CS:GO is a game with a ton of customization options and tweakable options, with probably the most commonly asked for question being about the crosshair. Naturally, a crosshair is something that’s personal: what works for you might not work for your friend, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t certain guidelines to follow. In this article, we’ll go over the different crosshair options, discuss what makes a good crosshair, and give you some examples of popular (pro player) crosshairs so that you can create your very own best CS:GO crosshair!
CS:GO’s Default Crosshair
No matter how personal and subjective the whole crosshair debate is, there is one thing that everyone agrees on: the default crosshair isn’t something that you will want to use for very long. Of course you can probably adjust to it, but in general it’s considered to be too big and, most of all, too distracting to use for any serious player.
The default crosshair can be good to use for a little while if you’re just coming to grips with the game because it can provide you with information that might be useful to beginners and new players, but we would strongly advise to move away from the default crosshairs once you’ve passed the ‘getting to know the game’ stage.
CS:GO Crosshair Styles
Broadly speaking, there are six different crosshair styles in CS:GO.
Style 0: this is the default crosshair, with all of the dynamic elements added.
Style 1: this is the default crosshair without the dynamic elements. Note that the lines of the crosshair have curves to them, which is something that you might want to consider when choosing your own crosshair, as the other styles don’t have this.
Style 2: this dynamic crosshair consists of straight lines in the center and four dots at the outer edge. These dots move when moving and crouching, and move to a lesser extent when shooting and switching weapons. The inner lines move only slightly to indicate when weapon spread is increased, while the outer dots move further depending on how big the current spread is.
Style 3: This is another dynamic crosshair like the one in style 2, though the dots on the outer edge are removed. The inner lines of the crosshair now act as the ‘spread indicator’, meaning that they separate a lot further than the lines used in style 2.
Style 4: This is a static crosshair, and the style that’s used the most by professional CS:GO players. The crosshair does not move at all, even when moving or shooting. This style is used by 89% of CS:GO professionals.
Style 5: This is a dynamic crosshair, but it only moves when shooting or switching weapons, so running, crouching, or jumping does not affect the crosshair while shooting and switching weapons does.
Best CS:GO Crosshair Style
Generally speaking, we can divide CS:GO players into two categories: players who want crosshair feedback, and players who don’t. If you’re someone who wants feedback when your bullet spread is affected, we would recommend style 3. If you’re someone who doesn’t want feedback, you should go for style 4.
Style 4 and style 5 are also the most used crosshair styles in the pro scene (with style 4 being by far the most used) and we can kind of see why. Style 0 is way too busy to be considered viable, style 1 isn’t very customizable, style 2 can be confusing with the dots on the edge, and style 3 creates very large gaps when shooting, which can be disorienting, especially if you already have all the gun mechanics firmly ingrained in your muscle memory.
Aside from style 0 (which isn’t used by any pro) we do see pros using all styles though, so take this section with a grain of salt: it’s just there to give you a general perspective and to guide you towards your own preferences.
Crosshair Customization
There are a lot of ways to customize your crosshair to your liking, and we’ll cover the basics as well as give you an idea on how to use these customization options in order to fit your playing style.
Dynamic versus Static
Static crosshairs are used by the majority of experienced players, and that makes sense. If you’ve got all of the game’s basics covered you don’t need your crosshair to tell you when your weapon is inaccurate because you will know it. Furthermore, a dynamic crosshair can be distracting, and some players want to eliminate any and all distractions from their game. Knowing this, you’d think that all pros use a static crosshair and you’d mostly be right, but there’s a small minority of pros who go dynamic.
A dynamic crosshair can be great for inexperienced players who are coming to grips with the game’s mechanics as it shows you when you’re being inaccurate, but it can be a boon even for experienced players. Players with a tap-heavy playing style, for example, can benefit from the visual feedback that the crosshair gives you when tapping away at enemies. You can even develop a rhythm based on the feedback: shoot when it’s at its most concentrated, don’t shoot when the crosshair is expanded. For spraying it can be detrimental to have a dynamic crosshair though, as its expanding nature might mean that you lose track of where the center of the screen is.
It should be noted that it’s possible to combine the two. You can, for example, have a dot in the center of your otherwise dynamic crosshair so that you always know where the center of your screen is.
Outlines versus No Outlines
Adding an outline to your crosshair basically adds a non-transparent border to your existing crosshair. The benefit of this is that it makes your crosshair visible at all times (if you have, for example, a sky blue crosshair and you’re aiming at the sky, the black outlines will ensure that you still see the crosshair) but the drawback is that it makes your crosshair thicker and bulkier, and some people dislike that feeling.
With the pros, there is a rather clear trend; 84% of analyzed professionals don’t use outlines, while 16% do use outlines. You may also want to take your crosshair color into consideration: if you have a color that easily blends into the background scenery of certain maps it can be a good idea to consider an outline.
Dot versus No Dot
First off, it’s important to note that the dot has two different meanings. You can add a dot in the middle of your existing crosshair, or you can delete the lines of your crosshair entirely and just have a dot for a crosshair.
Having just a dot as a crosshair (so no crosshair lines) is generally associated with having more precision. Your crosshair is smaller (just a few pixels wide in some cases) so you tend to only shoot when your crosshair is right on the enemy. This does come at the cost of lowering your ‘situational awareness’, however. Having a traditional crosshair can help in aiming your spray, as it can be easier to work out where your aim is supposed to go when you’ve got the geometrical lines in your crosshair as a reference point. Furthermore, having a (small) dot as a crosshair may lead you to only go for headshots, even when a quick spraydown or a body shot might be enough.
