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How to Change the Name of Your Counter-Strike 2 Server

Change your Counter-Strike 2 dedicated server name by setting hostname in game/csgo/cfg/server.cfg and restarting the server. This guide covers hosting panels, Linux SteamCMD installs, launch parameters, console testing and verification.

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Change a Counter-Strike 2 dedicated server’s public name by adding hostname "Your Server Name" to server.cfg in game/csgo/cfg/, then restart the server. Hosted-panel administrators edit the file in the panel; self-hosted Linux administrators edit the equivalent file in their SteamCMD installation.

What the server name setting does

The name shown for a Counter-Strike 2 dedicated server is controlled by the hostname console variable. It is separate from your personal Steam or player name. The persistent configuration belongs in the server’s server.cfg file, under the installation’s game/csgo/cfg/ directory.

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The change is not complete when you save the file. The running server must be restarted so it reads the configuration and publishes the new name to the Steam server list. A server browser can continue displaying an older value briefly after the restart.

Before changing the name

  • Have file-manager or SSH access to the machine running the dedicated server.
  • Know whether the server is managed by a hosting control panel or started directly from your own Linux installation.
  • Make sure you are editing the active installation, not a backup, staging copy or client-side configuration.
  • Plan a restart window. Players connected when the process stops will be disconnected.

Use a plain text editor. Do not add formatting, smart quotation marks or a second configuration directive with a different spelling. The value should be enclosed in ordinary straight double quotes.

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Method 1: edit server.cfg in a hosting panel

Control panels expose the same file used by a self-hosted server. The labels vary, but the sequence is generally stop, edit, save and start.

Step 1: stop the server

Open the panel’s server controls and choose Stop. Editing while the process is still running can leave you unsure whether the file was saved before the next launch, and some panels lock files while the service is active.

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Step 2: open the configuration directory

Open the panel’s file manager and browse to game/csgo/cfg/. One commonly used container layout is /home/container/game/csgo/cfg. The exact leading path depends on the host and container image, so use the directory belonging to the active CS2 server.

Step 3: open or create server.cfg

If server.cfg exists, open it as a text file. If it is missing, create a new file with that exact name in the cfg directory. A file named server.cfg.txt will not be loaded as the intended configuration.

Step 4: add the hostname line

Put this directive on its own line, replacing the text inside the quotes:

hostname "MyServerName"

For example, a community server might use:

hostname "North America Casual | No Bots"

Keep the directive as one line. The quoted portion is the name players should see; the setting name is hostname in lowercase.

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Step 5: save and restart

Save the file, return to the panel controls and start or restart the server. Wait for the process to finish loading before testing. The new value is read during startup and then advertised to the master server list.

Method 2: change the name on a self-hosted Linux server

A SteamCMD installation uses the same configuration directive. The difference is that you reach the file through the server’s local filesystem rather than a web panel.

Find the active installation

Locate the directory from which you launch the dedicated server. A typical example is:

/home/cs2/server/game/csgo/cfg/server.cfg

Your installation may be elsewhere. The important portion is the final game/csgo/cfg/ path under the directory that contains your server files and launch script.

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Edit the file over SSH

Stop the running process first, then open the file with an editor such as nano:

nano /home/cs2/server/game/csgo/cfg/server.cfg

Add the hostname directive on a separate line, save the file and exit the editor. If no file is present, create it at that location. Preserve any unrelated settings already in the file.

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Start the server with the normal Linux launcher

The Valve community documentation for a Linux CS2 dedicated server uses the cs2.sh script and the -dedicated option rather than launching the game binary directly. Start your service using the command or systemd unit you normally use, then verify the name from the server console.

Method 3: set the name as a launch parameter

If your server is started by a shell script, container command or service definition, you can pass the hostname at launch instead of storing it only in server.cfg. Add +hostname and a quoted value to the existing command:

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./cs2.sh -dedicated +hostname "YOUR_SERVER_NAME" -maxplayers 16 -port 27015

The other arguments in this example illustrate a normal dedicated-server command; keep your own player-count and port values. The important addition is +hostname followed by the quoted name.

