Counter-Strike 2 updated overnight, and Valve posted its Counter-Strike 2 Update notes at 00:54 UTC on 5 November 2026. The patch is aimed at Retakes: a defuse can now end instantly when there is enough round time left and no active utility can stop it, and freeze time and the gap between rounds are shorter. It also lets you ping a pet chicken during freeze time to ask for a trick, and it reorganises the map scripting API used by Workshop creators. The build took client and server to version 2000942 and PatchVersion to 1.41.9.6.
What the 5 November CS2 patch notes say
Gameplay
- Bomb defusal in Retakes mode will now instantly finish when there is sufficient time remaining in the round and no active utility remains to prevent the defuse.
- Reduced freeze time and round restart delay in Retakes mode.
- Pinging pet chickens during freeze time will request a trick from them.
- Pet chicken names are no longer displayed when the customized item text game option is set to hidden.
Map scripting
- Instance.Precache now accepts entities to precache.
- A new top-level export, Entities, with Entities.Spawn.
- Instance.OnBotControl, CSPlayerController.IsControllingBot, CSPlayerController.GetControlledBotPawn and CSPlayerPawn.Reset were added.
- Several methods moved or were renamed: ConnectOutput and DisconnectOutput move to Entities (ConnectOutput now takes a config object), EntFireAtName becomes Entities.FireInput, FindEntitiesByName and FindEntitiesByClass become Entities.FindByName and Entities.FindByClass, and EntFireAtTarget becomes Entity.FireInput. The old names still work but are deprecated, and FindEntityByName and FindEntityByClass are deprecated too.
- Calling a method on a removed entity now reports that the entity is invalid, and ConnectOutput logs a warning when the target has no output with that name.
What the Retakes change means in practice
Valve's note sets two conditions for an instant defuse: there is enough time left in the round, and no active utility remains that could prevent the defuse. Valve defines neither more precisely.
The timing cuts are in the mode's config file, gamemode_retakecasual.cfg, as mirrored by SteamDB's GameTracking-CS2 repository:
- mp_freezetime drops from 7 seconds to 5.
- mp_round_restart_delay drops from 5 seconds to 3.
Going by the config file, that cuts up to four seconds of waiting per round. The same build also touched the spawn files for all eleven Retakes maps: every spawn's camera pitch is now set to 0, with a new comment saying only the yaw value is used. Going by that comment, the spawn change is housekeeping and does not change where you face.
Pet chicken tricks
Pet chickens arrived without a patch note alongside the 22 September Rush Hour update. PC Gamer and Dexerto reported that players could hatch and raise them, and PC Gamer added that chickens could learn tricks. Since then, Valve's notes have touched pets only in passing, such as lobby egg nests on 25 September and photobook text on 5 October. Pinging your chicken during freeze time now asks it for a trick. Valve does not say which tricks exist or how a chicken learns them. Also, if you hide customised item text in your game options, pet chicken names are now hidden too.
Two silent builds since 28 October
Valve posted no notes for the two builds since 28 October, but the file mirror shows what changed:
- Version 2000939 (30 October) removed the LAR assets added on 28 October: the rifle model, its animations, skeleton and textures, the equipment icon and the inventory image. As of version 2000942, the name still appears in two tool files. In all 102 music kits, the round-won and round-lost tracks now stop instead of looping, following the same change to MVP anthems in the 28 October build.
- Version 2000940 (dated 2 November, mirrored 3 November) added Steam rich-presence text for Workshop maps, such as "Playing Workshop Map" and "In Workshop Map Lobby".
Other changes in the 5 November files
- The Workshop convar whitelist adds mp_death_drop_taser, which lets Workshop maps set that server option; going by its name, it controls whether a Zeus drops when its owner dies.
- New strings read "Pulse graphs not allowed from untrusted addons" and pulse/pulse_enabled_for_untrusted_addons. That points to Valve gating Pulse logic graphs in Workshop content. The notes do not mention it.
When it landed
Steam's public branch moved to build 26445667 at 00:52 UTC on 5 November. Valve's post followed at 00:54, and the build's own version file is dated 4 November. The previous patch notes, on 28 October, added a Hold or Toggle option for silent reloads. The next CS2 Major is PGL Major Singapore, which PGL lists as opening on 24 November.
FAQ
Is there a CS2 update today? Yes. As of 06:30 UTC on 5 November 2026, the latest Counter-Strike 2 update had its patch notes posted at 00:54 UTC that day. It took the game to version 2000942, PatchVersion 1.41.9.6.
What changed in the 5 November CS2 update? Retakes defuses can now finish instantly when there is enough round time left and no active utility could stop them, and Retakes freeze time and round restart delay are shorter. Pinging a pet chicken during freeze time now asks it for a trick, and Workshop map scripting gained new Entities functions and renamed several methods.
How much shorter is freeze time in CS2 Retakes? In the Retakes config file, freeze time went from 7 seconds to 5, and the delay before the next round went from 5 seconds to 3. Valve's notes give no numbers.
How do pet chicken tricks work in CS2? During freeze time, ping your pet chicken and it will be asked to perform a trick. Valve's notes do not list the tricks.
Is the LAR still coming to CS2? As of 5 November 2026, Valve has not announced it. Asset files for a rifle called the LAR appeared in the 28 October build, and the silent 30 October build, version 2000939, removed them.
Sources: Valve's Counter-Strike 2 announcements via the Steam News API for app 730; Steam's public-branch record for app 730 via api.steamcmd.net; SteamDB's GameTracking-CS2 extracts for versions 2000938, 2000939, 2000940 and 2000942; PC Gamer and Dexerto pet chicken coverage of 23 September 2026; PGL's PGL Major Singapore 2026 event page — retrieved 5 November 2026, times in UTC.
