How to Make a CS:GO Server

Last modified on Jan 16, 2023 in csgo

By Nathan Young

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Overview

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive servers offer a customizable experience for you and your friends to enjoy, as there are downloadable plugins, workshop mods, and other available configurations. These truly give you total control over the game and its modes, which is what most server owners want. This is due to the endless possibilities for a custom Counter-Strike experience. However, due to the large number of features, setting them up can be a bit tricky. This can cause some owners to avoid hosting or editing the server, but with our easy-to-use Apex Hosting panel, the process is simplified. With this in mind, we’ll get you started by showing you how to properly configure and make a CS:GO server.
 

How to Make a CS:GO Server

1. Head towards your Apex server panel and locate the Game File section.
2. Click the selected option from the dropdown menu, then lookup Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
3. Continue to press the Sourcemod or default variant for the game.
   
4. Confirm the changes when prompted, generate a new world, but don’t restart the server yet.
5. Once confirmed, enter in Customizations from the left-hand menu on the main panel.
   
6. Keep this tab open and head towards Steam’s Server Management area.
7. Sign into Steam, then locate “Create a new game server account” on the page.
8. Enter 730 for the App ID field, then anything you want in the Memo section.
   
9. Afterward, press Create and copy the newly created token.
   
10. When copied, return to Customizations and locate Steam Account Token.
11. Paste the token for this setting, then Restart the server to apply the changes.
    

    Note: Using tokens will allow you and others to join without problems, unless one or more “Account Requirements” aren’t met.

Getting Started

Editing your new CS:GO server is the next step, as you want to tailor the experience to your liking. For instance, if you wanted to create a surfing server, then installing the correct plugins and maps are crucial. There are many different types of gamemodes and other features to review, but we’ll get you started by going through general information.
 

Joining the Server

1. Inside of your server panel, locate the IP Address:Port area.
   
2. Copy the numbers, then open Steam on your computer.
3. Launch Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and head towards the Play category.
4. Click Official Matchmaking and change it to Community Server Browser.
   
5. From here, press Add a Server in the bottom right corner.
6. Paste the IP Address:Port numbers into the text box.
7. Afterward, click “Add this address to favorites” to easily find it.
   
8. Once done, select your server in the Favorites list and press Connect near the bottom.

Creating a Server Name

1. In the Customizations area from the server panel, locate Server Settings.
2. Inside of this category, enter the desired server name for the Hostname option.
   
3. Afterward, return to the main panel and Restart the server to apply changes.
   Note: You may have to Refresh the server from the list in-game to display the new name.

Changing Maps

There are three methods for changing the maps, which include the voting system, server console, and startup options. We’ll be focusing on the latter one, as this will use the map upon every restart. If you’re wanting to explore all these options, then review our guide here.

1. Navigate to your server panel, then Stop the server from the top.
2. Afterward, click the Customizations button from the left menu.
3. Scroll down to the bottom and locate the Map setting.
4. Enter the desired map code in the text field, which can be found here.
   

   Note: In the additional resource, the Internal BSP Name is the code.

5. Once entered, return to the main panel and Start the server so the map changes.

How to Enable Cheats

Similarly to changing maps, there are multiple methods to enable cheats. These include using the Developer Console, startup parameters, and customization options. We’ll be reviewing the latter one, as it will allow cheating upon every restart. However, check out our guide here to try out other methods if you want.

1. Head towards your server panel, then enter into Customizations from the left.
2. Locate Allow Cheats under the Server Settings category, then check mark the option.
   
3. Afterward, return to the main panel and Restart the server to apply changes.
4. Once the server loads, launch CS:GO from Steam and navigate to Settings.
5. Inside of this menu, click the Game category and locate Enable Developer Console.
   
6. Change this setting to Yes from the dropdown selection, then join your server.
7. You may now use the Tilde (~) keybind to open the console for cheat commands.

Best CS:GO Commands

On the topic of commands, we’ll review the best ones for you to use on the server. These will help when wanting to prank friends, explore new maps, or practice. If you want to learn more commands, then review our guide here.

How to Install Plugins

1. Navigate towards the Sourcemod Plugins page, then use the search options to locate a plugin.
   
2. Once found, click on it and find a download link or press the Get Plugin button near the bottom.
   
3. Save the file(s) in an easily accessible location on your computer for later use.
4. Afterward, head towards your server panel and Stop the server.
5. Change the Game File to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Sourcemod) if you haven’t already done that.
   
6. Enter into the FTP File Access area near the top left corner.
7. Use your password to login and enter into this directory: .../csgo/addons/sourcemod
   
8. Create or locate the plugins folder, then enter into it and press Upload in the top left.
9. Drag and drop all the files into the respective area and wait for them to reach 100%.
   
10. Once everything is uploaded, return to the main panel and Restart the server.

The plugin download links can be ZIP files, which should be extracted to reveal SMX files. Although in some cases, these zipped documents can contain multiple files. If you encounter a plugin with this type of setup, then make sure to upload the files in their respective directories. For example, if you see a “configs” folder after downloading, then make sure to install every CFG file from that to the server.

Using Workshop Maps

We’ll only focus on using one custom map, but review our guide if you’re wanting multiple maps.

1. Navigate to CS:GO’s Workshop and locate the map you want from the search options.
   
2. When found, click on its page and copy the numbers after ?id= from the URL.
   
3. After copying the ID, head towards your Apex server panel and enter into Customizations.
4. Locate the Workshop File ID option and paste the map’s ID into the text field.
   
5. Once entered, return to the main panel and Restart the server.
   All connecting players will have the map automatically downloaded.

Conclusion

Hosting Counter-Strike: Global Offensive servers are completely customizable, meaning you can set up any type of match, map, and mode. There is a lot of content in the Workshop and on Sourcemod, which gives you many options to choose from. This is especially true, as you can have complete collections of maps or groups of plugins to create such a unique server. However, servers can sometimes be problematic for players, causing them to disconnect or not enjoy the match. Due to this, we suggest reviewing our CS:GO Optimization guide to ensure safe, reliable, and smooth gameplay experiences. Besides that, we hope this resource helped you host and properly configure a Counter-Strike server.
 

Useful Links

CS:GO Knowledgebase
How to Join a CS:GO Server
Using the Developer Console
The Best CS:GO Commands