CS2 Patch Update January 30, 2026

Table of Contents

Sound tweaks, HE grenade fix, and new restrictions for community maps

Valve shipped a small but meaningful Counter Strike 2 update on January 30, 2026 UTC. It is mostly a quality patch, but it directly impacts how community maps can interact with your game settings, plus it includes knife sound adjustments and a fix to how certain HE grenade explosions calculate damage.

Quick takeaway:
If you play Workshop maps a lot, this patch is a win for safety and consistency. Community maps now have fewer console commands they are allowed to run, and there is a new permission based method for maps to save some user settings without silently messing with your config.

What changed in the latest CS2 patch

1. HE grenade damage now behaves correctly in a specific edge case

Patch note: damage from HE grenades that explode mid air near the ground will no longer be calculated as if they exploded on the ground.

What that means in real matches
This targets a weird scenario where a grenade pops just above the floor. Previously, damage could be calculated as if the grenade actually detonated on the ground, which can change outcomes in tight fights around corners, stairs, ramps, and small elevation changes. After the patch, those mid air near ground pops should produce more consistent results.

Who benefits most
Competitive players and anyone reviewing clips where HE damage looked off. It reduces “that made no sense” moments.

HE grenade damage now behaves correctly in a specific edge case

2. Sound update: various knife sound adjustments

Patch note: various knife sound adjustments.

Valve did not publish a super detailed breakdown in the official notes, but multiple CS2 update roundups describe the goal as smoothing harsh spikes and balancing knife audio so it does not overpower critical cues like footsteps and gunfire.

Why this matters
In Counter Strike, information is everything. Knife sounds can be frequent and sharp, especially with repeated inspect and animation loops. If certain knife sounds sit too loud in the mix, they can mask tiny but important signals like a step, a jump landing, or a quick drop.

What you should listen for after updating
Knife related audio should feel less piercing in the mix and less likely to dominate nearby cues. If you have a habit of spamming inspect, this is the patch you will notice most.

Sound update: various knife sound adjustments

3. Community maps are now restricted to a smaller set of allowed console commands

Patch note: community maps are now restricted to a smaller list of allowed console commands.

This is a security and quality of life change. Community maps can do amazing things, but a map being able to run too many commands can also cause problems, for example unexpected setting changes, confusing persistence issues, or unwanted behavior that looks like the game is broken when it is actually a map script doing something aggressive.

What changes for players
You should see fewer cases of a Workshop map forcing odd settings or leaving you with a “why is my game like this now” feeling after you exit.

What changes for map creators
If a map relied on running certain console commands to achieve an effect, that map may need updates to use safer supported methods.

New Update on Counter-Strike 2 regarding HE grenades fix, knife sound fix, exploding chickens fix, map scripting bug fix, method for community maps to save modified user settings, restricted list of allowed commands for community maps and map fix ✅

Nothing about Anti-Cheat 🚫 pic.twitter.com/5gdgdv23f7
— CS2 Vaccoin (@vaccoin) January 30, 2026

4. New permission based way for community maps to save some user settings

Patch note: running host_writeconfig_with_prompt will prompt the user for permission to save. If accepted, some modified settings, including radar, viewmodel, safezones, etc, will be kept after the map exits.

This is a big deal for trust. It creates a clear “ask first” flow instead of silent config changes.

Plain English explanation
Some community maps adjust settings so the experience feels right, like viewmodel position for a challenge map, radar tweaks for training, or safezone adjustments for custom UI layouts. Now, there is a method that can ask you before anything is saved to your config.

Why you should care
This reduces risk of persistent config changes from Workshop content, while still giving creators a way to offer optional “save this setup” convenience.

5. Map scripting bug fix and a funny performance note

Map scripting: fixed a bug where Entity.SetOwner was not accepting undefined.
This matters mainly to map scripters and should reduce unexpected script failures in certain logic chains.

Misc: performance optimizations for exploding chickens.
Yes, really. It is a tiny line, but it shows Valve still trims weird edge performance cases.

6. Map update: Stronghold refreshed to latest Workshop version

Stronghold was updated to the latest version from the Community Workshop.
If you play Stronghold, expect small polish improvements depending on what the Workshop author changed in that version.

Change	What it affects	Why it matters
HE grenade mid air near ground damage fix	Competitive gameplay and consistency	Fewer confusing damage outcomes in edge detonations
Knife sound adjustments	Audio clarity	Less harsh spikes, cleaner priority for footsteps and key cues
Community maps command restrictions	Workshop maps, safety	Reduces unwanted console behavior and persistent side effects
Permission based config save method	Workshop maps, player trust	Lets maps ask before saving settings like radar and viewmodel
Map scripting bug fix	Map creators	More reliable scripting behavior
Stronghold updated	Map content	Workshop version refresh

What this means for you

If you are a regular player

Update, then test one Workshop map you play often
Pay attention to knife audio balance in warmup or DM
If a map asks to save settings, read the prompt and only accept if you trust the map and want that setup

If you grind community maps

Expect fewer “map broke my settings” moments. The command restriction plus permission based saving is designed to keep your setup stable without killing creativity.

If you are a community map creator

Audit anything that depended on console commands that may no longer be allowed. If your map used to save settings silently, adopt the permission prompt approach so users know exactly what is happening.