How to Set Custom CS2 Commands for Radio Messages in Counter-Strike 2

Communication can help you win more Counter-Strike 2 matches. Although many players utilize microphones to talk with teammates in CS2, radio messages give us an alternative way to chat. Radio messages are relatively short text-based messages you can select in CS2 by pressing keyboard keys. Utilizing those radio commands is preferable to manually typing messages during matches, which is too slow for the fast-paced action of Counter-Strike 2. This is how you can set custom CS2 commands for sending radio messages in Counter-Strike 2.

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How to Enable Radio Messages in Settings

First, let’s go through how to enable and utilize the standard CS2 radio message menus in the game. Counter-Strike 2 has four radio menus from which you can select variable messages. However, only one of those radio message menus is enabled with a default key set. You’ll need to manually set keys for the other radio message menus like this.

1. Open Steam and select to launch Counter-Strike 2 from there.
2. Press CS2’s Settings Menu button.
3. Next, click Keyboard/Mouse to view those settings.
4. Scroll down to the communication options.
5. Click inside the Command Radio Message box and press a key to activate that menu.
   
   

   The Keyboard/Mouse tab

6. Repeat the previous step for the Standard and Report Radio Message options.

To try out the enabled radio messages, start a practice match with bots. Press the keys you’ve set for radio messages. Pressing those keys will bring up menus with seven or eight messages you can select from. You can select messages to send by pressing their corresponding number keys. These are some of the more useful radio messages for Counter-Strike 2 matches:

• “Follow me”
• “Need backup”
• “Stick together team”
• “Bombsite A”
• “Bombsite B”
• “Need a drop” (for gun purchases)
• “Taking fire, need assistance”
• “You can take the point”

The radio message selection menu

How to Set Key Binds for Radio Messages

Alternatively, you can set custom CS2 commands for sending radio messages with key binds. If you do that, you won’t need to press additional keys to activate the message menus. For example, this is how you can bind an m key for the “fall back” radio message.

1. Click Settings Menu > Game in Counter-Strike 2.
2. Select Yes for the Enable Developer Console option.
   Press the ` key to view the developer console.
3. Input bind m fallback in the developer console and press Enter.

A radio message bind command

Pressing the m key will now send the “fall back” radio message. You can set key binds for other radio messages much the same with the basic bind [key] [action] command syntax. However, you’ll need to know what the message codes for the CS2 commands are to set them. This Total CS page includes a full list of the message codes needed for executing those CS2 commands. These are a few examples of the message codes:

• sectorclear: “Sector clear”
• takingfire: “Taking fire… need assistance
• needbackup: “Need backup”
• followme: “Follow me”
• enemyspotted: “Enemy spotted”

How to Set Key Binds for Custom Radio Messages

However, the commands above restrict you to sending messages available on the radio menus. You can also set CS2 commands for custom messages with key binds. For example, you can set the t key to activate a team radio message that says “Rush A everybody” by entering and executing this command in the developer console.

bind “t” “say_team Rush A everybody”

A custom radio message command

Pressing the t key will now send the “Rush A everybody” message to only your teammates during a match. Note that including say_team in that command is necessary to restrict the message to players on your team. You’ll need to exclude say_team from the command to set a key bind for sending a message visible to all players. For example, a command that activates a “good game” message all players can read would look like this:

bind “t” “good game”

If you ever want to unbind a key for a radio message, there’s a command you can execute to do that. Input and execute the unbind [key] CS2 command. For example, the command for unbinding a t key command is:

unbind t

Note that the developer console doesn’t save CS2 commands. This means Counter-Strike 2 command settings will reset when you restart the game. However, you can save key binds for radio messages by including their commands within a CS2 config file. Our guide to setting up a CS2 config file provides instructions for how to save console commands.

The unbind command

Setting and executing CS2 commands for radio communication as covered above gives you a quick and efficient way to send messages during matches. Although not as flexible as voice chat, the simplicity of quick radio messages is an advantage. Utilizing radio message key bind commands will enable you to enhance the cohesiveness of your overall team play in Counter-Strike 2, which could make a good difference to your teams’ results.