Play is the one page for getting into a game. It is built around a single mode picker and a Find Match button, with everything else you can join underneath it:
| Section | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Matchmaking | The mode picker, where you'll play, your party, and Find Match. |
| Your Schedule | Your live and upcoming matches and the tournaments you're registered for. |
| Draft rooms | Open draft lobbies to join, and a host bar to open your own in one click. |
| More ways to play | An open tournament, league signups, the Scrim Finder, public servers, and a practice server. |
A section with nothing to show is left out, so a quiet instance doesn't show a page of empty boxes.
Every mode an admin has enabled appears as a tile. Each tile shows the format, how many players are already searching for it, and how many seats your party takes:
| Mode | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Competitive | 5v5 | The standard match. |
| Wingman | 2v2 | |
| Duel | 1v1 | |
| Rush | 3v3 | CS2's Rush mode, room by room, on its own map pool and its own ELO. |
Nothing is picked for you unless only one mode fits your party. Pick a tile and press Find Match. The tiles work as a radio group, so the arrow keys move between the modes your party can play.
The in-queue count is people, not parties: a queued trio counts as three, and a party searching several regions is only counted once. It refreshes after every matchmaking pass, so players already in a ready check or a match drop off it.
::: tip Queue from anywhere The Play button in the top bar queues the mode you played last in one click. Its arrow opens Pick a mode with every mode and its queue count, and All modes and settings takes you to the full page. While a search runs the same button shows the mode and the time in queue, with Cancel search beside it. :::
You can queue solo or as a party. A party can queue a mode when it fits on one side, with matchmaking filling the other, or when it fills the whole match on its own:
| Mode | Party sizes that can queue |
|---|---|
| Duel | 1 or 2 |
| Wingman | 1–2 or 4 |
| Rush | 1–3 or 6 |
| Competitive | 1–5 or 10 |
Only the party leader picks the mode and starts or cancels the search; for everyone else the button reads Waiting for and the leader's name. Invite friends (or Open party once you're in one) brings up the party in the hub.
Under the tiles, the region line lists the regions a search would use with your ping to each, plus any it skips because they're over your latency limit or unreachable. The gear beside it opens Matchmaking settings.
The same region list is in the Server regions menu (the globe in the top bar), which shows each region's status, and with Ping by region your measured latency to each:
- Star a region to prefer it. Matchmaking uses your starred regions; with none starred it uses every region under your limit.
- Maximum Acceptable Latency is a slider capped at the instance's own limit. Each region's bar is drawn on the slider's scale, so you can see which regions fall inside it as you drag.
- Refresh measures every region again. Offline regions, regions that are still being measured, and partially available regions are labelled.
If every region is over your limit, the button becomes Edit regions and the page says so instead of letting you search for a match that can never be found.
On a network with a LAN region, you play on the LAN or online, never both. The first time you queue or host a draft room in a session you're asked You're on a LAN. Where do you want to play?, and you can switch at any time from the region line (LAN or Online). On the LAN the button reads Find LAN Match.
The server enforces the same rule: a queue or a match whose regions mix LAN and online regions is refused.
When a match is found, every player gets a Match Found ready check with 30 seconds to press Ready. If someone doesn't, the match is not created: any party whose members all accepted goes straight back into the queue, and the rest are dropped from it.
So you don't miss it:
- A Match found push notification is sent as urgent, which vibrates and stays on screen until it is answered or expires.
- A hidden browser tab flashes its title and icon until you look at it.
- Screen readers hear the dialog's title, what to do, and the seconds left as they count down.
The countdown, like your time in queue, runs on the server's clock, so a device whose clock is wrong still shows the right time.
If everyone is ready but the match can't be created, every party goes back to where it was in the queue, except one that can no longer queue, which is told why and dropped. When the server refuses the match outright, every party is told why and leaves the queue, rather than being matched into the same refusal again.
Once everyone is ready, the Matchmaking section turns into the match: its status, map, score, a link to the match page, and the connect details.
If you're in more than one match at once, the match-ready popup and the hub follow the one that needs you first: a live match, then one in veto, then one waiting for check-in, then for a server.
Match & Draft Room Popup, under Matchmaking settings, controls the popup (and the redirect) when your match or draft room is ready. Turn it off and you reach the match from the button in the top bar instead. It doesn't skip the ready check.
Banned players and players on a matchmaking cooldown see why, and until when, above the mode tiles, and can't start a search. A tournament cooldown is shown there too but doesn't block the queue. A join the server refuses always says why, for example Your lobby is still joining the queue, try again.
Your Schedule collects what you're already committed to, live first and then by start time:
- Matches you're in that are live, in veto, waiting for check-in or a server, and scheduled matches once they're within the hour.
- Tournaments you're on a roster for, until they finish.
Each row says where things stand, such as Check-in open, Check-in 7/10 with when it closes, Map veto, or Live · Round 12, and carries the one button you need: Check in, Connect, Open match, or Details.
The Draft rooms section lists open draft lobbies and has a Host a room bar for opening your own in one click. See Draft Lobbies.
- Tournaments: the next tournament open for registration that you aren't already in, on the same card the watch page uses, with All tournaments.
- League: while a league season is taking signups, how many teams are in and Register a team.
- Scrims: how many teams are looking for a scrim today, with Find a scrim and Post availability.
- Public servers: the instance's online public servers with their map, region, ping, and player count, a Connect button, and the connect command to copy.
- Practice server: when the utility library is enabled, Start practice on your own practice server on any map.
Matchmaking can provision an on-demand server in the chosen region automatically, or run on your dedicated or third-party servers. See Matches for how servers are selected.
::: tip Admins Which modes can be queued, who can queue, and the instance's latency limit are set under Settings → Application → Matchmaking. See Matchmaking & Ranks. :::