Server FAQs

ABOUT SERVER LOCATIONS

HOW DO THE SERVER LOCATIONS WORK?

Server picking means that you are selecting the servers you prefer to play on. 

The main purpose of this feature is to allow players to deselect servers they do not wish to play on. The matcher will try to match you onto only the servers that you have selected, but this is not a guarantee. In periods of low queue liquidity you can get matched onto servers that you have not selected, especially if you have only selected less popular servers.

In the image above, the matcher will try to match the player onto France, Germany, Netherlands or UK, but if a balanced match cannot be found in a reasonable period of time then you can be matched onto another server.
Find out exactly how to choose your server preferences here.

WHICH REGIONS HAVE SERVER SELECTOR TURNED ON

All users in the EU, NA and SA have access to the server selector feature. The servers you can select depend on your region.

CAN I AVOID A PARTICULAR SERVER?

Yes! All you need to do is deselect the server that you don’t want to play on.  

Servers you leave deselected should appear in your pool of servers to vote on significantly less than other maps.

HOW MANY SERVERS CAN I AVOID?

Currently, all users can deselect up to 4 servers. This means that you always need to have at least 4 servers actively selected.

WHY DID YOU ADD NEW SERVER LOCATIONS

We would like to stress that EFG is a global company, which supports players in multiple jurisdictions, and builds communities regardless of political boundaries. Before, the EU free queue only offered German servers. While this server location is optimal for many players, it would create a ping disadvantage for many different countries in every corner of Europe.

WHAT IS THE CURRENT SERVER SELECTION POOL IN EUROPE?

Current locations available are:

• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Moscow
• Netherlands
• Sweden
• UK
• Kazakhstan

HOW IS THE SERVER I PLAY ON DECIDED?

When you choose your preferred servers, the matcher aims to match players based on the same subset of selected servers. Servers you leave deselected should appear in your pool of servers to vote on significantly less than other maps.

The one you actually end up playing on depends on the voting process of your match players in the room before you enter a match.

WILL SELECTING SERVER LOCATIONS AFFECT MY QUEUE TIMES?

Activating specific server preferences might slightly prolong your matchmaking wait times as we prioritize finding matches that match your chosen criteria. Nevertheless, we work to strike a balance, ensuring reasonable queue times while honouring your preferences.

I am concerned about data sharing and the MOSCOW server. How does this work?

Firstly, we are sympathetic regarding the situation in Ukraine. Regarding the Moscow server, it works as follows:

• Players are provided with the possibility to select a game server before queueing for matchmaking;
• For all players in the European CS2 game region, the following preselection is enabled by default:
  • Germany, France, the UK and the Netherlands;
• If a player wants to play in Moscow, they will need to choose that game server;
• Data stored on servers outside of Russia and network data is never shared with the Russian game server nor with the Russian Company operating them nor with Russian authorities.

Our server provider doesn't have access to the network on the game server and thus they do not have access to any data nor do we share with them anything.

CUSTOMIZING SERVER SELECTION

HOW DO I SELECT MY PREFERRED SERVERS?

Press the icon to the right of the map images to edit your server selection. 

This will then bring up the different server locations available to you, this may vary depending on your location. To choose your preferred locations, you will need to tick or untick the corresponding boxes.

WHAT LOCATIONS CAN I PICK A SERVER FROM?

For the EU, the current server locations available are Finland, France, Germany, Moscow, Netherlands, Sweden, Kazakhstan and the UK.

WHY CAN I NO LONGER SEE MOSCOW SERVERS?

We are currently working on ways to improve server selection. Currently, this server is only available to players within Russia.

HOW MANY SERVERS DO I NEED TO HAVE SELECTED?

Players need to select at least four preferred server locations to optimize their ping prior to starting a match.

HOW CAN I CUSTOMIZE MY PREFERENCE FOR SERVERS?

On the lobby screen, click the icon beside the map images to access server options.

A list of available servers will be displayed.

Checking a server indicates that you would LIKE to play on this server. In the screenshot above, all servers are selected. Which means the user doesn’t mind which server they get.

However,  if you do not wish to play on a particular server, you should make sure it is deselected. For example, if you uncheck the four as seen below, you'll only match with servers in France, Germany, the UK, or the Netherlands. Moscow, Central Russia, Finland and Sweden will not feature in the rotation for you in matchmaking.

Ensure you select at least four server locations to avoid the error message 'Please select at least 4 server locations;

When you've finalized your choices, close the menu with the X and click 'Play'.