CS2 retakes and deathmatch servers

A Counter-Strike 2 retakes server needs a plugin - CS2 has no built-in retakes mode - and the plugin most servers run is cs2-retakes on CounterStrikeSharp, usually paired with a weapon allocator so players get sensible loadouts without buying. A deathmatch server can be stock: +game_alias deathmatch gives you Valve's deathmatch with respawns and bonus weapons, and a handful of mp_ cvars turn it into free-for-all or a longer warm-up server. Plugins come in when you want things stock DM cannot do - headshot-only, weapon restrictions, your own spawn points. Both modes are the busiest kind of CS2 server per player, because something is always spawning, dying or being thrown, so size them a step above a casual server with the same slot count.

What each mode is, and what it costs#

Retakes simulates the end of a round. Every round starts with the bomb already planted on one site, a few terrorists defending it, and a slightly larger counter-terrorist team coming in to retake. Rounds last under a minute, nobody buys, and you play thirty rounds of the most important situation in competitive Counter-Strike in the time a match plays ten. It is the most popular practice format after deathmatch, and it fills well because the queue moves quickly.

Deathmatch is warm-up as a server: instant respawn, everyone fighting, scoring by kills. Valve's mode is team-based by default with bonus weapons; communities run free-for-all, rifle-only, pistol-only and headshot-only variants on top.

CS2 servers are bound by CPU clock speed long before memory, and both of these modes keep the main thread busy - deathmatch especially, where random spawn selection runs line-of-sight checks for every respawn. CS2 server setup covers the base install and token, and CPU vs RAM for game servers explains why a bigger memory number does not fix a busy CPU.

The plugin layer both modes share#

Anything beyond stock deathmatch runs on Metamod:Source with CounterStrikeSharp on top. SourceMod does not run on CS2, so CS:GO retakes and deathmatch plugins - splewis's retakes, the old DM plugins - are not an option; everything has been rewritten in C#.

game/csgo/addons/  metamod/                     the loader  counterstrikesharp/    plugins/      RetakesPlugin/           one folder per plugin      RetakesAllocator/    configs/      plugins/                 per-plugin config files      admins.json              CounterStrikeSharp admins

Each plugin unpacks into its own folder under plugins/, writes a config file on first start, and is reloaded with css_plugins reload <name> or a map change. The full installation, including the gameinfo.gi line that every CS2 update reverts, is in Metamod and CounterStrikeSharp on CS2. Do that first and confirm meta list and css_plugins list both show what you expect before adding a mode on top.

Setting up a retakes server#

The retakes plugin

cs2-retakes handles the round logic: choosing a bombsite, spawning players in positions around it, giving the bomb to a terrorist and planting it at round start, balancing teams by score, and queuing players beyond the player limit as spectators. It does not decide what weapons players get - that is the allocator's job, or a basic built-in fallback depending on version.

What it needs to work:

1. Spawns for every map. Retakes spawns are not the map's normal spawn points; they are positions around each bombsite, stored per map in the plugin's map config files. The plugin ships with spawn files for the popular competitive maps. For anything else - a new Valve map, a Workshop map - an admin has to create spawns in-game with the plugin's edit commands, walking to each position and adding a CT or T spawn for site A or B, plus planter spawns for the terrorists.
2. A defuse map. Retakes needs bombsites. Load maps the usual way; CS2 workshop maps and collections covers Workshop ones.
3. Its own round rules. The plugin sets the cvars it depends on and expects to be the only thing managing rounds. Do not run it alongside a match plugin, and remove mp_ values from your mode override file that fight it - especially round time and freeze time.

Commands and config keys change between plugin releases, so read the README for the version you installed. The pattern is stable: a config file under configs/plugins/, an edit mode for spawns, and console messages naming each map's spawn file as it loads.

