Counter-Strike: Global Offensive/Dedicated Servers

Downloading and Running the SteamCMD Update Tool

1. Download the SteamCMD Update Tool:
   • Windows Installer
   • Linux Installer
2. Extract the contents to a directory (Windows example: C:\SteamCmd\).

   Do not extract the contents of the updater tool to the regular Steam Client folder or to a folder that has the older HLDSUpdateTool program.

3. Launch SteamCmd
   1. Open a command prompt in that directory and start SteamCmd
      • Windows: Type steamcmd

      You must first log out of the Windows Steam Client.

      • Linux: Type STEAMEXE=steamcmd ./steam.sh

   The program will automatically update and enter you in to a Steam> prompt. Type help for more information.

4. Log in with your CS:GO Steam Account

login username password

4a. If you receive a Steam Guard error, check your e-mail for your access code and execute the following commands (you'll only need to do this once):

set_steam_guard_code yourcodehere
login username password

5. You should see a message stating that you have successfully logged in with your account.

Downloading Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

1. Set your CS:GO Dedicated Server install directory. Examples:

//Absolute Path:
force_install_dir c:\csgo-ds\

//Up one folder:
force_install_dir ..\csgo-ds\

2. Install or Update CS:GO. Examples:

//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

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

Configuring the Server

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.

server.cfg

The server.cfg file can be found under \csgo\cfg.

This file has been significantly depreciated with CS:GO. It is no longer used as the primary way of configuring the convars of the server. Certain convars, like mp_timelimit, are not even available through the console, as they are now loaded using a different file (see gamemodes.txt below).

However, you will still use this config file to update the hostname, rcon, server password and other convars that you do have access to. 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!
log on //This is set to turn on logging!

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
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
writeid
writeip
exec banned_user.cfg
exec banned_ip.cfg

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

gamemodes.txt

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

This file is the primary way to alter how your server will function. You can control things like the time, rounds, friendly fire, bullet damage, player limits and all sorts of other things. We'll discuss some of the primary changes that can be made using this file.

Maps

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

Starting the Server

Classic Casual:

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

Classic Competitive:

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

Arms Race:

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

Demolition:

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