Back in the old days of CS:GO, you only had to enter a command to activate hand switching with a single click, and this made a world of difference for thousands of players who preferred playing left handed.
Unfortunately, it’s not possible to change hands in CS2 as the game only supports right hand so far now, and according to the latest updates, they do not have plans on adding this feature.
Therefore, there’s no CS2 left hand command nor a secret method or tutorial that will show you how to change to left hand in CS2 because the game doesn’t support this feature. It’s impossible.
However, we are going to explain to you why Valve decided to disable this popular function, along with a tutorial on how players used to change hands in CS:GO, in case you want to test it yourself to confirm that it’s not possible to do this in CS2.
Tutorial on How to Switch Hands in CS2: Left Hand Commands + Binding
It’s worth mentioning that this tutorial only worked in CS:GO, because as we previously mentioned, this is no longer possible in CS2. But in case you want to test it yourself, here’s how it was done back in the day.
Adjusting the Settings via Console
First, you need to launch the console, and in case you have not enabled it yet, just follow these steps to do it:
- Launch CS2
- Go to the CS2 game settings
- Find the “Game” tab
- Find “Enable Developer Console”
- Click on “Yes” to activate the developer console
- Save the settings
Now, just follow these steps to setup the hand switch feature and bind a key to execute it instantly:
- Go to the console
- Decide which key you want to bind to the command
- Type in the command bind “your-selected-key” “toggle cl_righthand 0 1“
For example, if you wanted to use the key “Q”, then here’s how the command would look: bind Q “toggle cl_righthand 0 1“.
If you don’t want to bind a key, and you simply wish to stick to one view, here you have the commands you need to enter via the console:
- CS2 left hand command: cl_righthand 0
- CS2 right hand command: cl_righthand 1
If you type the command cl_righthand 0, then you will switch to a left-hand view. If you wanted to change to a right-hand view, then you would need to launch the console again and type the command cl_righthand 1 via the console.
How to Left Hand in CS2 In-Game
All you need to do to change the weapon to your left hand in the game is to press your selected key. Following the previous example, you’d only need to click “Q” to switch hands.
This is how it would work in theory, but unfortunately it is not the case in practice. You can try it yourself, and you will discover that it’s impossible to switch hands in CS2 as of now.
Why CS2 Doesn’t Support Left Hand
CS2 doesn’t support hand switch, hence it’s impossible to change to left hand, and here’s why Valve took this decision.
The Left Hand Command CS2 Doesn’t Exist
The biggest proof that CS2 doesn’t support hand switch is that the left hand command doesn’t exist in the game. You can explore all the CS2 commands in existence, and you will not find one that will enable this function.
It’s a Mismatch with the New Shadow Mechanic
Because now you can see your own mirror, making it possible to switch hands would create a new problem with the current shadow mechanic. If they introduced the possibility to switch hands, then they would need to mirror the shadow and also the player model for all players, which creates additional complex problems that Valve is not capable of solving at the moment.
It Would Go Against the New Smokes System
Shooting a smoke creates bullet holes as if you were shooting with your right hand. Enabling the hand switch feature would create a new problem: creating and incorporating a slightly left tilting smoke diffusion. Just like with the problem with the new shadow mechanic, this is another issue that Valve cannot solve right now.
They Destroyed the Technology for cl_righthand 0
The hard truth is that Valve destroyed the tech for cl_righthand 0, and it is going to take a lot of work to recover it. Because it’s basically working from scratch, hence the chances of seeing the command cl_righthand 0 come back are very slim, at least for now.
Will CS2 Have Left Hand in the Future?
Yes, it is possible that CS2 will have left hand and hand switching in the future. However, first they need to solve the problems with the new shadow mechanics and the new smokes system, which requires recovering or building the necessary technology from scratch.
There are no official statements on when they plan to do it, and they have not even released hints or clues on how or when they plan to launch this update (if ever). And this confirms that there’s not much interest in adding this feature.
This is why thousands of players are already resorting to mods to solve this problem, because it’s the only available solution to this problem, since thousands of players are already used to playing left-handed or switching hands at will.