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Joining your Counter-Strike 2 server takes seconds once you know the console commands. This guide shows you how to enable the developer console, connect directly, handle server passwords, and find your server in the community browser.

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Enable the Developer Console

The console is disabled by default in CS2:
1

Open Settings

Launch CS2 and click the gear icon to open Settings.
2

Go to the Game tab

Under Game, find Enable Developer Console (~) and set it to Yes.
3

Open the console

Press the ~ (tilde/backquote) key — just below Escape on most keyboards — to open and close the console at any time.

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Connect to Your Server

Your server’s IP address and port are shown in the Wasabi Hosting Game Panel on the server overview page. CS2 uses port 27015 by default. Open the console and type: 
connect 203.0.113.10:27015
Press Enter and you’ll load straight into the server.

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Password-Protected Servers

If the server has sv_password set (common for scrim and practice servers), set your password before connecting: 
password "yourpass"
connect 203.0.113.10:27015
If you connect without setting it first, CS2 will simply refuse the connection with a “bad password” message — set the password and try again.
You can combine everything into one line to share with teammates: password "scrim123"; connect 203.0.113.10:27015 — they just paste it into their console.

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Community Server Browser and Favorites

Your server can also be found without typing commands:
  • In CS2, open Play → Community Server Browser and search for your server’s hostname.
  • Public listing requires a valid Game Server Login Token (GSLT) — see Server Configuration.
  • In the browser, select your server and add it to Favorites so it’s one click away next time. Servers you’ve joined also appear under the browser’s history/recent tabs.
A brand-new server may take a few minutes after startup to appear in the browser. Direct connect always works immediately, listed or not.

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Check Server Status from the Panel

Not sure the server is actually up before telling ten friends to join? Open the live Console in the Game Panel and run: 
status
The output shows the server’s hostname, current map, and connected players — if status responds, the server is running and reachable.

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Troubleshooting

  • Confirm the server shows Online in the Game Panel and the console has finished loading the map.
  • Double-check the IP and port (default 27015).
  • Make sure a rule in the Firewall Manager isn’t blocking game traffic.
Set password "yourpass" in your console before connecting, and ask the owner to confirm the current sv_password — it may have changed after a config edit and restart.
The server needs a valid GSLT set via +sv_setsteamaccount, and sv_lan must be 0. See the GSLT section of the configuration guide. Meanwhile, connect directly by IP.
Workshop maps download on first join and large maps can take a minute. If it never loads, the server may be missing its Steam Web API key for workshop downloads — see Custom Maps.

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Next Steps

Server Configuration

Set your hostname, password, game mode, and GSLT.

Admin Commands

Control the server with RCON from your own console.

No server yet?

Get CS2 server hosting from €9.99/month at Wasabi Hosting — deployed in about 2 minutes with DDoS protection included.