How to Get Rid of HUD in CS2: Your Guide to Enhancing Gameplay

HUD, or Heads-Up Display, is super important for competitive Counter-Strike. It gives players essential information on what’s going on in the match. Still, on some occasions, you may want to get rid of HUD in CS2. We explain how in this guide on DMarket Blog.

CS2 HUD Elements and Why They Are Important

When you play Counter-Strike 2, you can see some practical information on the screen. Let’s highlight these HUD elements and briefly explain why they are important for your success in the game.

• Radar, or mini-map tells you about the location. Beginners may want to quickly orient themselves in the surrounding area. After learning the CS2 maps, radar in HUD helps players see where teammates are or where combat is happening. This element loses its role for experienced competitors with good team communication. Still, it’s quicker to see what’s going on around you than to ask for a heads-up through the voice chat.
• Health and ammo—these numbers are located in the lower part of the screen, and they are arguably the most important of all CS2 HUD elements. You can see your health in a game round to make better decisions on taking risks in different situations. The ammo number indicates when you need to reload: to be prepared for combat but not lose ammo. You also can see your ammo reserve, which is important to know.
• Time, score, and player icons are another source of important info. These elements are grouped on the upper side of the screen. Knowing time is crucial for planning team actions, like mid-round rotations or quick offensive actions (to plant the bomb in the last 10 seconds). Player icons quickly indicate who is alive in the round. The score is the least informative here, as good players should know these numbers and plan their team actions during a match.
• Current weapons and utilities are shown in the lower right corner. It’s secondary info—experienced CS2 players already know what they have bought. You may still want to see which grenades remain after hot fights.
• Money is shown in the lower left corner. While the CS2 economy is an extremely important part of team strategies, it’s rather inadvisable to think about it during combat. Still, knowing the money in your account may give you some extra seconds to consider your next purchases, which may be crucial in Counter-Strike 2.

There are some very important elements in CS2 HUD, and some of them are just helpful. For most Counter-Strike 2 players, HUD should be there. So why would someone want to get rid of it?

Reasons to Hide HUD in CS2

We can imagine three situations when someone may want to remove CS2 HUD from their screen.

• For fun or for deeper immersion. Counter-Strike 2 is an intensely competitive game, but for many players, it is more like a fun adventure. You may want to remove HUD to feel the shooting matches differently, as if you really are planting the bomb or protecting the cities. It’s not the most efficient approach to CS2, but why not?
• To practice very specific aspects. It’s like with athletes who put extra weight on themselves to train in extreme conditions. After that, they feel normal competition is somewhat simpler. With Counter-Strike, you may decide to do so for learning maps without radar—for example, when you rely on it too much. Or you may want to focus on combat without distracting yourself with the round situation (in casual matchmaking or Deathmatch mode). It’s not the most common practice, though. Check out our tips on how to get better at CS2 to have some other, more effective training ideas.
• To create video content. This is the most practical reason of them all. You want to create a cool clip for your social account, or maybe you create educational game videos. CS2 HUD elements may distract viewers or destroy the atmosphere you want to create. Remove them!

We sure can’t know every reason why someone would want to play Counter-Strike 2 without HUD elements. We just want to highlight why it could be useful for you to get rid of CS2 HUD.

How to Remove CS2 HUD Elements

There is no such option in the game settings, but removing HUD is easy in Counter-Strike 2.

You need to use one of the CS2 console commands: cl_draw_only_deathnotices 1. Here is a step-by-step guide.

1. Enable the developer console. Go to the settings menu via the gear icon in the upper left corner. Click the Game tab. Choose Yes for the Enable Developer Console option.
2. Press the tilde in a match or during training: ~.
3. Paste the command cl_draw_only_deathnotices 1 to the console window and press enter.

That’s it. All the main components of CS2 HUD will be disabled. You will still have the crosshair and deathnotes, which appear only when someone is killed.

Re-Enabling HUD

When you want to have CS2 HUD back, use the same console command but with the value 0.

1. Make sure the developer console is enabled.
2. Activate the console by pressing the tilde.
3. Enter the command cl_draw_only_deathnotices 0.

All the usual HUD elements will return to their standard positions.

Alternative to Removing HUD in CS2

It may happen that you are dissatisfied with the look or location of some HUD elements, but totally removing them may be too much. To have this important info on the screen but make it convenient specifically for you, adjust the HUD options in the game settings menu.

We have a dedicated guide on DMarket Blog with the best CS2 settings. Check it out for more details. Here, we are focusing on HUD only.

1. Press the gear icon in the upper left corner to open the game settings menu.
2. Head to the Game section and the HUD tab.
3. Adjust the available options.

What does the game offer in the HUD settings? Let’s take a look at each option separately.

• HUD Scale—it’s the general size of HUD elements. You may want to try and make it smaller.
• HUD Color—many players choose Team Color here, but you can change this option if the color is a problem for your in-game comfort.
• Large Player Count—this option is quite useful if you don’t like player avatars on the upper side. They are really big. Choose Yes to replace them with counters for two teams.
• Community Communication Location works even if you’ve disabled the other HUD elements. This option is about the position of the deathnotes.
• Community Communication Horizontal/Vertical Offset—use this option to move the deathnotes slightly away from the screen edges.

The Counter-Strike settings have a dedicated section for radar. Regarding removing HUD, only one option is worth highlighting here.

• Radar HUD size—if the mini-map is too big for you, try to make it smaller instead of totally removing it.

Another type of HUD element is your teammates’ location and equipment. If you want to remove that info from your screen, head to the Team settings section.

• Show Team Position in HUD—consider disabling these elements, but for the purposes of success in CS2, such actions are not recommended.

HUD elements are quite minimalistic in CS2, and the game gives players good tools to make them even more comfortable. Still, if you need to get rid of HUD—just do it! You already know how to. For other helpful guides and articles about Counter-Strike 2, stay tuned to DMarket Blog.

Don’t forget to check out our marketplace of CS2 skins! This visual part of the game can’t be removed like HUD, and other players will see exceptionally cool weapons on you. Make your game inventory reflect your unique style and personality!

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