When Counter-Strike 2 launched, it replaced CS:GO in your Steam library, so the old game seemingly disappeared. It did not: Valve left a frozen legacy CS:GO build in place, and you can still launch it, open the console, and connect to a server. This guide shows exactly how, step by step.

Step 1: get the legacy CS:GO client

Legacy CS:GO lives on a beta branch of the Counter-Strike 2 app. You need to own Counter-Strike (CS:GO/CS2 is free, so most accounts already do). To switch to it:

1. In your Steam library, right-click Counter-Strike 2 and choose Properties.
2. Open the Betas tab.
3. In the beta branch dropdown, pick csgo_legacy.
4. Close Properties and let Steam download the legacy build. When it finishes, launching Counter-Strike 2 starts the old CS:GO client.

Step 2: enable the developer console

The console is how you connect to a server by IP. It is off by default. Turn it on either way:

• In game: Settings > Game > Enable Developer Console, set it to Yes.
• Or add a launch option: right-click the game > Properties > General > Launch Options, and add -console. The console then opens automatically on launch.

Step 3: open the console

Press the tilde key (~ or `, just left of the 1 key) to open and close the console. If nothing happens, the console is still disabled; go back to Step 2. On a non-US keyboard the key is in the same physical spot even if the symbol differs.

Step 4: connect to a server

With the console open, type connect followed by the server IP and port, then press Enter:

connect 203.0.113.10:27015

If the server has a join password, set it first, then connect:

password YOURPASSWORD
connect 203.0.113.10:27015

A couple of handy console commands: retry reconnects to the last server, and disconnect leaves the current one.

If the connection keeps failing

Legacy CS:GO also lost official matchmaking and the in-game server browser, so you can only reach servers by direct connect. If a server keeps timing out with "connect failed after 30 retries", that is a server-side problem (it needs a login token and a plugin to drop the matchmaking reservation), not something you can fix from the client. See our guide on hosting a CS:GO server friends can join.

Need a server to connect to?

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