How to Set Up a Counter-Strike 2 Dedicated Server

Option 1: by hand with SteamCMD

1. Install SteamCMD on a Linux machine with about 70 GB of free disk and a fast connection: the download is about 73 GB.
2. Log in anonymously and install the server: app_update 730 (Counter-Strike 2 shares its Steam app with the old CS:GO ID). On a first run SteamCMD sometimes says "Missing configuration": run the app_update line twice.
3. Make a Game Server Login Token for App ID 730 (see the Steam token guide) so the server can be listed.
4. Start the server with a launch line such as: +game_type 0 +game_mode 1 +map de_dust2 -maxplayers 10 +sv_setsteamaccount YOUR_TOKEN.
5. Open UDP and TCP port 27015 on your router or firewall.
6. To run plugins, install Metamod:Source and CounterStrikeSharp, and edit gameinfo.gi to load Metamod. Every game update rewrites that file, so the edit has to be redone after each update.

Option 2: Docker

A container takes care of the SteamCMD install and the launch line, but you still need the 70 GB of disk, the token, the open port and the patch of gameinfo.gi after every update. Our image does all of that: runonflux/cs2-server-flux.

Option 3: managed on Flux

Pick a plan, a region, a name and a starting map, paste your Steam token and deploy. The server downloads the game on its first start (about 70 GB, which takes from one to several hours depending on the node) and every later start is back in about a minute. Metamod and CounterStrikeSharp are installed and kept up to date, and the game is updated on every start.

From the panel you then switch game modes, change maps, play Workshop maps, install plugins such as MatchZy and Retakes, manage admins and bans, edit the settings as a form, run console commands and restore backups.