CS2 HUD and radar settings: what each console variable changes and the ranges that work
Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2026 3:21 pm
CS2 HUD and radar settings: what each console variable changes and the ranges that work
CS2 keeps most of its HUD and radar options in the console instead of the settings menu. If you want a bigger radar, a smaller HUD, or a different HUD color, these are the console variables that do it. They all live in your config, and most of them take a number rather than a simple on or off.
Quick summary:
Press the tilde key (~) during a match. If nothing happens, open Settings, then Game, and set Enable Developer Console to Yes. Type a command, press Enter, then type host_writeconfig to save the change to your config.
HUD color and scale
cl_hud_color takes a number from 0 to 11. Valve's list is 0 = team color, 1 = white, 2 = bright white, 3 = light blue, 4 = blue, 5 = purple, 6 = red, 7 = orange, 8 = yellow, 9 = green, 10 = aqua, 11 = pink. The default is 11.
hud_scaling scales the whole HUD. The default is 1. Values below 1 make every element smaller, values above 1 make them bigger. It also moves the radar, which is why most people leave it alone and use cl_hud_radar_scale instead.
cl_hud_radar_scale scales only the radar. The default is 1.
Radar settings
[table]
[tr][td]Variable[/td][td]Default[/td][td]What it does[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]cl_radar_scale[/td][td]0.7[/td][td]Radar zoom. Valid values are 0.25 to 1.0.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]cl_radar_icon_scale_min[/td][td]0.6[/td][td]Minimum icon size. Valid values are 0.4 to 1.25.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]cl_radar_always_centered[/td][td]true[/td][td]Set to 0 and the radar uses the whole map. Otherwise you stay centered even at the map edge.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]cl_radar_rotate[/td][td]true[/td][td]Rotates the radar with your view.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]cl_radar_square_with_scoreboard[/td][td]true[/td][td]The radar switches to square while the scoreboard is open.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]cl_hud_radar_scale[/td][td]1[/td][td]Scales the radar only, leaving the rest of the HUD alone.[/td][/tr]
[/table]
The two changes people want most are a larger radar and a radar that shows more of the map. A larger cl_radar_scale shows more ground, and cl_radar_always_centered 0 stops the radar from recentering on you so you can read the edges. If the player icons look too small at a large scale, raise cl_radar_icon_scale_min.
Teammate information
cl_teammate_colors_show controls teammate colors in Competitive. At 1 teammates appear as separate colors in the radar and the scoreboard. At 2 you also get letters.
cl_teamid_overhead_mode controls what appears over a teammate's head. At 1 you get pips, at 2 you get pips plus the name and the equipment. The default is 2.
hud_showtargetid enables the target name display. It defaults to true and is stored per user.
Hiding parts of the HUD
cl_drawhud is the master switch for the HUD. It is flagged as a cheat command, so it only works on servers where cheats are enabled. hidehud is the same kind of command, and it takes a bitmask that picks which parts of the HUD to hide.
cl_drawhud_force_radar and cl_drawhud_force_deathnotices work differently, and they do not need cheats. At 0 they follow the normal HUD state. At 1 they force the element on even when the HUD is off. At -1 they force it off. If you record demos with cl_draw_only_deathnotices, these two are how you keep the radar or the kill feed in the shot.
hud_fastswitch removes the weapon switch animation. It defaults to 0.
Overscan
safezonex and safezoney set the percentage of the screen width and height that counts as safe from overscan. Both default to 1. Lower them if your display cuts off the edges. Note that safezonex cannot produce a width smaller than the height.
FAQ
Q: Why does my radar look tiny after I changed hud_scaling?
A: hud_scaling scales the radar as well as everything else. Put it back to 1 and use cl_hud_radar_scale for the radar alone.
Q: Why do cl_drawhud and hidehud do nothing in a normal match?
A: Both are flagged as cheat commands. They only work on servers with cheats enabled.
Q: Does cl_radar_scale change how far the radar sees?
A: No. It changes the zoom of the radar display. What you can see on it depends on the game mode and the server.
Q: My HUD color went back to pink after a restart. Why?
A: The change was not saved. Run host_writeconfig after changing a cvar, or put the command in your autoexec.
