In September 2023, the  highly popular first-person shooter game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) was updated and replaced by Counter-Strike 2 (CS2). Despite concerns about the removal of CS:GO from Steam, the new and improved CS2 is still at the top of Steam’s most-played list, with just under 800,000 average players this October.

There's no doubt that this instalment in the Counter-Strike franchise still enjoys immense popularity. But what if you'd like to host your own CS2 server, rather than relying on Valve? Not only can you modify the game and settings to your liking, but you can also control who gets to play. Let’s discuss the benefits and practicalities of CS2 server hosting in more detail below.

The benefits of hosting a CS2 server

From improved latency to complete privacy, there are many benefits to hosting your own Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) server:

1. Customisation

If you'd like to play CS2 beyond the limitations of the base game, hosting your own CS2 server will allow you to mod it as you like. Unlike Valve's own servers which forbid the use of mods, having your own server will give you free rein to change things as much or as little as you'd like.

2. Choose who you play with

Whether you're Silver I or Global Elite, standard matchmaking is often the simplest way to find a game against players of equal skill. But what if you'd like to play exclusively with your friends? With your own CS2 server, you'll have total control over who can and can't join. Perfect for curating your own private server community.

3. Privacy and security

It may seem obvious, but gaming on your very own server is often far safer than playing on public servers. Being able to choose exactly who you play with is a simple way to ward off any trolls or unsavoury characters. Plus, you'll be gaming on servers hosted in ISO 27001-certified data centres, so you'll be safe as houses. The only thing you'll need to worry about is the enemy's AWP.

4. Latency

Like all FPS games, CS2 is at its best when your ping is as low as possible. If you're lagging, you won't hit the broad side of a barn. Hosting your own CS2 server will ensure low ping and keep your aim sharp. To help keep your latency low, select a server as close to you as possible. The only exception would be if your server's community is based elsewhere, then you should choose a server closer to them to offer an optimal experience. They'll be more likely to keep playing too.

The perfect CS2 server hosting: dedicated, cloud or VPS hosting?

When we talk about gaming servers, there are numerous options on the market. More often than not, dedicated servers are the most popular choice due to their superior processing power, but virtual private servers (VPSs) are also widely used thanks to their impressive resources at a lower price tag. However, cloud servers have been waiting in the wings for many years now – so, could it be their time to shine?

Dedicated servers

Historically, the most popular option for gaming has been dedicated servers; either through paying a hosting provider, or using a spare computer in your own home. Having a machine that’s only used for hosting a game server has always been relied upon as being the lowest-latency option. However, as there’s no contention experienced with other people’s services, the game can use all of the server’s resources to run.

Virtual private servers

Purchasing a dedicated hosting plan can be pretty expensive, which is why many people opt for VPS hosting. To create a VPS, a physical dedicated server is split into separate virtual machines (VMs) using server virtualisation software. Each VM or VPS has its own dedicated resources and can be customised according to your preferences, giving you a similar amount of power and flexibility to a dedicated server. Plus, since you’re not renting an entire physical server, VPS hosting can be a lot cheaper. You won’t get quite as many resources as you would with a dedicated hosting plan, but virtual servers are much more scalable and can be adjusted to suit your needs.

Cloud servers

Cloud servers are becoming more and more prevalent as an option for gaming providers. Cloud servers are virtual or physical servers hosted remotely by a cloud service provider. These cloud servers form a virtual infrastructure that delivers computing resources over the internet.

A cloud server offers amazing resource flexibility and the chance to scale up or down at the drop of a hat. They’re also extremely fast and offer the user lots of customisable options too.

Which server is best for CS2?

Although dedicated servers run on their own machine, they come with the caveat that if the machine or the connection to it goes down, the game will stop working. In a competitive environment, this can be catastrophic. In a cloud server setup, however, the load is shared between multiple different machines monitored by a load balancer. If one of those machines fails, the load will simply be redistributed among the other machines, and the game will remain available.

By nature, a game server is going to experience fluctuations in load – such as by the amount of players, or what game mode is being played. Cloud servers can adapt to this, allocating more or less resources to the game as necessary. However, a dedicated server provides a fixed amount of resources, and this can be an issue if the game’s needs exceed them.

Although virtual private servers don’t have quite as much flexibility as cloud servers, they’re still more scalable than dedicated servers. If you find that your VPS hosting plan can no longer handle your CS2 server without performance issues, you can easily upgrade your VPS package with your hosting provider and add more resources to your plan. Upgrading a physical server can be more difficult, time-consuming and costly.

So although you may be tempted to stick with a trusty, traditional dedicated server, cloud servers argue a few great benefits too. Overall, a dedicated server is great for those who are certain on the level of resources they require. However, if you are not certain, then a VPS or cloud server is a much better choice due to its scalability features.

How to host a CS2 server

After you’ve chosen a hosting plan, you can get started with creating your CS2 server. Here’s how to host a CS2 server on Windows:

1. Check server requirements

The first step is to check that your PC or server can handle hosting a CS2 server. The basic requirements for a CS2 server are:

  • 6GB RAM
  • 3.0 GHz CPU
  • 50GB hard drive space

2. Establish a remote connection

Next, to start the process, you need to establish a remote connection to your Windows server. In your settings, click on ‘Remote Desktop Connection’. You’ll then need to type in the IP address of your server and your username and password to connect.

3. Install SteamCMD

After you establish a connection, you need to install the Steam command line client (SteamCMD). Create a folder for SteamCMD:

D:\steamcmd

You can then download CMD from the Valve website.

4. Install CS2 dedicated server

The CS2 server application is part of the general game installation. This means you need to install the full game on your server.

First, log into Steam with your Steam account using the following command (remember to replace ‘username’ with your Steam username):

login username

Next, you need to create an installation directory for your CS2 server as follows:

force_install_dir C:\cs2-server

Then you can install CS2 and the dedicated CS2 server:

app_update 730 validate

5. Configure your server

To customise your server and ensure it fits your gameplay preferences, you need to edit the server configuration file. You can find this ‘server.cf’ file in this folder in your server directory:

.\game\csgo\cfg\server.cfg

Within this file, you can edit values such as ‘mp_roundtime’ and ‘sv_infinite_ammo’ to customise your CS2 server.

6. Create server token

Now that your server is ready, you need to ensure that other players are able to connect to it. In order for your CS2 server to show up in the listing of community servers, you need to generate a server login token.

Go to Steam game server account management and find the ‘Create a new game server account’ heading. Next to ‘App ID of the base game’, type 730 – this is the Steam ID for CS2. Next to Memo, you can enter the name of your server (optional). Click ‘Create’ to generate the token.

7. Open ports

To allow connections, you also need to open the right server ports. For your CS2 server, you need to open ports 27015 and 27016 (TCP/UDP).

To learn more about opening ports, read our guide to managing firewall policy rules for your server.

8. Start and connect to your server

Finally, you’re ready to launch your CS2 server. You can either create a batch script to start your server or launch it via the command prompt. Go to your CS2 server directory, open a terminal and type in the following command

.\cs2.exe -dedicated +map de_dust2

Once your server is running, you can launch CS2, press the ‘Game’ button and click on the globe icon next to ‘Matchmaking’ and ‘Practice’. This will take you to the server browser where you can find your own CS2 game server. Click on it to get started!

Interested in checking out one of our gaming servers? Talk to our sales team. They'll be able to help you every step of the way, and get you online in no time.