Adding a dot to the center of your existing crosshair can be the best of both worlds in a way, but it does make for a crosshair that covers an awful lot of the screen. Especially when aiming at enemies that are far away (and thus don’t take up a lot of your screen) it can he a hindrance if you have a bulky crosshair. In CS:GO, pixel perfect aim is sometimes required, and bullets (generally, there is some randomized bullet spread in CS:GO) go to the center of your screen, so if your crosshair is blocking your vision if where exactly that small target in the distance is you can miss shots.
Most professionals use a traditional crosshair, or a traditional crosshair with a dot in the middle. Pros who only use a dot are in the minority (22% are using a dot, either as part of their crosshair or as the sole crosshair element) but it’s obviously encouraged to experiment with this and find something that works for you.
Gap
The gap value simply determines how much space there is between the individual crosshair lines. The larger the gap, the more space there is between the lines. A large gap can be beneficial for target acquisition because there’s a lot of visual reference for where your crosshair should go, but it can give you problems when you need to aim precisely given the fact that there’s no aiming reference in the middle.
A gap of -3 is most used in the pro scene (with 45% of pros using that value), with -2 (28%) and -1 (15%) being the second most used gap values.
Thickness
This decides how thick the lines are. The thicker your lines, the more substantial your crosshair will look and feel, and the more visual reference you have when aiming, but a thicker crosshair will obscure more of the battlefield, and having a crosshair that’s too thick can cause you to miss important movements or shots.
Pros mostly use a thickness of either 0 (49%) or 1 (43%).
Size
Changing the size value in the console simply changes the length (this is what it’s called in the game menu) of your crosshair lines. The longer these lines are, the more visual reference you have when aiming, but having lines that are too long can become distracting. Having very short lines can give you the ‘dot effect’ referenced above, so if you find a dot do be too limiting for spraying and situational awareness you could always try to use a crosshair with a very small size.
The most used sizes in the pro scene are 1,2, and 3, though there is a larger variety with preferred sizes than there is with thickness and the likes.
Alpha
The alpha value quite simply determines the opacity of your crosshair. The more opaque your crosshair is, the easier it will be to spot where you need to precisely aim when firing, but having a crosshair that’s too opaque can cause the crosshair to seemingly disappear in stressful circumstances.
Best CS:GO Crosshair Color
You can literally pick any color you’d want for your crosshair, and this color is somewhat up to personal preference, but there are a few guidelines to follow. You don’t want to create a crosshair that has a sandy color like the wall on Mirage and Dust 2, for example, since it’ll disappear when you’re running around and aiming on those maps. Darker, more natural shades are therefore usually avoided, and people tend to gravitate towards brighter neon colors since they stick out from the scenery.
The most used colors are (bright) green, cyan, pink, and yellow. If you do opt for a color that can easily get lost in the scenery of the game, it can be a good idea to add outlines to your crosshair.
Best CS:GO Pro Crosshair
A lot of people are wondering what the best CS:GO pro crosshair is, but the truth is that there is no best pro crosshair. The pros do of course follow certain guidelines (they almost all use style 4, for example) but it’s impossible to just point at one given crosshair and say ‘that one!’.
We did ‘average out’ the most used values and came to the following crosshair: style 4, outlines 0, dot 0, color 1 (green), gap -3, thickness 0, size 2.
Switching Crosshairs in CS:GO
Some people say that you should choose one crosshair and stick to it, but we don’t really agree on that one. A crosshair isn’t the same as your sensitivity or key bindings, for example, where it could be argued that it’s not a good idea to mess up your muscle memory.
In fact, changing your crosshair every once in a while can be beneficial if you ask us. If you’re completely accustomed to your crosshair’s color and size it might start to blend into the background a bit, whereas using a new color or larger shape might force your brain to start paying attention to the crosshair again. We say ‘might’ because everyone is different here. There are pros who go for one crosshair and almost never change, and then there are those who change it up every now and again.
CS:GO Crosshair Workshop Map
One of CS:GO’s main draws is the vast amounts of custom Workshop maps you can import into your game. Naturally, there’s also a map for creating and testing crosshairs. Just go to the crashz’ Crosshair Generator v3 page, click ‘subscribe’ and you will find the map under your custom maps in the game. In this map, you will be able to tweak your crosshair while having a live preview, and you can also download a bunch of pro crosshairs.
Conclusion: The Best CS:GO Crosshair
If we go by what the professionals use, you should get yourself a small, unobtrusive static crosshair. Despite the fact that many aspects of what makes a crosshair good come down to personal preferences, we can definitely see why the pros mostly opt for one specific type of crosshair. Once you’ve got the game mechanics into your muscle memory there’s no real need to go for a dynamic crosshair, for example.
Still, it’s a good idea to experiment with what you like. We suggest using the ‘average pro player crosshair’ (code: CSGO-noVpo-yVxWJ-5LKnW-NPScs-K5nQD) as a starting point and work from there so that you can, over time, develop your personal tastes and style when it comes to a CS:GO crosshair.
Thanks for reading!
Product Reviewer and Content Director. I've been playing games since I was 7 years old. Played some titles competitively and as a semi-pro back when the scene was still in its infancy. Aside from competitive shooters, I also enjoy single player games in all genres.
