Managing servers

Run csm to do all of this from the menu. The commands below do the same from the shell. Leave out the server number to act on all servers.

Start, stop and restart

csm status          # show all servers
csm start           # start all servers
csm start 2         # start server 2
csm stop            # stop all servers
csm stop 2
csm restart
csm restart 2

Restart a server after you change a config file or update the game.

Console and logs

Each server runs in its own tmux session. Server N is the session cs2-N.

csm attach 1        # open the console of server 1
csm logs 1 200      # last 200 log lines of server 1
csm logs 1          # the whole log
csm logs-file 1     # print the path of the log file
csm list-sessions   # list the tmux sessions

In the console, press Ctrl+B, then D to leave. The server keeps running. Do not press Ctrl+C, it stops the server.

The log files are in ~/logs/, one per server.

Run a server in the foreground

If a server stops right after it starts, run it in the foreground to see the error:

csm debug 1

Press Ctrl+C to stop it.

Launch modes

By default csm starts servers with Valve's game/cs2.sh, unchanged. There are two other ways:

• --alternate uses game/csm.sh, which csm installs. It prefers the libraries that come with CS2. Try it when a server fails with libserver.so or libv8 errors.
• --binary runs the cs2 binary directly. Use it only for troubleshooting.

csm start --alternate       # all servers
csm start --alternate 2     # only server 2
csm restart --binary
csm debug --alternate 1

Put the flag before the server number. You cannot use both flags at once.

A flag works for that one command. To use a mode everywhere csm starts servers, also in update-plugins, update-game and the update monitor, set CSM_LAUNCH_MODE:

CSM_LAUNCH_MODE=alternate csm restart

A flag wins over the variable.

On Debian 13 and newer, and Ubuntu 25.04 and newer, csm starts the servers inside Steam Runtime (SteamRT3). See Troubleshooting.

Add or remove servers

In csm, open Servers and choose Add servers or Remove servers. New servers get the next free ports. Add them to Auto Tournament afterwards.

Rebuild or reconfigure one server

csm reinstall 2         # delete server 2 and copy it again from master-install
csm update-config 2     # write server.cfg again, keep the game files

Use reinstall when game files are broken. update-config is much faster and is enough for config problems.

To change the RCON password or max players of all servers, use Config > Update server configs in the menu.

RCON bans

A CS2 server blocks an IP after too many wrong RCON passwords. If Auto Tournament shows IP banned, fix the password in Auto Tournament first, then:

csm list-bans 1              # show banned IPs on server 1
csm unban 1 203.0.113.5 # remove one IP
csm unban-all 1         # remove all bans on server 1

Use 0 instead of the server number for all servers (not for list-bans).

Save disk space

csm hardlinks the large .vpk game files from master-install into each server, so each extra server costs about 1.2 GB instead of 67 GB. New installs do this already. To convert older servers:

csm dedupe-vpk --dry-run   # show what would change and how much space you save
csm stop
csm dedupe-vpk
csm start

• csm dedupe-vpk 2 handles only server 2.
• --verify compares each file byte by byte first. It is slow.
• --allow-running runs even when servers are running.
• To undo it: csm stop && csm dedupe-vpk --undo && csm start. This needs about 70 GB free per server. Also set CSM_VPK_HARDLINK=0 wherever csm runs, or the next update links the files again.

master-install and the servers must be on the same file system. The default layout is.