CS2 update, March 19, 2026: ammo refactor and map guides

• Reloading has been refactored to encourage more careful consideration of the use of ammo. When you reload a magazine-fed weapon, all remaining ammo in the magazine is discarded and a new, full magazine is taken from the reserves.
• Reserve ammunition is now represented either as number of magazines, shells, or bullets, depending on the weapon.
• The fill-level of the current weapon is now displayed below the ammo count.
• Tuned reserve magazine counts per-weapon.
• Limited map guides are now available in Competitive and Retakes (first 5 rounds of the half, 30 node max).
• sv_allow_annotations_access_level supports 3 values: 0 – disabled. 1 – limited view. 2 – full and editable.
• sv_annotation_limits_max_rounds_per_half (default 5) determines how many rounds into the half guides are allowed. -1 for unlimited.
• Minimal starter map guides have been added for all Active Duty maps.
• Friends playing a Practice or Workshop map can be joined through the friends menu if they have Open Party set.

The ammo system refactor fundamentally changes resource management. When reloading, all remaining ammo in the magazine is discarded and a fresh, full magazine is taken from reserves. Reserve ammunition is now displayed in weapon-specific units (magazines, shells, or bullets), and the current weapon's fill-level appears separately below the ammo count. This demands more tactical decisions about reload timing and ammo conservation during rounds.

For community server admins, new console variables provide control over map guides: sv_allow_annotations_access_level (three levels: disabled, limited view, full and editable) and sv_annotation_limits_max_rounds_per_half (how many rounds into the half guides are allowed). Servers can be configured flexibly, from restricting guides entirely to allowing full editing capabilities.

Map guides are now available in Competitive and Retakes modes (first 5 rounds of the half, 30 node maximum) with starter guides added for all Active Duty maps. Additionally, the friends menu now supports joining friends playing on Practice or Workshop maps when they have Open Party enabled.