How to Change Freeze Time in CS2: Commands & Settings

Freeze time (also called the buy phase or buy time) is the period at the very beginning of each round where all players are frozen in their spawn positions. During this window, you can open the buy menu and purchase your loadout for the upcoming round, but you cannot move your character, fire weapons, or use grenades.

The freeze time serves several important purposes in CS2:

• Equipment purchasing: The primary purpose -- players use freeze time to buy weapons, armor, defuse kits, and utility grenades for the round
• Team strategy: Freeze time gives teams a moment to communicate their plan for the round, call strats, and coordinate who buys what
• Fair start: By freezing all players simultaneously, freeze time ensures no team gains an unfair movement advantage at the start of a round
• Money management: Players discuss the team economy during freeze time, deciding whether to full buy, eco, force buy, or save

Once freeze time expires, all players are released simultaneously and the round begins. The round timer (separate from freeze time) starts counting down, and gameplay proceeds normally until one team wins the round through elimination, bomb detonation/defusal, or time expiration.

Valve has set specific freeze time durations for each official game mode. These values are locked on Valve matchmaking servers and cannot be changed by players:

• Competitive / Premier: 20 seconds -- the standard buy phase for ranked play
• Casual: 15 seconds -- slightly shorter since casual has less emphasis on team coordination
• Wingman: 20 seconds -- matches the competitive setting despite having only 2 players per team
• Deathmatch: No freeze time -- players respawn continuously with auto-assigned loadouts
• Arms Race: No freeze time -- weapons cycle automatically based on kills
• Professional tournaments: Typically 20 seconds, matching the competitive default. Some tournament organizers may use 25 seconds to allow for tactical timeouts integration

The 20-second competitive freeze time was carried over from CS:GO and has remained the standard in CS2. It provides enough time for experienced players to buy equipment quickly and discuss round strategy, while keeping the pace of the game moving.

To modify freeze time, you need access to a private server, a local game, or a community server where you have admin privileges. The key command is mp_freezetime, which accepts a value in seconds.

First, make sure the developer console is enabled. Go to Settings, then Game, and set "Enable Developer Console" to Yes. You can then open the console by pressing the tilde key (~) or whatever key you have bound.

Here are the essential commands:

• mp_freezetime 20 -- Sets freeze time to 20 seconds (the default competitive value)
• mp_freezetime 10 -- Reduces freeze time to 10 seconds for faster-paced games
• mp_freezetime 5 -- Sets a very short 5-second freeze time, useful for rapid practice rounds
• mp_freezetime 0 -- Removes freeze time entirely (rounds start immediately)
• mp_freezetime 60 -- Sets a very long freeze time, useful for team practice where extended strategy discussion is needed

You can also adjust the related buy time command, which controls how long after freeze time ends you can still make purchases:

• mp_buytime 20 -- Allows buying for 20 seconds after freeze time ends (default)
• mp_buytime 0 -- Disables buying after freeze time ends
• mp_buy_anywhere 1 -- Allows purchasing equipment anywhere on the map (not just in spawn)

These commands only work on servers where you have the appropriate permissions. On official Valve servers, these commands are restricted. For a comprehensive list of server commands, see our CS2 console commands guide.

Setting freeze time to zero is popular for several scenarios: grenade practice sessions, aim training, retake practice, and any custom mode where you want to eliminate downtime between rounds.

To remove freeze time, simply enter:

• mp_freezetime 0 -- Eliminates the freeze phase. Rounds begin instantly after the previous round ends

When freeze time is set to zero, keep these considerations in mind:

• Buy time still applies: Even with zero freeze time, the mp_buytime value determines how long you can buy after the round starts. Set mp_buytime 9999 if you want unlimited buying time throughout the round
• Auto-buy setup: With no freeze time, you may want to set up auto-buy binds so your equipment is purchased instantly. Bind buy commands to keys using the console
• Grenade practice: For smoke and flashbang practice, zero freeze time combined with sv_infinite_ammo 1 and mp_buytime 9999 creates an efficient practice environment
• Round restart: After changing freeze time, use mp_restartgame 1 to restart the match and apply the new setting cleanly

For aim training servers, zero freeze time paired with instant respawn (mp_respawn_on_death_ct 1; mp_respawn_on_death_t 1) creates a seamless deathmatch-style experience. For removing bots or further customizing your practice environment, see our guide on removing bots in CS2.

The most efficient way to manage freeze time and other practice settings is through a configuration file (CFG). Instead of typing commands manually each time you load a practice server, you can save them in a file that loads automatically.

Here is a sample practice config that includes freeze time settings along with other commonly used practice commands:

• mp_freezetime 0 -- No buy phase delay
• mp_buytime 9999 -- Buy at any time during the round
• mp_buy_anywhere 1 -- Buy from any position on the map
• sv_infinite_ammo 1 -- Unlimited ammo for practice
• mp_roundtime_defuse 60 -- Long rounds for extended practice
• mp_warmup_end -- Skip warmup and start immediately
• sv_grenade_trajectory_prac_pipreview 1 -- Show grenade trajectory previews
• bot_kick -- Remove all bots from the server
• mp_restartgame 1 -- Restart with all settings applied

To create a practice config, save these commands in a text file named practice.cfg inside your CS2 cfg folder (typically located at Steam/steamapps/common/Counter-Strike Global Offensive/game/csgo/cfg/). Then load it in-game by typing exec practice in the console.

Having a well-organized practice config saves significant time when you load up private servers for training. You can create multiple configs for different purposes -- one for smoke practice, one for aim training, one for retake practice -- each with different freeze time and gameplay settings tailored to the activity. Check our full console commands reference for additional commands to include in your configs.