Sometimes, you just want to play some Counter-Strike, but your game is filled with angry teammates and cheating enemies. Stress can pile up when you’re trying to climb the ranks, and you might need a break in between games to calm down and reset.
One of the most popular ways for Counter-Strike players to chill after a stressful day is to surf. Surfing is a minigame that will help you relieve your pent-up anger and just have a good and relaxing time. If you’re interested in trying out surfing for yourself, here is everything you need to know on how to play CS surf.
What Is Surfing In CS:GO?
Surf or surfing is essentially an additional game mode in Counter-Strike that does not require any competitive aspect. When surfing, you are essentially gliding through ramps. Surf maps will have numerous ramps and obstacles you have to go through, and it is your job to build up and maintain speed to go through them.
That means surfing is all about movement. You must strafe properly in the air and land on the following ramp smoothly so you don’t lose out on too much speed. If you go too slow, you might not have enough momentum to get to the next ramp.
When surfing, the primary goal is to go through all the ramps and obstacles and complete the map. Once you get the hang of it, you can race yourself and other players by seeing who takes the least amount of time to complete a specific map.
Overall, surfing is a very relaxing game mode, and perfect if you just want to do something chill to kill some time or wait for your buddies to get online.
How To Surf CS:GO – Tutorial
Before we get into teaching you how to surf, you must remember that you need a surf map to start surfing in the first place. Surf maps are filled with ramps that will help you glide through the map. This is required as it is the entire point of surfing.
The next thing to remember is that you will only need a maximum of three movement keys, which are “A,” “D,” and “SPACE,” which is entirely optional. You will NEVER press “W” or “S” as it will kill your speed and momentum. Aside from these keyboard buttons, you will still need to move your mouse to strafe and direct where you’re going.
Now, let’s simulate a surfing scenario and give you a step-by-step guide:
- To get on your first ramp, all you have to do is jump onto it and start leaning towards it. If the ramp is on your right-hand side, hold your “D” key, and if it is on your left-hand side, hold your “A” key.
- Now, you will be focused on maintaining speed so you can jump to your next ramp. As much as possible, try staying on the lower side of the ramp since it will help you build up the most speed.
- Next, you’re going to jump to the next ramp. While you’re about to get off your current ramp, try aiming your crosshair a little higher so you exit your ramp around the middle of it. This will give you additional height that is required to reach the next ramp.
- As you are in the air, make sure to start strafing with your mouse, and alternate between your “A” and “D” keys. By strafing in the air, you are maintaining as much speed as possible.
- When landing on the next ramp, make sure to do it smoothly and press the correct movement key depending on which side the ramp is at.
Now that we’ve got the basics out of the way, let’s talk about some things you SHOULDN’T do when surfing:
- Never ever press your “W” or “S” keys. These keys are not required in surfing, and will only kill your speed and momentum. You are only playing with your “A” and “D” keys.
- This might be obvious, but do not crouch. Crouching in a regular game of Counter-Strike reduces your movement speed, which also applies to surfing. However, you can crouch once in a while if you need to dodge obstacles – that’s completely fine.
- When going off a ramp to reach another one, never aim your mouse all the way up, hoping to launch yourself high into the sky. Forcing your mouse like that will only kill your speed and make you fall off the map.
- This isn’t a must, but we recommend using lower sensitivity when surfing. Surfing is all about smooth mouse movements, and playing with a high sensitivity can make it difficult to strafe smoothly in the air.
And that’s pretty much all the basics you need to know about surfing. Getting started with surfing can be pretty difficult, but once you get the hang of it, it will be incredibly fun. Once you can finish your first few maps, you can start improving at surfing by making your movement smoother and figuring out how to maintain as much speed as possible.
How To Play Surf In CS:GO
There are two primary ways to play surf in CS:GO: joining community servers or surfing on your own private server. The way you want to play entirely comes down to what you prefer, so let’s talk about both of them below.
Surfing On Community Servers
Generally, surfing is a way for players to relax and relieve stress. It is not a competitive game mode where focus must be pooled in.
The best way to surf in CS:GO is to play on community servers, as many players hop on surf servers to have conversations with other people. Surfing doesn’t require too much concentration, so you can always hold a friendly chat with others. Additionally, you can ask other people for help if you’re stuck in a certain stage.
If you’re looking for this surfing experience, here is how you can surf on community servers:
- Launch Counter-Strike.
- Next, hit the “Play” button at the top of your screen.
- Then, click on the Globe icon next to “Workshop Maps.” This is the Community Server Browser.
- Now, you will see a list of all the game servers available. We’re going to narrow down the search by typing in the keyword “surf” in the text box provided.
- You should see a list of servers, alongside information such as what map is being played and how many people are on the server.
- Once you have found a server you want to join, double-click on the server name and you should load in.
You might take a while to load into the server as you will probably have to download the map and plugins on the server. Simply wait until the download is complete, and you should be good to go!
