How To Change FOV In CS2

Counter-Strike is a game that relies on absolute precision in aim, movement, and many other mechanics in the game. To allow players to accomplish such feats, Valve has allowed anyone to change virtually any aspect of their Counter-Strike settings.

One of the most important settings to adjust is the FOV and viewmodel, as these settings will directly impact your ability to see your screen and gather information in the middle of rounds. In this article, we’ll tell you what you need to know about changing your FOV and viewmodel settings in CS2.

Understanding FOV In CS2

Though the FOV is a very important set of settings in CS2, most players don’t even know what it is. Therefore, we’re going to explain what it is and why it’s so important. FOV in CS2 stands for “field of view.”

Simply put, the FOV determines how far or how close your gun barrel is displayed on your screen. As we know, the gun barrel takes up a decent chink of your screen, and there could easily be enemies hidden by your weapon when they swing out.

A high FOV value means your weapon hand will be placed further away from your screen, which essentially makes your gun barrel look much smaller, since it is way out of your screen. A smaller gun barrel will allow you to see more of your screen since it obstructs less vision.

Meanwhile, a low FOV value means your weapon hand will be placed much closer to your screen, which essentially makes your gun barrel look much larger, since it is way closer. A larger gun barrel will allow you to see less of your screen since it takes up more space.

With these concepts in mind, most professionals and high-ranking players will prefer a higher FOV value, since less of their screen is covered up, allowing them to see the maximum amount of information from their screens at any given time.

What Is The Default FOV In CS?

If you’ve never made any changes to your FOV settings, then it’ll be set to the default settings which were recommended by Valve.

FOV is measured by a numerical value. The default FOV value set by Valve is 60, and for reference, the lowest is 54, and the highest is 68. So, Valve has essentially chosen the middle of the two ranges. It is up to you whether you’d like to put your gun barrel further up or closer to your screen.

If you would like to make changes to your FOV, which we highly recommend doing, here is how you can do that.

How To Change FOV In CS2

Changing your FOV value in CS2 unfortunately cannot be done through the in-game settings menu like almost every other set of settings, which can make it difficult for beginner players to figure out. There are two steps to changing your FOV in CS2, which include.

1. Enable the developer console.
2. Use the CS2 FOV command.

Let’s break down each step and make it easy to follow.

Step 1: Enable the Developer Console

Since we can’t change our FOV value through the in-game settings, the only way to do it is through the developer console. The developer console is not enabled by default, so we’ll teach you how to turn it on. Follow the steps below.

1. Launch CS2.
2. Next, go to your Settings page.
3. Then, go to the “Game” section.
4. The first option you see should be “Enable Developer Console”.
5. Here, change the setting from “No” to “Yes”.

Now that the console has been enabled, you can now open it at will. The default hotkey to open the console is the tilde key (~). You can press it the first time to open it, and the second time will close it.

Step 2: Use the CS2 FOV Command

Now that the console has been enabled, we can use it to use the CS2 FOV command which can change the value of our viewmodel.

First, make sure to decide what you would like to change your FOV to. Whether it’d be the maximum, which is 68, the minimum, which is 56, or any other numerical value you’d like to try that falls between that range.

The viewmodel command is: “viewmodel _fov <value>”.

You can open the console and input this command, while changing the “<value>” to your desired number. So, if you would like the FOV value to be 68, you would type the command “viewmodel_fov 68” and hit Enter.

And that’s pretty much it. You can change your viewmodel anytime using the same command while changing the value at the end of it.

How To Use FOV Cheat Command

The previous command we discussed is a universal FOV command, which changes your viewmodel for all your CS2 matches, whether it would be on an offline server or an official matchmaking game. However, the viewmodel is unfortunately capped at 68, while other players might want it to be even higher.

However, there is another FOV command that can help you go past the maximum boundary, allowing you to set your FOV to extremely high or low numbers. But, this is a cheat command, meaning you can only do it on your private server, and it cannot be replicated when you are playing online matches.

Still, this is a fun FOV command you can try out while you’re by yourself. Additionally, most frag movie makers use this command for enhanced visual effects, so you should definitely keep this command in mind if you were planning on making highlight reels at some point. The FOV cheat command requires you to perform three steps.

1. Load into a private game server
2. Enable cheats on the server
3. Use the FOV cheat command

Let’s break down each of these steps and make it easy.

Step 1: Load Into a Private Game Server

As mentioned earlier, the FOV cheat command can only be used on private servers, so the first step is to load into one. To join a private server, follow the steps below.

1. Launch CS2.
2. Click on the “Play” button at the top of your screen.
3. Select “Practice” in between “Matchmaking” and “Workshop Maps”.
4. Select your desired game mode.
5. Finally, choose a map and hit the “GO” button at the bottom-right corner. 

Now, you would have loaded into a private server.

Step 2: Enable Cheats on the Server

On your private server, you will have the right to enable cheats since you are the host of the server. Enabling cheats on the server is very easy, and here is how you can do it.

1. Open your developer console using the tilde key (~).
2. Type in the command “sv_cheats 1”.
3. Hit your Enter key and exit the console.

And that’s all you have to do to enable cheats. Super easy, right?

Step 3: Use the FOV Cheat Command

Finally, we can move on to the next step, which is to use the FOV cheat command itself.

The FOV command that allows you to go past the boundaries is: “fov_cs_debug <value>”.

You can use FOV values above 100 and even go down to around 30. Playing on 100+ FOV will make your screen look like you’re playing Quake. Here’s how you can use the FOV cheat command.

1. Open your developer console using the tilde key (~).
2. Type in the command “fov_cs_debug <value>”, and make sure you have a value in mind.
3. Hit your Enter key and exit the console.

Keep in mind that your FOV will be reset back to your settings once you exit the server, as it will not be saved.

More Useful CS2 Viewmodel Command

Though the article is mostly focused on the FOV, the FOV is only one component of the viewmodel, so we figured that while you’re here, you can learn some additional viewmodel commands that can make your customizations much better.

Viewmodel Offset

The viewmodel offset is responsible for adjusting your viewmodel and FOV even further. You can move your gun barrel sideways, vertically, and more. There are three components to the viewmodel offset, which are in the form of the X, Y, and Z axes. Here is a table that will help you digest the information easily.

If you’re wondering what the best viewmodel offsets are, here is what most professional players are using.

• Viewmodel Offset X: 2.5
• Viewmodel Offset Y: 0
• Viewmodel Offset Z: -1.5

Viewmodel Hand

Finally, we’re going to talk about something most of you might know already. On top of changing the positions of your gun barrel, you can also change which hand your in-game character will hold your weapon on – left or right.

In CS2, you no longer need a console command to switch your hand. Instead, you can immediately do it by clicking on the default bind, which is set to “H”. If you would like to change the bind for this, follow the steps below.

1. Launch CS2.
2. Next, go to your Settings page.
3. Then, go to the “Keyboard/Mouse” section.
4. Scroll down until you see “Switch Viewmodel Left/Right Hand”.
5. Change the hotkey to whatever you’d like.

And that’s pretty much all you need to know about how to change FOV in CS:GO, as well as some very useful CS:GO viewmodel commands.