Choosing a crosshair in Counter-Strike might feel like a small detail. There are many other things you can optimize when getting ready to begin your competitive climb. Among keybinds, mouse sensitivity, video and performance settings, and many more you might find it overwhelming to customize even at this level.
However, getting the perfect crosshair can make all the difference in how you play in a game of CS2, so here are our tips to making sure you have the best CS2 crosshair.
The default Counter-Strike crosshair has a few issues with it. First of all, it is quite bulky. A bulky crosshair is the worst Counter-Strike crosshair to hit headshots with. It is also dynamic, meaning when you move your crosshair expands. This is not optimal for consistent aim. Every pro player uses a static crosshair. This will allow you to hit shots more consistently. Additionally, some people do not like the bright green color of the default crosshair.
If you have checked out any Counter-Strike Twitch streamers, you may have noticed that all of them use static crosshair that is on the smaller side. This is something that is consistent across all good Counter-Strike players.
One of the most important decisions that you’ll have to make when choosing your best CS2 crosshair are whether you’ll be choosing a static crosshair or a dynamic crosshair.
The default crosshair that new players will use when they play CS2 for the first time is dynamic, meaning it expands and shrinks as you fire a weapon or move. The advantage to disabling the dynamic crosshair is that the static image will make it easier to keep the position you’ll need to hold for optimal first bullet accuracy. This is an especially important thing to practice as a new player.
The default crosshair in CS2 gets a lot of flak, but if you’re looking to make a small but effective change, swapping it over to static might prove to be just what you’re after and makes it our pick for one of the best CS2 crosshairs for new players.
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Picking the right color might seem like a minor detail, but when it comes to choosing the best CS2 crosshair for you it’s important to understand how and when color comes into play. Contrasting colors make something stand out to the eye at a glance, which can help keep your aim tight. Colors like neon green and blue might seem like obvious answers, but with maps like Nuke or Ancient that feature lots of textures in these colors, it’s important to have a few options on hand in case you’ll need to swap based on the map you get.
Our recommendation would be colored like yellow, which is so bright and eye-catching that it’ll be hard to miss, even on maps with shades of yellow or brown like Dust 2, or Red/Pink, which has a high contrast with most maps in CS2. The downside to using Red might be a harsher strain on your eyes over longer gaming sessions, so bear that in mind!
Big and bulky crosshairs simply will not cut it for headshots. Killing someone with a headshot requires a good aim and a crosshair that is around the size of a head in Counter-Strike.
Fun fact, if you check the crosshairs of the best Counter-Strike 2 players, you will notice that hard-hitters such as NiKo are both using a small crosshair.
A simple dot is our pick for the best Counter-Strike crosshair 2023. There are a couple of advantages and disadvantages regarding this type of crosshair. Let’s start with the advantages.
If you are a good aimer, then you will not have any problems adjusting to this crosshair. On top of that, if you prefer short bursts and tapping, this is by far the best Counter-Strike crosshair for you.
However, spray control can be really hard with this type of crosshair. Do the math yourself and if you want to give it a go, below, you can find the best Counter-Strike crosshair settings for it.
cl_crosshair_outlinethickness 0
cl_crosshairdot 1
cl_crosshairthickness 1.5
cl_crosshairgap 5000
cl_crosshaircolor_g 255
cl_crosshaircolor_r 0
cl_crosshaircolor_b 0
There are 2 ways of changing your crosshair in CS2. In order to edit the best crosshair for CS2, we will provide you with two step-by-step guides on how to change CS2 crosshairs. Let’s start with the easier one:
The second method is a little bit more complicated:
Read also: CS2 Pro Settings Guide - Best Pro Player Settings for 2024
There are over 1500 Counter-Strike athletes around the globe. However, only a few of those are ranked amongst the absolute best players. While their crosshairs might not work for you, it’s definitely worth checking out what the best of the best use!
ZywOo is all over Counter-Strike news. With some of the most influential wins of this decade, and a force to be reckoned with on Team Vitality.
He uses a relatively common small green crosshair, but like the others, Zywoo settings change regularly, so this might change soon as we approach CS2 majors in 2024.
cl_crosshairalpha 0
cl_crosshaircolor 255
cl_crosshairdot 0
cl_crosshairgap -3
cl_crosshairsize 2
cl_crosshairstyle 4
cl_crosshairusealpha 1
cl_crosshairthickness 0
cl_crosshair_drawoutline 0
cl_crosshair_sniper_width 1
cl_crosshaircolor_b 144
cl_crosshaircolor_g 238
cl_crosshaircolor_r 0
One of the best pure aimers on the planet is definitely NiKo. You literally can’t be more precise. In order to achieve this level, Niko practiced a lot. However, he also used an excellent crosshair that is perfect for tapping and bursting.
A small cyan crosshair that is not static once did wonders for the Bosnian superstar. This type of crosshair definitely deserves to be called as one of the best crosshairs for Counter-Strike. During their win at IEM Cologne, we saw an update to the visuals. You can find Niko’s settings and winning Counter-Strike crosshair codes down below.
cl_crosshair_drawoutline 0;
cl_crosshairalpha 255;
cl_crosshaircolor 5;
cl_crosshaircolor_b 255;
cl_crosshaircolor_g 255;
cl_crosshaircolor_r 255;
cl_crosshairdot 0;
cl_crosshairgap -4;
cl_crosshairsize 1;
cl_crosshairstyle 4;
cl_crosshairthickness 1;
cl_crosshair_sniper_width 1;
Credit: Josip “brcho” Brtan / Radoslaw “MAKKU” Makuch | IEM Katowice 2023
The new superstar for G2 Esports and his winning crosshair configuration are copied below. You should also check out M0NESY’s settings.
cl_crosshair_drawoutline 0; cl_crosshairalpha 255; cl_crosshaircolor 1; cl_crosshaircolor_b 255; cl_crosshaircolor_g 255; cl_crosshaircolor_r 255; cl_crosshairdot 1; cl_crosshairgap -3; cl_crosshairsize 1.5; cl_crosshairstyle 4; cl_crosshairthickness 0; cl_crosshair_sniper_width 1;
Here are a few more of the top Counter-Strike pro player crosshairs for you to try out.
In the end, remember that what feels best for you is probably best. Your crosshair choice isn’t necessarily going to stick with you forever but it’ll likely translate to other FPS titles as well. Choose what works best for you for optimal results.
Read next: How to get better at Counter-Strike 2 - Top 10 Tricks
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