Latency (ping) might affect your surfing experience, so try your best to find a server that is near you. Surfing on 200 ping will not feel good!
Surfing On A Private Server
Though surfing On a community server can help you socialize and spectate other players to learn the map, you have minimal control over the maps being played, and you also might face latency issues which can affect your overall surfing experience. Fortunately, you can always surf on a private server, allowing you to change maps at any time and play with 0 ping.
How To Make A Private Surfing Server
Anyone can make their own private server in Counter-Strike, as it is completely free. However, you must have a surf map downloaded in your workshop maps in order to surf on a local server. Once you have downloaded a map to play, you can follow the steps below to make your own server:
- Launch Counter-Strike.
- Next, hit the “Play” button at the top of your screen.
- Then, select the “Workshop Maps” category.
- Select the surf map of your choice.
- Once you have chosen the map, click the “GO” button at the bottom-right corner of your screen.
Now, you would have successfully loaded into your own server with the proper map. However, you must use console commands to make surfing possible, which will be discussed below.
Using Necessary Surfing Commands
Though you have already made it into your private server and have the map loaded, you cannot simply surf as it is. You must activate certain console commands to be able to build up speed so you can actually surf on the ramps.
Here are all the necessary surfing commands you must turn on to surf on your private server:
| Command | Function |
| sv_cheats 1 | This command will enable cheats on your private server, which is required to use all of the commands we’re going to talk about. |
| sv_accelerate 10 | This command will allow you to accelerate yourself while moving, which is a key factor in surfing in Counter-Strike. |
| sv_airaccelerate 200 | This command will help you accelerate yourself while in the air, allowing you to glide from ramp to ramp. |
| sv_staminajumpcost 0 | This command will give you unlimited stamina when jumping. If you have noticed, spamming your jump key in a regular game will eventually make your jumps slower – this disables that. |
| sv_staminalandcost 0 | This command will give you unlimited stamina when landing, ensuring you will not lose any speed when you land on a ramp. |
| sv_enablebunnyhopping 1 | This command will enable bunny hopping on your server, making it much easier to time your jumps. |
| sv_autobunnyhopping 1 | This command will allow you to automatically bunny hop, meaning you only have to hold down your spacebar and you will land perfect bunny hops every time. |
Make sure to use all of these commands, as it will enhance your bunny hopping experience by a mile. You will be able to surf just like you can on community servers.
Best Surfing Maps For Beginners
If you’re clicking on this article, there’s a very high chance that you are new to surfing. Surfing maps are categorized into tiers depending on their difficulty. Tier 1 is the easiest category, and the tiers go up as they become more complex.
It is also relevant to keep in mind that there are two types of surfing maps: linear and stage-based. Linear maps mean you must continue surfing and maintaining speed until the end of the map. Stage-based maps mean you go through stages, allowing for breaks and multiple attempts in each stage.
We are going to recommend 5 Tier 1 maps that are beginner-friendly and should give you a taste of what surfing is all about.
surf_beginner (Stage-Based)
As the name of the map suggests, surf_beginner is one of the easiest surf maps new players can complete. It is a stage-based map with a total of 7 stages. Stages 1 to 5 are extremely easy, but Stages 6 and 7 might take dozens of tries if you’re really new to surfing. Overall, this map should help you learn the basics of surfing.
surf_utopia_njv (Linear)
The surf_utopia map is a linear map, meaning you must maintain your consistency throughout the map. It should take a little over a minute to complete for new players. It is a personal favorite as the map features a minimalistic design that feels great to go through. The map is filled with very long ramps that will help you build up speed to progress through it.
surf_mesa (Linear)
The surf_mesa map is another linear map that is good for training your stamina and maintaining your speed. It is arguably the most aesthetically-pleasing surf map out there, as it features a breathtaking design in a mesa biome. It is a pretty long map, so it might take some time for new players to finish.
surf_kitsune (Stage-Based)
If you’re looking to complete stage-based mas for now, surf_kitsune is your best bet after surf_beginner. This map is a color-based map with 9 different stages. Generally, the first 8 stages shouldn’t be too difficult to complete, but the final stage is a killer for new players. If you manage to complete this map, you should be pretty decent already!
surf_aircontrol_ksf (Linear)
In terms of difficulty, surf_aircontrol_ksf is probably the easiest surf map in the game, even though it is a linear map. There aren’t too many long jumps, and the map has a ton of ramps that help you maintain your speed. However, surf_aircontrol_ksf isn’t the most visually appealing map.
If you are still having difficulties on these basic maps, you can always go to YouTube and look for players who have completed these maps. Carefully analyze which ramps they are going on, and how they are launching themselves to the next ramp.
However, it is important to keep in mind that most speedrun videos are surfed by professional surfers, and they will often skip ramps to take less time to complete the map. When you’re just starting out, skipping ramps might be too difficult for you, so try to stick to the basics.