Set up a Counter-Strike 2 dedicated server with SteamCMD

Counter-Strike 2 is Valve's competitive first-person shooter. You can host your own dedicated server on Linux, allowing friends or the public to join custom matches with your own configuration.

Prerequisites

• A Linux VPS (Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or later recommended)
• SteamCMD installed (see Install SteamCMD on Linux for setup)
• At least 10 GB of free disk space
• Ports 27015–27030 (UDP/TCP) open in your firewall/security group

Step 1: Download Counter-Strike 2 server files

Log in as the steam user and download the server binaries. Counter-Strike 2's app ID is 730:

su - steam
cd ~/steamcmd
./steamcmd.sh +login anonymous +app_update 730 validate +quit

This downloads about 30–40 GB. Wait for the download to complete; you'll see "Success!" when done.

Step 2: Verify the installation

Check that the server files are present:

ls -la ~/Steam/steamapps/common/CS2/

You should see directories like game, bin, and files like gameinfo.gi.

Step 3: Create the server configuration directory

Game settings live in a config file. Create and edit it:

mkdir -p ~/Steam/steamapps/common/CS2/game/csgo/cfg
nano ~/Steam/steamapps/common/CS2/game/csgo/cfg/server.cfg

Paste a basic configuration:

hostname "My Counter-Strike 2 Server"
sv_password "changeme"
rcon_password "secure_rcon_password"
sv_lan 0
sv_region 4
mp_timelimit 45
mp_maxrounds 30
mp_warmuptime 60
sv_cheats 0
exec banned_user.cfg
exec banned_ip.cfg

Adjust these settings as needed. Save with Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter.

Step 4: Open firewall ports

Open the required ports for gameplay. Run this from your main user account (not steam):

sudo ufw allow 27015:27030/udp
sudo ufw allow 27015:27030/tcp
sudo ufw reload

If using AWS/Azure/DigitalOcean security groups instead, add inbound rules for those port ranges from 0.0.0.0/0.

Step 5: Start the server

From the steam user account, launch the server:

cd ~/Steam/steamapps/common/CS2/game/bin/linuxsteam64
./cs2 -dedicated +exec server.cfg +map de_dust2 +sv_lan 0

You should see server startup messages. Once you see "Server is ready to accept connections", the server is running.

Step 6: Connect and test

On your personal PC:
1. Open CS2
2. Go to Community → Offline with Bots → Create Server
3. In console, type: connect your-server-ip:27015; password changeme

Replace your-server-ip with your VPS IP address.

Running the server in the background

Use screen or tmux to keep the server running after you disconnect:

screen -S cs2-server
cd ~/Steam/steamapps/common/CS2/game/bin/linuxsteam64
./cs2 -dedicated +exec server.cfg +map de_dust2 +sv_lan 0

Detach with Ctrl+A, then D. Reattach later with screen -r cs2-server.

Tips and Notes

• Map rotation: Add more maps to your config with lines like +map de_inferno instead of +map de_dust2.
• RCON: Use remote console to manage the server: connect, then type rcon_password secure_rcon_password followed by rcon status.
• Player limits: CS2 supports up to 128 players. Adjust with sv_maxplayers 32 in server.cfg.
• Updates: Periodically re-run the SteamCMD download command to stay current: ./steamcmd.sh +login anonymous +app_update 730 validate +quit.
• Performance: Monitor CPU and memory usage. A typical 32-player server uses 1–2 GB RAM and significant CPU; larger servers or more players may need a more powerful instance.