Guides

CS2 practice setup: map guides, grenade tools and commands

This guide collects the practice commands and settings that Valve's update notes name for Counter-Strike 2.

By CSgoFriendsPublished Last checked

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Illustration: CounterStrikeGO

Valve’s update notes for Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) name individual commands, server settings and in-game tools. This guide collects them in one place with what each one does.

The commands below come from Valve’s update notes from 2023 to Sept. 22, 2026, so a value or behavior may have changed since. Test each command in your own practice session.

How to start a practice match

Valve’s notes point to Practice under the Play menu.

In the gamePlayPractice

Since the April 25, 2024 update, you can launch practice matches and Workshop maps with party members. Friends playing a Practice or Workshop map can also be joined through the friends menu if they have Open Party set, a change from the March 18, 2026 update.

Starting a map with the map command

You can also start a match with the map command. Valve wrote in the Sept. 10, 2024 notes that practice matches and matches started with map run in engine loopback mode, matching the CS:GO offline default. Loopback bypasses most networking code for the host, which gives the local player one less tick of latency.

To turn it off, append loopback=0 to the command:

map de_dust2 loopback=0

Map guides

Map guides are sets of annotation nodes that you can load in practice mode. To use one:

  1. Open Play > Practice.
  2. Toggle “Load Map Guides” on.
  3. If you have several guides for a map, pick one with the selector added in the Dec. 18, 2024 update.

Valve added minimal starter map guides for all Active Duty maps on March 18, 2026. Annotation nodes are visible in the radar, and map guides can be submitted to and subscribed from the Steam Workshop.

Creating and sharing guides

The annotation_* console commands create, save and load map guide nodes and files. Guides are stored in /annotations/. To submit a guide to the Steam Workshop, use the console command workshop_annotation_submit.

Server settings for guide access

Valve added limited map guides to Competitive and Retakes on March 18, 2026, and two server settings control them.

Setting What it does
sv_allow_annotations_access_level 0 disabled, 1 limited view, 2 full and editable
sv_annotation_limits_max_rounds_per_half How many rounds into the half guides are allowed; default 5, -1 for unlimited

Grenade line-up tools

Valve’s notes describe these grenade aids:

  • Line-up reticle.Added April 25, 2024, it appears shortly after you pull the pin. Its timing can be set for each grenade type independently. On Nov. 13, 2024, Valve added axis labels to the reticle’s tick marks.
  • Grenade preview camera.Since Nov. 13, 2024, it shows the result of a jump throw while the jump button is held.

Commands for grenades and weapons

sv_infinite_ammo 2

Valve adjusted the grenade behavior of sv_infinite_ammo 2 to match CS:GO in the Aug. 31, 2023 notes. Check the behavior in a practice match before relying on it.

ammo_grenade_limit_total

Since Sept. 22, 2026, the ammo_grenade_limit_total setting also enforces the total number of grenades a player is allowed to purchase in a round.

give

Since Dec. 18, 2024, the give command always drops the held weapon if the given weapon needs an empty primary or secondary slot. Valve wrote that developers can restore the legacy behavior, which drops the new weapon on the ground, with the -keep_gear flag:

give weapon_awp -keep_gear

Warmup item settings

The Dec. 18, 2024 update added three server settings that control which items drop on the ground during warmup. Valve wrote that community servers running free, non-droppable weapons during warmup can use these values:

Setting Value
mp_warmup_items_drop_policy 0
mp_warmup_items_nocost 1
mp_warmup_items_nocount_policy 251

The same update stopped weapons from dropping on the ground when players change teams during warmup, and added a two-second cooldown on changing teams.

FAQ

How do I turn on map guides in practice?

Go to Play > Practice and toggle “Load Map Guides” on. A selector for choosing which guide loads was added on Dec. 18, 2024.

What does engine loopback do?

Valve wrote that it bypasses most networking code for the host, which results in one less tick of latency for the local player. Practice matches and matches started with the map command use it.

How do I disable loopback?

Append loopback=0 to the map command, for example map de_dust2 loopback=0.

Where are map guide files stored?

The annotation_* console commands save and load guide nodes and files, which are stored in /annotations/.

Sources