This approach is useful when deployment is scripted or the container regenerates configuration files. It is persistent as long as the startup command remains unchanged. If you later edit server.cfg but the launch script still supplies a different hostname, inspect the startup command and make the intended value consistent there.

Method 4: test the value in the server console

You can enter the hostname setting directly in the dedicated-server console to test a name without editing a file. This is useful for confirming that the running process accepts the value before you schedule a restart.

hostname "Test Server Name"

Treat this as a temporary test. The console change is reported to revert to the configured or default value at the next restart unless you also save the directive in server.cfg or in the startup command.

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Which method should you use?

Method Where the value is stored Survives restart? Best use
server.cfg game/csgo/cfg/server.cfg Yes Normal panel-managed or self-hosted operation
Launch parameter Your startup script, service or container command Yes, while the command remains configured Scripted deployments and immutable containers
Console command Current running process only No; use it as a test Quick verification before making a persistent edit

Choose one persistent source of truth. Keeping a different name in the startup command and in server.cfg makes later troubleshooting harder because the value supplied at launch may not match the file you edited.

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How to verify the new name

Check available hostname variables

From the dedicated-server console, run:

find hostname

This searches matching console variables and helps confirm which hostname-related setting the running build exposes. Most CS2 server instructions use hostname.

Check from an active connection

Connect to the server, open the developer console with the tilde key (~) and run:

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status

The first line of the status output is reported to contain the active server hostname. This checks the value advertised by the running instance rather than only the contents of a file.

Check the server browser

After the restart, refresh the community-server list and search for the new text. The browser may need several minutes to receive the updated advertisement; an exact propagation time is not established. A direct connection and the in-game status output are better immediate checks.

Troubleshooting when the name does not change

The old name remains immediately after saving

  1. Confirm that the server process was actually stopped and started, rather than merely reloading a panel page.
  2. Reopen the active server.cfg and check that the directive is spelled hostname, is on its own line and uses straight quotation marks.
  3. Verify that the file is under the running installation’s game/csgo/cfg/ directory.
  4. Use status after connecting to determine whether the process has loaded the new value.

The file is present but appears to be ignored

Check for a filename extension added by the editor or file manager. The required name is server.cfg. Also check that you did not edit a client installation or an unused copy of the server files. On a panel, the path may begin with a container-specific directory; on Linux, use the path referenced by the launch script or service unit.

The name changes, then reverts on every restart

A console-only change is not persistent. Put the directive in server.cfg or add +hostname to the command that starts the server. If both are present, inspect the startup command for another hostname value and make the two locations agree.

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The browser still shows the previous name

First verify the running instance with status. If that output is correct, refresh the browser and allow time for the master-list advertisement to update. Do not repeatedly rewrite the configuration while waiting; that can obscure whether the process itself loaded the intended value.

You tried sv_hostname and nothing happened

Most CS2 server guides use hostname. A separate guide uses sv_hostname, but its status as a CS2 console variable is not confirmed. Start with hostname; if it has no effect on your particular build, run find hostname, test the alternative in the console, and confirm the result with status before making it permanent.

Dedicated-server context

Counter-Strike 2’s dedicated server and the game client use Steam application ID 730. A dedicated instance is launched with the -dedicated option; on Linux, the community-maintained Valve Developer Community documentation recommends the cs2.sh launcher rather than invoking the binary directly. These details explain why the server configuration is separate from the settings in an ordinary game client.

Because hosting panels wrap the same dedicated-server files and startup arguments, the naming process is consistent across providers: identify the active installation, set hostname, restart, and verify from the running server.

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Final operating checklist

  • Stop the server before editing through a hosting panel or local shell.
  • Open the active game/csgo/cfg/server.cfg, creating it if necessary.
  • Add one line in the form hostname "Your Server Name".
  • Save the file without changing its name or adding a second extension.
  • Restart the dedicated server, or update the startup command if you use +hostname.
  • Run status after connecting to confirm the live value.
  • Allow for delayed server-browser propagation before assuming the change failed.

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