Installing CS2 Plugins with Metamod and CounterStrikeSharp

Almost every CS2 plugin runs on two pieces of software: Metamod:Source, which hooks into the game, and CounterStrikeSharp, which lets plugins be written in C#, so you install those two first and then drop plugins on top.

3 min read · Updated Oct 1, 2026 · By GuavaHost Team

What Metamod and CounterStrikeSharp do

Metamod:Source (usually just "Metamod") is a loader that plugs into the CS2 engine and gives other mods a way in. CounterStrikeSharp, often shortened to CSS, runs on top of Metamod and provides the framework that most modern CS2 plugins are built with. You need both before a single plugin will load.

What about SourceMod? It was the standard plugin platform for CS:GO and other older Source engine games, but it does not run on Counter-Strike 2, which is built on the newer Source 2 engine. Old SourceMod plugins (.smx files) will not load on a CS2 server. Look for a CounterStrikeSharp version of the plugin instead, or another plugin built for CS2.

Take a backup on the Backups page before you start. If anything goes wrong you can restore in a click. Note that reinstalling from the Settings tab can wipe these files, so avoid it once you are set up.

The Files page uploads files, not whole folders. So the steps below upload each download as it comes, still zipped, into the folder it belongs in and unpack it there. If something ends up in the wrong folder, click ••• on its row, choose Move, pick the right folder and press Move here. You can also copy the folders across over SFTP instead.

Step 1: Install Metamod:Source

1. Download the latest CS2 build of Metamod:Source from metamodsource.net. Pick the Linux build, since GuavaHost CS2 servers run Linux.
2. In your control panel, open the Files tab and go to game/csgo/.
3. Click Upload files and choose the archive you downloaded (still zipped). When it arrives, click Unpack next to it. It contains an addons folder, so you end up with game/csgo/addons/metamod. Delete the archive afterwards if you want the space back.

Step 2: Edit gameinfo.gi

This is the step people miss, and without it Metamod never loads. On the Files tab, click game/csgo/gameinfo.gi to open it in the editor. Find the SearchPaths block inside GameInfo then FileSystem. Add this line directly above the line that reads Game csgo:

Game csgo/addons/metamod

Click Save. The exact spacing is not critical, but the text must match.

Step 3: Install CounterStrikeSharp

1. Download the latest release of CounterStrikeSharp from its GitHub releases page. Pick the build that includes the runtime unless you know the .NET runtime is already present.
2. Upload the zip into game/csgo/ with Upload files, then click Unpack next to it. Its addons folder merges with the one already there, so you now also have game/csgo/addons/counterstrikesharp.

Step 4: Add your plugins

Each CounterStrikeSharp plugin lives in its own folder under game/csgo/addons/counterstrikesharp/plugins/. Download the plugin, then check what is inside the zip. Upload it into the folder that makes the path come out as game/csgo/addons/counterstrikesharp/plugins/MyPlugin/MyPlugin.dll and click Unpack. If the zip already starts with addons, unpack it in game/csgo/; if it holds just the plugin's folder, unpack it in plugins/. Some plugins keep settings in a config file you edit after the first run, and some need a MySQL database, which you can create on the Databases page.

Verifying it worked

Restart the server, then open the Console tab and type meta list. You should see Metamod report CounterStrikeSharp as loaded. Type css_plugins list to see every CSS plugin that started. If a plugin is missing from that list, its files are likely in the wrong folder.

Troubleshooting

• meta list shows nothing: the gameinfo.gi edit is missing or in the wrong place. Recheck Step 2.
• CSS loads but a plugin does not: confirm the plugin sits in its own folder under plugins/ and that it targets your CounterStrikeSharp version.
• Everything vanished after a reinstall: restore your latest backup from the Backups page.

Still stuck? Jump into our Discord at discord.gg/GuavaHost and the team will help you out.

• cs2
• plugins
• metamod
• counterstrikesharp
• mods

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