Hosting private Counter-Strike 1.6 games through Steam

Me and my friends want to start playing Counter Strike 1.6 online, but I'd like to know something before we all go and buy the game in the Steam Store.

Is it possible to effortlessly host a private room in Counter Strike 1.6, through Steam? Or do you have to actually host a server of your own and if so, how is this done?

3 Answers

If I understood correctly you want to play CS1.6 on Steam, but you do not have the game, right?

If so, and if you have a no-steam version of CS1.6, you can use some program that emulates LAN over the internet(Hamachi is one of them). All of you install it, connect to each other and then you can enjoy the game with only your friends.

1

The only way to have private games is to host a server. Although you can do this via Steam on your PC, you would have to port-forward via your router or use some sort of VPN tunnel (e.g. Hamachi or Tunngle). If you're not willing to do that, you might want to consider either a site dedicated to this sort of thing or buying a VPS/Dedicated server.

1

Yes it's possible to host a server via Steam where only Steam users can enter because protocol matches. A 47 protocol user which is generally non steam cannot enter a 48 protocol user which is steam.

Steps to follow:

1. Create a game
2. Run in console: sv_lan 0
3. Find your IP (Google "what is my ip") and give the IP to your friend.

4. Run in console:

   mp_limitteams 0
   mp_autoteambalance 0

   …and other commands to follow to meet your requirements.