Adding spawns for a new map

Writing spawns is the one retakes job that cannot be skipped or automated, and doing it badly is what makes a server feel amateur. A routine that works:

1. Load the map on an empty server with only you connected, and enter the plugin's spawn edit mode.
2. For each bombsite, add terrorist spawns where a real defender would hold - behind cover, on site, in the common post-plant positions - and at least one planter spawn on the site itself.
3. Add counter-terrorist spawns at the entrances a real retake would come from, spread across at least two of them so every round is not a stack through one door.
4. Aim for more spawns than players on each side, so the same positions do not repeat every round.
5. Save, change map and back, then play a handful of rounds with a friend on each side before opening it to the public.

The most common mistake is putting counter-terrorist spawns in sight of a defender's spawn. The round starts with a free kill and players leave. Walk every pair of spawns and check the sight lines before you call the map done.

Team sizes and the queue

Retakes is played with a small numbers advantage for the retaking side, because the defenders have the bomb planted and position. The classic arrangement is four terrorists against five counter-terrorists with ten slots, scaling down for fewer players. The plugin calculates this from the number of active players and a ratio in its config.

Players over the maximum wait in a queue and rotate in. On a busy server the queue is what makes it feel fair - nobody sits out for long - and the value in -maxplayers should be a few above the active maximum so queued players have a slot.

The weapon allocator

The allocator gives each player a loadout at round start based on the round type and their own preferences. cs2-retakes-allocator is the common choice: it picks a round type - pistol, half-buy or full-buy, by percentage - and lets players choose their preferred guns per round type with a chat command or menu. Preferences are stored in a database, by default a local SQLite file, with MySQL-compatible databases supported for networks of servers.

Settings worth looking at in its config:

• Round type percentages. The default leans toward full-buy rounds. Raise pistol rounds if your players want variety.
• AWP rules. How many AWPs per team per round, and whether players must opt in. This single setting decides whether the server feels like practice or like an AWP lottery.
• Utility. Which grenades each side gets. Retakes with full utility is a different game from retakes with a flash each; pick deliberately.
• Database. For a single server, the SQLite default is fine. For several, point them at one database; each game plan on RE:NODE comes with a database slot whose host, user and password are generated in the panel - confirm the allocator supports its engine first.

Setting up a deathmatch server#

Stock deathmatch is a single launch argument:

$ ./game/bin/linuxsteamrt64/cs2 -dedicated -maxplayers 16 \    +game_alias deathmatch +sv_setsteamaccount <token> +map de_mirage

That gives Valve's deathmatch: ten-minute maps, team-based scoring, instant respawn, free weapons from the buy menu, and periodic bonus weapons that score extra. Rules go in game/csgo/cfg/gamemode_deathmatch_server.cfg, which you create, because Valve's gamemode_deathmatch.cfg runs after server.cfg and sets the round cvars back on every map load. CS2 server commands and cvars explains the order.

mp_timelimit 15mp_teammates_are_enemies 1mp_randomspawn 1mp_randomspawn_los 1mp_respawn_immunitytime 2mp_dm_bonus_length_max 0mp_dm_bonus_length_min 0mp_dm_time_between_bonus_max 9999mp_dm_time_between_bonus_min 9999mp_death_drop_gun 0mp_buy_anywhere 1mp_buytime 9999

Most community DM servers turn the bonus weapon off - it rewards picking up a gun you did not choose, which is the opposite of practice - and turn free-for-all on, because team deathmatch with spawn protection mostly means shooting at the wrong people. Default values have shifted between builds, so check any cvar you care about by typing its name in the console.

Deathmatch plugins

Stock DM cannot do headshot-only, restrict weapons properly, give each player a fixed loadout, or use custom spawn points. A deathmatch plugin can. CS2 Deathmatch for CounterStrikeSharp is the widely used one; it supports multiple modes rotated on a timer (for example rifles, then pistols, then headshot-only), weapon restrictions per mode, a spawn editor, and its own respawn logic. When you install one, it takes over from Valve's deathmatch rules, and the plugin's documentation says which game_alias it expects - usually deathmatch or custom. Running a DM plugin on top of conflicting cvars in your override file produces strange results, so empty gamemode_deathmatch_server.cfg back to the essentials and configure modes in the plugin.

