What settings do pro players use?

It’s no secret CS2 was launched prematurely, resulting in many performance issues despite the significant improvements since the Limited Test Beta.

Though we enjoy burning the midnight oil and grinding our way in Counter-Strike 2, missing a shot or getting punished by an enemy because of an FPS drop can be frustrating, that’s why having the best optimal settings is crucial.

Considering professional players make their living playing the game, it's reasonable to assume their settings would be reliable, especially with the esports scene also transitioning to CS2. So, which settings do the best players in the world use?

Most preferred CS2 Settings

While some players use the native 16:9 aspect ratio and 1920x1080 resolution with the upgraded graphics in CS2, the majority still prefers playing in 4:3.

Resolution is a personal preference, and with the current state of the game, it doesn’t affect performance on most PCs. What you should be paying attention to is the Advanced video settings tab.

Advanced video settings:

Boost player contrast: Enabled
Wait for Vertical Sync: Disabled
Current video values preset: Custom
Multisampling Anti-Aliasing Mode: 4X MSAA
Global Shadow Quality: High
Model / Texture Detail: Low
Texture Filtering Mode: Bilinear
Shader Detail: Low
Particle Detail: Low
Ambient Occlusion: Disabled
High Dynamic Range: Quality
FidelityFX Super Resolution: Disabled (Highest Quality)
NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency: Disabled

ropz CS2 Settings:

Aspect ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 1920x1080

s1mple CS2 Settings

Aspect ratio: 4:3
Resolution: 1280x960
Boost player contrast: Disabled
Wait for Vertical Sync: Disabled
Current video values preset: Custom
Multisampling Anti-Aliasing Mode: 8X MSAA
Global Shadow Quality: High
Model / Texture Detail: Low
Texture Filtering Mode: Bilinear
Shader Detail: Low
Particle Detail: Low
Ambient Occlusion: Medium
High Dynamic Range: Quality
FidelityFX Super Resolution: Disabled (Highest Quality)
NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency: Disabled

Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov and Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev share the same video settings, except for Ambient Occlusion, in which the G2 player has it disabled.

frozen CS2 settings

Boost player contrast: Enabled
Wait for Vertical Sync: Disabled
Current video values preset: Custom
Multisampling Anti-Aliasing Mode: 4X MSAA
Global Shadow Quality: High
Model / Texture Detail: Medium
Texture Filtering Mode: Anisotropic 4X
Shader Detail: Low
Particle Detail: Low
Ambient Occlusion: Medium
High Dynamic Range: Quality
FidelityFX Super Resolution: Disabled (Highest Quality)
NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency: Enabled

Twistzz CS2 settings

Aspect ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 1920x1080
Boost player contrast: Enabled
Wait for Vertical Sync: Disabled
Current video values preset: Custom
Multisampling Anti-Aliasing Mode: None
Global Shadow Quality: High
Model / Texture Detail: Low
Shader Detail: High
Particle Detail: Low
Ambient Occlusion: Medium
High Dynamic Range: Performance
FidelityFX Super Resolution: Disabled (Highest Quality)
NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency: Disabled

headtr1ck CS2 Settings

Aspect ratio: 4:3
Resolution: 1280x960
Boost player contrast: Enabled
Wait for Vertical Sync: Disabled
Current video values preset: Custom
Multisampling Anti-Aliasing Mode: 8X MSAA
Global Shadow Quality: High
Model / Texture Detail: Low
Texture Filtering Mode: Bilinear
Shader Detail: Low
Particle Detail: Low
Ambient Occlusion: Disabled
High Dynamic Range: Quality
FidelityFX Super Resolution: Disabled (Highest Quality)
NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency: Enabled

Spinx CS2 Settings

Boost player contrast: Enabled
Wait for Vertical Sync: Disabled
Current video values preset: Custom
Multisampling Anti-Aliasing Mode: 4X MSAA
Global Shadow Quality: High
Model / Texture Detail: Low
Texture Filtering Mode: Anisotropic 4X
Shader Detail: Low
Particle Detail: Low
Ambient Occlusion: Medium
High Dynamic Range: Quality
FidelityFX Super Resolution: Disabled (Highest Quality)
NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency: Enabled

Special thanks to X user @ThourCS for providing some of the professional players’ settings. Find more on his profile.