How to Play CS2 with Friends

Inviting friends to a lobby

The lobby (party) is the foundation of playing together in CS2. A group assembled in a lobby enters any mode together: Competitive, Wingman, Premier, Casual, and more. You can invite both Steam friends and people via an invite link.

Friends either need to be on your Steam friends list, or you hand them an invite link. Once the lobby is assembled, the party leader picks a mode and starts the search or match for everyone at once.

Link invites work even without adding someone as a friend - handy for quickly pulling a roster together from different chats.

1. 1In the CS2 main menu, click the invite friend icon at the top left, above the lobby slot avatars.
2. 2Pick a friend from your Steam list or click Copy invite link and send it via chat or a messenger.
3. 3Wait for friends to join - their avatars will appear in the lobby slots.
4. 4The lobby leader selects a game mode and starts the search or match for the whole group.

Private matchmaking and ranked as a team

If you want to play ranked or Premier together, just assemble the lobby before starting the search - the system will find opponents and put your whole group on the same team. For classic 5v5 Competitive a lobby can hold up to five players.

Mind the rank restrictions: in some modes a group with a wide skill spread gets stricter matchmaking requirements or limits. This keeps matchmaking fair, so it is easier to play with friends of a similar level.

1. 1Assemble a lobby of the needed size before starting the search.
2. 2Pick a mode: Competitive for 5v5 or Premier with its map pick-ban system.
3. 3Select the maps you are willing to play (in Competitive).
4. 4The leader starts the search - the whole group queues together and lands on the same team.

Wingman - the 2v2 mode

Wingman is a compact two-versus-two mode on smaller maps, perfect for playing with a single friend without needing a full five-stack. Rounds are shorter, the map is a single section, and the match runs to a set number of round wins.

It is the best choice when there are just two of you and you want competitive intensity rather than a casual mode.

Wingman has its own rating separate from classic Competitive, so the ranks do not overlap.

1. 1Invite a friend to the lobby (one teammate).
2. 2In the mode selector choose Wingman.
3. 3Select the available Wingman maps.
4. 4Start the search - the two of you join one team against another pair.

A private match against bots

A closed game against bots is a handy way to practice with friends without strangers: warm up before a match, drill grenade lineups, or just shoot around. You create an offline match with bots and invite friends to your lobby, or they join your session.

In this mode you fully control the rules: the number and difficulty of bots, the map, infinite ammo, and so on - through console commands.

1. 1In the menu pick Practice or a custom game and a bot mode.
2. 2Choose a map and set the difficulty and number of bots.
3. 3Invite friends to the lobby so they join the same session.
4. 4Open the console (the tilde ~) for fine-tuning: add or remove bots, enable infinite ammo, and more.

bot_add_t
bot_add_ct
bot_kick
mp_warmup_end
sv_infinite_ammo 1

Your own server for friends

If you want full control - your own maps, modes, plugins, and a permanent address - set up a dedicated CS2 server. It is a game server that runs separately from your client, and you can connect to it by IP at any time. There are two options: rent a ready-made server from a host, or run a SteamCMD build on your own PC or a VPS.

Once the server is up, you give friends its address in the IP:port format. They enter it in the console with the connect command, and everyone lands on the same server with your rules. By default CS2 servers use UDP port 27015.

1. 1Get a server: rent one from a CS2 host or install the server build via SteamCMD (the dedicated server app).
2. 2Configure the mode, map, and optionally a password in the server config.
3. 3Find the external address of the server - IP and port.
4. 4Give friends the connect command, which they type in the console.
5. 5If the server is at home behind a router, forward port 27015 (UDP) to your PC, otherwise friends from outside cannot connect.

connect 203.0.113.10:27015
// for a password-protected server:
password YOUR_PASSWORD
connect 203.0.113.10:27015

The steam://connect link for quick joining

So that friends do not have to type the address into the console by hand, you can give them a direct link in the steam://connect format. On click, Steam launches CS2 itself and connects to the right server. This is the most convenient way to pull a crew onto your server - just drop one link into the chat.

If the server is password-protected, the password can be added to the same link after the address with a slash.

1. 1Build the link from the server address: steam://connect/IP:port.
2. 2For a password-protected server add the password: steam://connect/IP:port/password.
3. 3Send the link to friends in any chat or messenger.
4. 4A friend clicks it - Steam launches CS2 and connects to the server automatically.

steam://connect/203.0.113.10:27015
steam://connect/203.0.113.10:27015/YOUR_PASSWORD

Playing workshop maps together

Steam Workshop maps are a great way to add variety to playing with friends: practice maps for lineups, surf, retake scenarios, or simply unusual arenas. The main rule is that everyone must be subscribed to the same map, otherwise a mismatch will occur on load.

On your own server you can launch a workshop map directly with the host_workshop_map command and the map ID; the server then serves it to the players in your session within your game.

1. 1Ask all friends to subscribe to the needed map in the Steam Workshop.
2. 2For a local game, launch the map via the Workshop section in the menu or with the map command and its name.
3. 3On your own server, launch the map with the host_workshop_map command and its Workshop ID.
4. 4Make sure everyone has downloaded the map - its name should match for all participants.

host_workshop_map 123456789

Finding live servers via the monitoring

If you do not run your own server but want to play as a group on a steady venue, it is convenient to pick a live server via the monitoring. On monitoringcs2.com you can see which servers are online right now, how many players are on them, the map and mode, and the ping. This helps you choose a place that definitely has slots for your whole group.

Once you have chosen a server, give friends its address or the steam://connect link - and the whole crew joins one server at the same time.

1. 1Open the monitoring at monitoringcs2.com and filter servers by the desired mode or map.
2. 2Pick a server with free slots that fit the size of your group.
3. 3Copy the server address or a ready-made steam://connect link.
4. 4Send it to friends so everyone connects to the same server together.