Maps for each mode#

Retakes needs proper defuse maps with good spawns, and the stock competitive pool is where most retakes servers stay. Valve adds and removes maps from the active duty pool, and the retakes spawn files follow the popular ones, so a map recently added by Valve may have no spawns until somebody writes them.

Deathmatch works on almost anything, but plays best on maps with many open lanes and a decent number of spawn points: Mirage, Dust II and Inferno are the usual rotation. Small aim maps with deathmatch rules make a good warm-up server. Avoid large maps with long rotations; random spawns on a big map means half the time is walking.

For either mode, use the end-of-map vote or a map plugin with a short, fixed list. Players on a practice server want the maps they play in matchmaking, not variety.

Admin, abuse and keeping it fair#

Practice servers attract two problems: people who spawn-camp in DM and people who refuse to play the round in retakes. Plugins handle some of it - spawn protection, AFK kicks, team balance by score - and an admin plugin handles the rest. CS2 plugins lists admin options; keep the admin list short and give moderators only kick and mute.

Two server-side settings help without any plugin:

mp_autokick 1          // kick for team damage and team killssv_kick_ban_duration 15 // minutes a kicked player is banned for

In retakes, team damage is real and a frustrated player can ruin rounds; mp_autokick handles the worst of it. In free-for-all DM, team damage rules do not apply because everybody is an enemy.

Panel access is separate from in-game admin. On RE:NODE, subusers can be given console access without files or billing, which is the right level for someone who restarts the server when a plugin hangs. Subusers and least privilege covers how to split it.

Troubleshooting#

Retakes rounds play as normal competitive rounds. The plugin did not load. Run css_plugins list; if it is missing, check the CounterStrikeSharp log for the error, usually a version mismatch after a CS2 update.

Players spawn in the wrong places or inside walls on one map. That map's spawn file is missing or was written for an older version of the map. Re-create spawns with the edit commands.

Nobody gets weapons in retakes. The allocator is not installed or failed to connect to its database. Check its log line at start.

Deathmatch settings reset on every map. They are in server.cfg. Move mp_ values into gamemode_deathmatch_server.cfg.

Players spawn in front of each other in DM. Too few spawn points for the player count, or random spawns are off. Enable mp_randomspawn_los, reduce slots, or use a plugin with custom spawns.

The server stutters when it fills. Check the CPU graph against the plan's limit. If it is pinned, the server is being throttled; reduce slots or plugins, or move up a plan. On RE:NODE a server at 100% CPU is slow, not suspended, and changing plan does not rebuild the server. Reading a server load graph covers the general diagnosis.

FAQ#

Does CS2 have a built-in retakes mode?

No. Retakes on CS2 community servers is always a plugin, almost always cs2-retakes on CounterStrikeSharp, with a separate weapon allocator. Valve's built-in modes are casual, competitive, wingman, deathmatch, arms race and demolition.

How do I make a free-for-all deathmatch server?

Run +game_alias deathmatch and set mp_teammates_are_enemies 1 in gamemode_deathmatch_server.cfg. Turn on mp_randomspawn 1 so players do not spawn in team clusters.

Can I run headshot-only deathmatch without a plugin?

Not reliably. Stock CS2 has no supported headshot-only cvar for public servers. A deathmatch plugin with a headshot-only mode is the clean way, and it can rotate it with other modes on a timer.

How many players should a retakes server have?

Nine or ten active players is the classic size, four or five defenders against five retakers. More than that and the bombsite gets crowded; fewer still works, and the plugin scales the teams down.

Do retakes plugins work on workshop maps?

Yes, once spawns exist for the map. The plugin ships spawns for popular competitive maps; for a Workshop map an admin creates them in-game with the plugin's edit commands, which takes ten to twenty minutes per map.