CS2 Game Server on VPS

Counter-Strike 2 has already gained popularity among millions of players, and many are looking to create their own servers to play with friends or develop a community. Virtual dedicated server (VDS) is the optimal hosting solution, providing full control over the server infrastructure and allowing you to customize it according to individual requirements. In addition, using a VDS is often more cost-effective than renting a standard game server. With a VDS, you get the freedom to create a unique gaming environment without the limitations of standard hosting services.

Which VPS to choose for CS2?

When choosing a VPS for a Counter-Strike 2 server, it is important to focus on the minimum system requirements that will ensure stable operation of the game and comfort for players. One of the suitable options is the tariff BASE I2-R4-NV60 for 900₴ per month, which includes:

• CPU: 2 Intel cores
• RAM: 4GB RAM
• Storage: 60GB NVME
• Connection speed: 1000 Mbps
• Backup: for 7 days
• Operating systems: Windows Server or Linux

This configuration meets the minimum requirements for a CS2 server and is suitable for a game with a small number of players - up to 10 people. With such a VPS, you will be able to run the basic version of the server without resource-intensive mods.

If you plan to run large-scale games or add additional plugins and mods, you should think about a more powerful configuration to avoid delays and performance issues. For such cases, you can consider tariffs with a large number of cores and RAM. It is recommended to use as an operating system ubuntu, as it is stable, easy to configure and has excellent compatibility with game servers.

Installing CS2 on VPS

Installing a server requires a number of steps. Below is a sequence of commands and actions to successfully install a Counter-Strike 2 game server on a VPS.

Step 1. Create a new user

To ensure security, let's create a new user under whose name the server will be launched:

useradd -m server

Step 2. Setting a password for the user

Set a password for the new user:

passwd server

Step 3: Granting Administrator Rights

To perform administrative tasks, we will grant the user administrator rights:

usermod -aG sudo server

Step 4: Install a new command line shell

Let's change the user's command shell to Bash:

usermod -s /bin/bashserver

Step 5: Restart the SSHD service

Let's restart SSH for the changes to take effect:

systemctl restart sshd

Step 6. Switching to a new user

Let's change the user and move to its root directory:

su server cd

Step 7. Updating packages

We update all system packages to the latest versions:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

During the update process, a menu may appear - just press Enter.

Step 8. Installing packages for SteamCMD

To run SteamCMD we need a library package:

sudo apt install lib32gcc-s1

If a menu appears during the package installation process, do not change anything - press Enter.

Step 9. Create a folder for SteamCMD

Let's create a directory for installing SteamCMD and go to it:

mkdir ~/steamcmd && cd ~/steamcmd

Step 10. Download SteamCMD

Let's download the SteamCMD archive:

wget http://media.steampowered.com/client/steamcmd_linux.tar.gz

Step 11. Unpacking the archive

Unpack the downloaded archive:

tar xvfz steamcmd_linux.tar.gz

Step 12. Downloading the game server

Now download the game server files. Replace your_login to your Steam login:

STEAMEXE=steamcmd ./steamcmd.sh +login your_login +force_install_dir /home/server/server +app_update 730 +exit

During the download process, you will need to enter your Steam account password, and if Steam Guard is enabled, a confirmation code from the mobile app. Please note that the files weigh about 37 GB, so the download may take some time.

Step 13: Setting up your Steam library

Let's create a directory sdk64 and copy the necessary files:

cd ~/ && mkdir .steam && cd .steam && mkdir sdk64; cp ~/steamcmd/linux64/steamclient.so ~/.steam/sdk64 cd

Step 14. Create and edit the launch script

Let's create a file start.sh and open it for editing:

touch start.sh && nano start.sh

Inside the file we will write the following command to start the server:

~/server/game/bin/linuxsteamrt64/cs2 -port 27015 -game csgo -dedicated -console -maxplayers 8 +game_type 0 +game_mode 0 +map de_inferno

Save changes to the file.

Step 15. Assigning execution rights

Let's make a file start.sh executable so that it can be run as a script:

sudo chmod +x start.sh

Step 16. Server customization

If necessary, you can customize the server settings by editing the configuration file:

nano server/game/csgo/cfg/server.cfg

All available parameters can be found in the official documentation.

Step 17. Starting the server

To start the game server, run the command:

sh start.sh

Now you can play CS2 on a rented server.