Sources
CS2 keeps most of its HUD and radar options in the console instead of the settings menu. If you want a bigger radar, a smaller HUD, or a different HUD color, these are the console variables that do it. They all live in your config, and most of them take a number rather than a simple on or off.
Quick summary:
- cl_hud_color sets the HUD color from 0 to 11, default 11, which is pink.
- hud_scaling scales every HUD element at once.
- cl_hud_radar_scale scales the radar on its own.
- cl_radar_scale zooms the radar between 0.25 and 1.0.
- cl_drawhud and hidehud only work where cheats are enabled.
Press the tilde key (~) during a match. If nothing happens, open Settings, then Game, and set Enable Developer Console to Yes. Type a command, press Enter, then type host_writeconfig to save the change to your config.
HUD color and scale
cl_hud_color takes a number from 0 to 11. Valve's list is 0 = team color, 1 = white, 2 = bright white, 3 = light blue, 4 = blue, 5 = purple, 6 = red, 7 = orange, 8 = yellow, 9 = green, 10 = aqua, 11 = pink. The default is 11.
hud_scaling scales the whole HUD. The default is 1. Values below 1 make every element smaller, values above 1 make them bigger. It also moves the radar, which is why most people leave it alone and use cl_hud_radar_scale instead.
cl_hud_radar_scale scales only the radar. The default is 1.
Radar settings
[table]
[tr][td]Variable[/td][td]Default[/td][td]What it does[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]cl_radar_scale[/td][td]0.7[/td][td]Radar zoom. Valid values are 0.25 to 1.0.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]cl_radar_icon_scale_min[/td][td]0.6[/td][td]Minimum icon size. Valid values are 0.4 to 1.25.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]cl_radar_always_centered[/td][td]true[/td][td]Set to 0 and the radar uses the whole map. Otherwise you stay centered even at the map edge.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]cl_radar_rotate[/td][td]true[/td][td]Rotates the radar with your view.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]cl_radar_square_with_scoreboard[/td][td]true[/td][td]The radar switches to square while the scoreboard is open.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]cl_hud_radar_scale[/td][td]1[/td][td]Scales the radar only, leaving the rest of the HUD alone.[/td][/tr]
[/table]
The two changes people want most are a larger radar and a radar that shows more of the map. A larger cl_radar_scale shows more ground, and cl_radar_always_centered 0 stops the radar from recentering on you so you can read the edges. If the player icons look too small at a large scale, raise cl_radar_icon_scale_min.
Teammate information
cl_teammate_colors_show controls teammate colors in Competitive. At 1 teammates appear as separate colors in the radar and the scoreboard. At 2 you also get letters.
cl_teamid_overhead_mode controls what appears over a teammate's head. At 1 you get pips, at 2 you get pips plus the name and the equipment. The default is 2.
hud_showtargetid enables the target name display. It defaults to true and is stored per user.
Hiding parts of the HUD
cl_drawhud is the master switch for the HUD. It is flagged as a cheat command, so it only works on servers where cheats are enabled. hidehud is the same kind of command, and it takes a bitmask that picks which parts of the HUD to hide.
cl_drawhud_force_radar and cl_drawhud_force_deathnotices work differently, and they do not need cheats. At 0 they follow the normal HUD state. At 1 they force the element on even when the HUD is off. At -1 they force it off. If you record demos with cl_draw_only_deathnotices, these two are how you keep the radar or the kill feed in the shot.
hud_fastswitch removes the weapon switch animation. It defaults to 0.
Overscan
safezonex and safezoney set the percentage of the screen width and height that counts as safe from overscan. Both default to 1. Lower them if your display cuts off the edges. Note that safezonex cannot produce a width smaller than the height.
FAQ
Q: Why does my radar look tiny after I changed hud_scaling?
A: hud_scaling scales the radar as well as everything else. Put it back to 1 and use cl_hud_radar_scale for the radar alone.
Q: Why do cl_drawhud and hidehud do nothing in a normal match?
A: Both are flagged as cheat commands. They only work on servers with cheats enabled.
Q: Does cl_radar_scale change how far the radar sees?
A: No. It changes the zoom of the radar display. What you can see on it depends on the game mode and the server.
Q: My HUD color went back to pink after a restart. Why?
A: The change was not saved. Run host_writeconfig after changing a cvar, or put the command in your autoexec.
Sources