Counter-Strike: Source ships with AI bots built in, so you do not install anything. Your hosted server starts human-only, and you add bots any time to fill out a scrim, warm up, or hold a match together when a friend drops. Bots appear right away, no waiting for a human. Run these from the web console on your server card, or in-game with the rcon prefix.
Where you run bot commands
The easy way is the web console on your server card. It is signed in as admin, so type the command straight in, no prefix. In-game, enable the developer console, sign in once with your RCON password, then prefix commands with rcon.
bot_quota 4
rcon bot_quota 4Core bot commands
- bot_quota 4: Set how many bots play. bot_quota 0 turns them off for a human-only match.
- bot_difficulty 2: Bot skill: 0 Easy, 1 Normal, 2 Hard, 3 Expert. Set it before bots spawn for the cleanest result.
- bot_kick: Remove all bots. bot_kick <name> removes one.
- bot_add_t / bot_add_ct: Add one bot to a specific team.
Balance and behavior
- bot_quota_mode fill: Keep total players (humans + bots) at the quota. Bots leave as humans join, and return when they leave.
- bot_join_after_player 1: Hold bots until at least one human is on the server.
- bot_chatter off: Silence bot radio chatter if it gets noisy.
A quick 5v5 warmup
Set the count, set the skill, and pick a defuse map. This gives you a full Bomb Defusal scrim against Hard bots.
bot_difficulty 2
bot_quota 10
bot_quota_mode fill
changelevel de_dust2Deploy a Counter-Strike: Source server by the hour