Counter-Strike: Source

Counter-Strike: Source

Developers
	Valve Corporation
	Turtle Rock Studios
	Hidden Path Entertainment
Publishers
	Valve Corporation
Russia	Buka Entertainment
Engines
	Source
Release dates
Windows	October 7, 2004
macOS (OS X)	June 23, 2010
Linux	February 5, 2012
Reception
Metacritic	88
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Shooter
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Contemporary
Series	Counter-Strike

Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike	2000
Counter-Strike: Condition Zero	2004
Counter-Strike: Source	2004
Counter-Strike NEO -White Memories-	2005
Counter-Strike Online (series)
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive	2012
Counter-Strike 2	2023

Warnings

The macOS (OS X) version of this game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.

Key points

Active community.

General information

GitHub Issue Tracker for Counter-Strike: Source and other Source-based games

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM 5 DRM. Removed in a December 2004 update. Initially included with all purchases of Half-Life 2. These copies can bypass Steam if you launch hl2.msi directly. Later got a standalone release on 4 CDs/1 DVD.
Steam		Initially could not be purchased separately and was instead included with all purchases of Half-Life 2. Received a standalone digital release later.

All versions require Steam DRM.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Use the -novid command line argument.

Enable dynamic C4 lights

Use the console command cl_c4dynamiclight 1

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\cstrike\cfg
macOS (OS X)	<path-to-game>\cstrike\cfg
Linux	<path-to-game>/cstrike/cfg/

It's unknown whether this game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux. Please fill in this information.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud		Syncs settings.

Video

In-game general video settings.

In-game advanced video settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen			Has native 21:9 support.
4K Ultra HD			Interface scales poorly.
Field of view (FOV)		Default FOV is 90. See Field of view (FOV) for information on changing it.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Use the -window -noborder command line arguments
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Up to 16 samples.
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		300 FPS cap by default. With console, can change "fps_max" up to 1000; use 0 for uncapped framerate.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		Rendered image uses SDR color space. In-game HDR option refers only to HDR Rendering.

Field of view (FOV)

default_fov #[citation needed]
Unless a server has cheats enabled the game will be forced to the default FOV. Open Settings from the main menu Go to the Keyboard tab Press the Advanced button at the bottom of the popup Check the box that says Enable Developer Console (~) Open the console using ~. Input sv_cheats 1 to enable cheats and then default_fov #. Replace # with your desired FOV.

Input

In-game key map settings.

In-game mouse/gamepad settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

DualShock 4 controllers

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Over-all game volume and separate music slider.
Surround sound		7.1, 5.1 surround sound, 4 speaker surround.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		"Silence the audio while the game window is in the background" check box.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Russian
Spanish
Thai
Turkish

Network

In-game general multiplayer settings.

In-game advanced multiplayer settings.

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play		8	Use Nucleus Co-op.
LAN play		128
Online play		128

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP		Use connect [IP address here] in the console.

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	27014-27050
UDP	1200, 3478, 4379-4380, 27000-27030

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes	Native	GG3D	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision
Devices	Native	Notes
Novint Falcon

Issues fixed

Purple and black broken textures

Fixes to this issue can be found on our Source engine page.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9
OpenGL	2.1	OS X and Linux only.
Shader Model support	2, 3

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)			This 32-bit-only macOS game does not work on macOS Catalina (10.15) or later.
Linux

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok	Heavily modified variant.
Audio	Miles Sound System	9.3a
Input	SDL
Cutscenes	Bink Video	1.99r
Multiplayer	Steamworks

Console commands

Games running on the Source engine can utilize Source Engine Console Commands for various tasks.

Enabling the console in Source games[citation needed]

Launch the game From the main menu select Options Select the Keyboard tab Click the Advanced button Check the box next to Enable developer console (~) Click Apply Notes Press ~ to open the console. Some commands may first require you enabling sv_cheats. You can do so with sv_cheats 1. Many servers will not allow you to play with cheats enabled, or will disable them upon entering the server. Users without a US keyboard could experience some problems.

Command line arguments

View this Steam Support Article regarding launch options as well as the relevant Valve Developer wiki page for further information and a list of useful Source engine launch options.

Some useful commands can be found in the table below.

Command	Output
-autoconfig	Restores video and performance settings to default for the current hardware detected. Ignores settings inside any .cfg files until this parameter is removed.
-console	Starts the game with the developer console enabled.
-dxlevel xx	Forces the game to launch in a specific DirectX version, where xx is: 80 (DirectX 8 (buggy, use 81 instead for high performance)), 81 (DirectX 8.1), 90 (DX9 with Shader Model 2) and 95 (DX9 with Shader Model 3)). Remove this argument after starting CS:S once or it will keep reseting your graphical settings. The overridden DirectX version will still be saved (mat_dxlevel).
-h # or -height #	Forces the engine to start with resolution set to #.
-w # or -width #	Forces the engine to start with resolution set to #.

System requirements

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Linux

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	7, 8.1, 10 32/64-bit
Processor (CPU)	1.7 GHz	3.0 GHz Pentium 4
System memory (RAM)	512 MB	1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	2 GB
Video card (GPU)	DirectX 8.1 compatible	DirectX 9 compatible

Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP, and Vista were previously supported, but as future updates for this game and Steam occurred; the support was dropped, even with retail copies.

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	Leopard 10.5.8, Snow Leopard 10.6.3
Processor (CPU)
System memory (RAM)	1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 8 ATI Radeon X1600 Intel HD 3000

Linux
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
Processor (CPU)	1.7 GHz
System memory (RAM)	512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)