Setting Up Practice, Retake, and Surf Servers in CS2

With a few config files and the right plugins, one CS2 server can become a nade-practice range, a retake trainer, or a surf map, and this guide covers the key settings for each.

With a few config files and the right plugins, one CS2 server can become a nade-practice range, a retake trainer, or a surf map, and this guide covers the key settings for each.

Practice and nade config

A practice server relaxes the rules so you can throw grenades, teleport, and see impact points. Create a file called practice.cfg in game/csgo/cfg/ using the Files tab and add:

```

sv_cheats 1

mp_limitteams 0

mp_autoteambalance 0

mp_freezetime 0

mp_roundtime 60

mproundtimedefuse 60

mp_maxmoney 60000

mp_startmoney 60000

mp_buytime 9999

mpbuyanywhere 1

svinfiniteammo 1

ammogrenadelimit_total 5

svgrenadetrajectory 1

svgrenadetrajectory_time 10

sv_showimpacts 1

svshowimpactstime 10

bot_kick

mpwarmupend

mp_restartgame 1

```

Load it any time from the Console tab or the in-game console with exec practice. svshowimpacts 1 draws where bullets land, and svgrenadetrajectory 1` draws the arc of your nades, which is what makes lineup practice possible.

Retake servers

Retakes drop you into a bombsite with the bomb already planted, so a team of defenders retakes the site over and over. This needs a plugin rather than just cvars. Install Metamod:Source and CounterStrikeSharp first (see our plugin guide), then add a CounterStrikeSharp retakes plugin to game/csgo/addons/counterstrikesharp/plugins/. The plugin handles team sizes, weapon allocation, and where the bomb spawns. After the first launch it writes a config file where you can tune the number of players and the spawn points per map.

Surf servers

Surf uses the game's air movement to glide along angled ramps on special maps. The core setting is air acceleration. In a surf.cfg file add:

```

sv_cheats 0

sv_airaccelerate 150

sv_accelerate 10

sv_maxvelocity 3500

sv_gravity 800

mp_freezetime 0

mp_roundtime 60

```

Then load a surf map. Surf maps come from the Steam Workshop, so on the Console tab run hostworkshopmap <id>, replacing <id> with the workshop map's number. Many surf communities also add a CounterStrikeSharp timer plugin to record run times, installed the same way as any other plugin.

Switching between setups

You have two clean options:

  • Keep one server and swap configs with exec practice, exec surf, or exec server when you want a different style. Change the map afterward so the settings take hold.
  • Run separate GuavaHost servers, one per purpose, so each has its own plugins and never interferes with the others. You can add a server or resize RAM any time from guavahost.com/account, with billing prorated.

Before layering plugins on top of a working match server, take a snapshot on the Backups tab so you can roll back cleanly.

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