News ยท Game updates

Retakes defuses can finish instantly after Nov. 4 CS2 update

Valve's Nov. 4 Counter-Strike 2 update makes Retakes defuses finish instantly under set conditions, shortens Retakes timers and changes map scripting.

By CSgoFriendsPublished

Illustration for Counter-Strike 2 game update news
Illustration: CounterStrikeGO

Key facts

  • WhenValve published the update on Nov. 4, 2026
  • ChangeRetakes defuses finish instantly if time remains and no utility blocks them
  • Changeshorter freeze time and round restart delay in Retakes

Valve released a Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) update on Nov. 4 that changes Retakes mode, pet chickens and map scripting. The patch notes were posted at 4:54 p.m. PST.

Gameplay

Bomb defusal in Retakes will now finish instantly when there is sufficient time left in the round and no active utility remains to prevent the defuse. Valve also reduced the freeze time and the round restart delay in the mode.

Pet chickens get two changes. Pinging a pet chicken during freeze time now requests a trick from it. Chicken names are no longer displayed when the customized item text game option is set to hidden.

Map scripting

The update adds several pieces to the map scripting tools. Valve wrote that Instance.Precache now accepts entities to precache, and listed these additions:

  • A new top-level export, Entities
  • Entities.Spawn
  • Instance.OnBotControl
  • CSPlayerController.IsControllingBot
  • CSPlayerController.GetControlledBotPawn
  • CSPlayerPawn.Reset

Several existing methods were moved or renamed:

  • Instance.ConnectOutput moved to Entities and now accepts a config object
  • Instance.DisconnectOutput moved to Entities
  • Instance.EntFireAtName is now Entities.FireInput
  • Instance.FindEntitiesByName is now Entities.FindByName
  • Instance.FindEntitiesByClass is now Entities.FindByClass
  • Instance.EntFireAtTarget is now Entity.FireInput

The moved and renamed methods are still available in their original location but are deprecated. Valve also deprecated Instance.FindEntityByName and FindEntityByClass.

Two diagnostics changed as well. Calling a method on an invalid (removed) entity now reports that the entity is invalid. ConnectOutput now logs a warning when the target has no output with the given name.

Why it matters

In Retakes, a defuse now completes at once when enough round time remains and no active utility blocks it. Freeze time and the round restart delay are also shorter.

Sources