How to Host a CSGO Server

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO) will celebrate its 10th anniversary in August of this year. That gamers continue to play it serves as a testament to its solid balance and polished play experience.

Maybe you’re a streamer or a VTuber just starting out, and looking for a way to build community. If you want fine control over the play experience for you and a group, consider hosting your own CSGO server. A dedicated server offers a great play experience for everyone involved.

How do you get it running, though? We’ll walk you through every step as you create a server.

CSGO Server Minimum Requirements

Documentation regarding the minimum requirements for server hosting remains spotty. Valve hasn’t made this data available to the public.

RAM

A private server doesn’t require a lot of RAM. Budget about 100 megabytes of RAM per concurrent player. Try to have some flexibility, though, especially if you plan to run mods and plugins.

Upload Speed

Valve does provide guidance on this one. 53.4 Kbit/s per player should serve as your target for connection speed. Try to have some wiggle room.

Processor

You should have a 2.8 GHz or more CPU available. Focus on getting solid single-core performance, as CSGO runs poorly on multi-core CPUs.

While any OS will work, installations tend to work best on Windows Server 2016 or Windows Server 2019. Mac and Linux installations get more finicky.

If all this sounds like a high bar, consider renting or purchasing Counter Strike Go dedicated servers. Experts can help take a lot of the fuss out of the server hosting process.

Download Necessary Software

To get started, you’ll need to download Steam and SteamCMD. The former is Valve’s primary gaming service, while the latter is a command-line program. This lets the server interface with Steam’s content servers.

While this downloads, create two folders. The first folder should be for CSGO, while the second should be for SteamCMD. Put SteamCMD in the SteamCMD folder.

Set up UpSteamCMD and Install Dedicated Server

Run SteamCMD, and make sure to right-click it to run it with administrator privileges. It may update itself during this time, but it’ll return to the prompt after finishing.

Input the following commands:

login anonymous
force_install_dirdir:pathfolderlocation
app_update 740 validate

The first command will log you into the Steam servers anonymously, and the second will set an install directory. The third will install the dedicated CSGO server materials.

The second command should point to the CSGO folder you created earlier rather than pointing to dir:pathfolderlocation. If you wanted the dedicated server to install to C:dedicatedcsgo, for example, you would want to “force_install_dir C:dedicatedcsgo” instead.

Register a GSLT

A Game Server Login Token identifies your server to Steam’s servers. This allows people to connect from outside the local area network once you create a server.

To register a GSLT, go here. Use Game ID 730.

Start the Server

Using the command “scrds” in SteamCMD will start the private server. This command takes arguments similar to launch options.

Listing all the available options here would be unproductive. The community has made numerous lists of potential options available.

Get To Fragging

Whether you’ve decided to put your own together or rent, a CSGO server will help you bring any gaming community together. Have fun with the staying power the Counter-Strike franchise has built up ever since its first Half-Life mod in 1999.

Looking for other guides to setting up community activities? Check out our how-tos section for more information.