There are a lot of bots in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and we’re not just talking about the ones on your team in matchmaking.
A big part of developing your CSGO skills is finally opening up offline matches to practice lineups, movements, and map awareness. An empty version of Mirage or Vertigo is the ideal training ground for learning new smokes or practicing tricky jumps. However, it can be difficult to focus on training with a bunch of computer-controlled friends and foes running around. Here’s how to get rid of bots in CSGO with just one simple console command.
Console command to get rid of CSGO bots
To instantly get rid of all bots in your CSGO match, open the developer console and type in the following phrase exactly as it appears below.
bot_kick
To open the developer console, open the settings menu and navigate to the Game section. Click on the menu next to Enable developer console and turn it on. The default hotkey to open it in-game is the ~ key, but players can change the key in the controls settings. Once it opens, type or paste bot_kick in and hit enter. This will instantly get rid of all the bots in your CSGO server.
Keep in mind that this command only works on a private server. The most common time to use it is during a bot match, where you want computer-controlled units out of the way entirely. If you’re playing a private game with other players that also includes bots, the owner of the server will need to initiate this console command.
Since bot_kick is an active command, it cannot be added to startup options through Steam. However, it’s also possible to remove bots when creating an offline game preemptively. After selecting the Practice with bots option in the matchmaking menu, click on the dropdown menu in the top-right corner and select the No Bots option. This will spawn the map with you and only you. It’s also possible to set the bots to harmless, which will turn them into spontaneous flick training during your lineup practice.
What’s the point of kicking bots in CSGO?
Players who want to learn new map-specific skills have the most incentive to get rid of bots in CSGO.
By removing enemy and allied bots, players can take all the time they need to find new grenade lineups. This is especially useful on recently released maps like the newest active duty addition Anubis. If enemy bots are enabled, they can peek around corners just as you pull out the smoke and ruin your attempt. Then again, leaving them is a somewhat-reliable way to test the lineup’s speed and safety.
Movement is king in Counter-Strike, but many useful techniques don’t come easy. Practicing advanced techniques like venthopping, TenZ jumping, or leaping from sniper’s nest to catwalk can take hours, and that’s all just on Mirage. By removing bots, practicing tricky jumps becomes massively more efficient. This extends to general map awareness too. Just walking around aimlessly on a new map is a good and risk-free way to get familiar with it.