Mix step by step: from .ready to your rating

Mix means a serious match: two equal teams, a knife round to pick sides, 24 rounds and a separate skill rank. The server runs the match itself, so no admin is needed. This guide takes you from joining to your rating, step by step, with every command.

Before you join

• Windows security locks (Secure Boot, memory protection and DMA protection) are required on mix servers only. If one is off, the launcher says exactly which. The step-by-step guide: Turning on Windows' security locks.
• Link your Steam. Your mix rank belongs to your account and counts in every match.
• Teams are usually 5v5 (admins set the size from the panel). You can't join a match that is already running; you can only fill the place of someone who left (below).

1. Warmup and ready

The server stays in an endless warmup until everyone has gathered. Join, pick a team and, when you're ready, type in chat:

.ready

Changed your mind? Type .unready. When every player is ready and the teams are equal, the match starts by itself. If the teams don't fill up, an admin can start it as it is with !start.

Mix commands start with a dot (.ready), not an exclamation mark. If you're lost, .mix prints the match status in chat.

2. The knife round

The first round is knives only, with no weapons and no money. The team that wins it picks its side:

• .ct or .t for the side you want
• .stay to keep the side you're on, .switch to swap

The winners have 60 seconds; if they say nothing, they stay on their side.

3. The match

• 24 rounds with a first and second half (sides swap in the middle).
• If it's a tie, a 6-round overtime with a fixed $10,000.
• Friendly fire is on. Watch your grenades.
• Teams are locked: if you drop and come back, you are put back on your own team's side automatically. Everyone else can only fill an open place.

Timeouts and pauses

There are two kinds of pause:

• Tactical timeout: .tac (or .pause). It's the game's own timeout, 3 per team, for talking tactics.
• Technical pause: .tech. For when someone has an internet or PC problem. Each team can call it twice and it lasts at most 5 minutes. To continue, both teams must type .unpause.

Someone left? A substitute

If a player drops out of a team mid-match, spectators can type .sub and join the team that is short. If the original player comes back and their team is full, the newest substitute steps out.

A substitute's share of the match rating counts by the rounds they played (at least a quarter).

Rating and rank

Mix has its own skill rank, shown with the same 18 Counter-Strike rank names.

• Everyone starts on 1000 points.
• After each match your rating goes up or down according to the two teams' averages and the result (the ELO method). Your change appears in chat right away, and everyone is told when someone ranks up.
• The mix rank list shows players who have played at least 3 matches.
• .elo tells you your own rating and rank.

Leaving and its penalty

Mix is only fair if everyone stays to the end. A player who leaves before the match ends and doesn't come back counts as a leaver (someone who was away for 3 rounds or 5 minutes):

• They lose rating, even if their team wins.
• Their teammates lose less rating because of the short team.
• Leaves over the last 30 days are counted: first a warning, then a mix ban of 30 minutes, 2 hours, 24 hours and 7 days in that order. A mix ban only applies on the mix servers; the other servers stay open.

A general internet outage (when at least 30% of the players drop at about the same time) doesn't count as a leave and carries no penalty. If you think your penalty is wrong, open a "Leave penalty" ticket.

After the match

The match summary page is in the mix section of the site: the round-by-round result, the MVP, each player's stats, the rating changes and a share link. Every match is recorded and you can download its demo for 7 days; how to watch it is in the demo guide.

Command summary

• .ready / .unready ready / not ready
• .ct .t .stay .switch choosing a side (the knife-round winners only)
• .tac tactical timeout; .tech technical pause; .unpause continue
• .sub fill the place of someone who left
• .mix match status; .elo your own rating