg directory. Valve's file naming convention suggests that _server.cfg files will not be overwritten by future updates. Any settings specified in the _server.cfg file will override those in the original config file because the _server.cfg file is executed after it. This ordering is visible within gamemodes.txt .

Settings in gamemode_XXX.cfg and gamemode_XXX_server.cfg seem to override those within gamemodes_server.txt, and server.cfg. Furthermore, it's easier to modify the settings in gamemode_XXX_server.cfg due to the formatting.

When modifying settings, the amount of spaces or tabs between convar and setting seems to be irrelevant, but there must be some. Comments are single-line C++ style, and must come only after a //.

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

//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.