CSGO Tips: How-To Utilize Commands

Playing CS:GO without utilizing the wealth of console commands available is like playing a game but only ever trying its demo – you simply can’t unlock the whole experience.

That said, it can be hard to know what commands to prioritize implementing when so many exist. With over 3,000 CS:GO commands in the game, you’re literally searching for a needle in a haystack.

So, we went needle-hunting for you.

We’ve listed 10 commands below that will make CS “go” just that little bit smoother (and yes, we are exceedingly proud of that pun even if we shouldn’t be).

cl_radar_scale

By default, your radar will be zoomed in so that you can see your immediate area, but this leaves you unable to perceive a larger picture of the map without hitting your Map key.

The cl_radar_scale command is used to set how zoomed in or out your radar is, meaning you free to see the whole map if you choose.

Use cl_radar_scale 0.45 to zoom out to a level that, at least on most maps, will display the entire map on your radar.

If you want to switch back to default, use cl_radar_scale 0.7

cl_radar_always_centered

This command combines nicely with our previous one.

Typically, as your player model moves around, as does your radar. While this is preferable for some people, it’s not for others.

The command cl_radar_always_centered 0 will set the radar to be static instead of dynamic, giving you a sort of birds-eye-view overview of the map. Use this with a zoomed out radar for the ultimate reconnaissance setup.

cl_radar_always_centered 1 will return your radar to centering around your character.

cl_righthand

Have you seen those Twitch clips on Reddit and Twitter where other players have their gun on the left side of the screen, rather than the right? This is the command to replicate that.

If you want your character to become left-handed for the game – or for good – then use the command cl_righthand 0.

To switch things back to the default right handed view, use the command cl_righthand 1.

+cl_show_team_equipment

Something that has been praised by pros and casual players alike is how beneficial it is in the higher levels of the game to use the show team equipment command.

What it does is show small icons above your teammates heads to depict what grenades they have.

Therefore, rather than asking that player who hasn’t talked all game if they have flashbang grenade to help you clear an angle, you’ll know for certain just by looking at their nametag.

Use the command +cl_show_team_equipment to turn this on, and -cl_show_team_equipment to turn it off.

r_cleardecals

This is a useful little command that can solve a problem a lot of players don’t even know they have.

If the signs of battle on the map irritate you (we’re talking blood stains, bullet holes, etc) then this command will remove those. This serves to have two benefits.

On one hand, it can increase FPS on some computers without high specs. And secondly, it can increase visibility when lining up smokes, or trying to spot an enemy that’s head-camping.

Entering r_cleardecals into your console will clear these effects, though only until fresh ones are created by players. For that reason, it is most commonly bound to a key or a set of keys.

Using the command below will bind clearing decals to your movement keys, meaning you’ll remove these extra effects whenever your character takes a step.

bind w “+forward;r_cleardecals”;bind a “+moveleft;r_cleardecals”;bind s “+back;r_cleardecals”;bind d “+moveright;r_cleardecals”

fps_max

Here’s a simple one that all players should be running. To get the most out of your frames per second, you need to make sure there’s no cap on what you can reach.

The command fps_max 0 will remove any limits you might have. Easy as that!

voice_enable

Your teammates can be great. You hope for them to be the other parts to your winning machine, though this isn’t always the case, and sometimes you just need to mute them.

That’s where the command voice_enable 0 comes in. It mutes all voice communication, so they won’t disturb your game. Using voice_enable 1 will turn comms back on.

This is also useful in clutch situations if you need absolute silence to hear an enemy’s movements. However, you’re hardly going to have time to manually enter a command in these situations.

The bind bindtoggle j voice_enable will set the J key to toggle this command on and off, though you can replace J with whatever suits you best.

Grenade Binds

Nothing pains us more than seeing a teammate die to an enemy player because they were stuck cycling through their grenades with either their scroll wheel or the 4 key.

It’s something you simply don’t have time to do in higher levels of CS, which is why binding your grenades to different keys is key.

The bind below will bind your Flashbang to Z, your Smoke to X, your HE Grenade to C and your Molotov/Incendiary to V. You can edit the letters to meet your preference.

bind z “use weapon_flashbang”;bind x “use weapon_smokegrenade”;bind c “use weapon_hegrenade”;bind v “use weapon_molotov;use weapon_incgrenade”

noclip

There’s a slight caveat to this command, though it’s immensely useful nonetheless. That is that you’ll need to have cheats enabled by using the sv_cheats 1 command activated, which is only possible on a private server.

Once you have cheats activated, though, you can use the noclip command to fly around the map. We’re talking superman-level where you can zoom around until your heart's content.

This is satisfying, but there’s also a practical benefit to this command, and that is how easily you can travel around the map. It will cut that 30 second run between T and CT spawn to a 2 second flight.

This command is toggled on and off with the same prompt, so just use noclip again to turn it off.

cl_hud_color

We wanted to end on a command where you can get creative. You may not be aware that you can actually change the color of your HUD (heads up display) in CS:GO. This will alter the color of your health count, ammo count, money and more.

Here are the commands to use for each color you can set it to: