Best CS:GO Startup Commands and Launch Options Setup for Competitive Play (2023)

Ever since the dawn of the online and LAN FPS multiplayer scene, players from all over the globe have been trying to optimize their game settings so that the most performance is extracted from the hardware they possess in order to gain an edge over the competition. With Steam available, there are some commands that you can enter that can help with this. Here’s how you can improve your Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with some cool commands you can try out.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Launch Options for Steam (2023)

We will provide you with the most necessary commands and their short descriptions, and it’s up to you to model the launch options toward your needs and preferences. To each their own, we say, but let’s show you the options we think are cool.

Related: The Best Smoke Spots on Inferno CS:GO Map

Back in the day, commands like this were added in the desktop shortcut, but now, all you have to do is to right-click the desired game (CS:GO in this case) in your Steam Library and click Properties -> General -> Set Launch Options.

Related: CS:GO Economy Guide (2023)

The rules are simple: a command starts with either “-” or “+”. After you finish adding the command (and the value after it, if applicable), hit space and start typing the next one. And finally, there’s no room for quotation marks here.

Related: How to Most Efficiently Rank-up in CS:GO Competitive Matchmaking (2022)

• -nojoy (disables joystick input and marginally reduces the load CS:GO has on your PC)
• -tickrate 128 (enables 128 tickrate for all games you host, which is great when you’re practicing on bots for a match that will be hosted on a 128 tickrate server. Please note that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Competitive Matchmaking servers are still on 64 tickrate)
• +fps_max 0 (remove limitations on the maximum FPS your PC will try to produce in CS:GO)
• +cl_showfps 1 (shows the FPS in a corner)
• -high (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will have high priority for resource allocation. Test if it causes issues or not)
• -novid (something that everyone should use. It disables the intro video when you start up CS:GO. This helps if your game crashes so that you can return to the match as soon as possible)
• -threads X (X is the number of cores in your CPU. This makes CS:GO use more of your resources than it usually would. However, this tends to be done automatically by the game nowadays)
• -forcenovsync (turns off VSync by force. You don’t need it unless you have screen tearing)
• +cl_forcepreload 1 (this will force CS:GO to load all assets during the initial map load so that it’s not done during the game, which can be deemed disruptive. Your map will load longer but when it’s done, it’s done. It might put a strain on your PC, though)
• +mat_disable_fancy_blending 1 (increases your FPS by disabling the fancy type of blending of the textures)
• -refresh 144 (if you’re running a 144 Hz monitor, try this out and make sure that your Windows Display Settings have it enabled as well. You can inspect this by snooping around your monitor’s advanced settings)
• -net_graph 1 (or 3, shows your internet usage. Useful for troubleshooting connection issues and monitoring of the situation)

Related: All CS:GO Ranks in Order: CS:GO Ranking System Explained

Our suggestions for the Launch Options look something along these lines:

-tickrate 128 +fps_max 0 +cl_showfps 1 -novid -forcenovsync -net_graph 1 -nojoy