[OUTDATED] MATCHMAKING SERVER PICKING IN 2019!

Choose what matchmaking server you play on, in 2019, using ONLY THE CSGO CONSOLE!

Part 1: Introduction

NOTE: THIS GUIDE IS NOW OUTDATED BECAUSE VALVE REMOVED SDR COMMANDS FROM THE GAME DUE TO THEM BEING ABUSED

Hello Everyone!
Until about a year or so ago you could choose what server you play on using a neat little program called "Matchmaking Server Picker". If you're visiting this guide then I reckon you already know that it's broken. That happened because Valve Implemented a relay cluster system that is supposed to prevent DDoSing, but at the same time it broke the server picker app. Now what some of you didn't know about that is that alongside the relay cluster system Valve implemented an MM server picker INSIDE OF THE CONSOLE. Today I'll teach you how to use it, step by step.
P.S this is my first guide ever, so if you guys have any suggestions on how can I improve it, leave em down below :). Also if demand is high enough I'll make a youtube video explaining how to do it step by step aswell.

Part 2: Getting Started

DISCLAIMER: IF YOU ALREADY ENABLED THE DEV CONSOLE AND KNOW HOW TO USE IT SKIP THIS PART AND GO STRAIGHT TO PART 3: THE COMMANDS.

Now, first we have to enable the console, to do that go into the CSGO settings screen


...then into game settings


then switch the "Enable Developer Console" to the YES state.


then proceed to press the ` key (the one below escape and to the left of 1, as shown in the pic below)


and you should see the glorious console window -
the part circled in red is where we put in the commands.


Now you're ready to advance to the next stage, In which we actually put in the commands!

Part 3: The Magic (aka the command you need)

Now that you opened the Developer console, you should think:
"hmm... what server do I want to play on?". when you decide, continue with the steps below.


Now I presume you have decided on what server you want to play on.
the command goes like this:

 sdr SDRClient_ForceRelayCluster xxx 

xxx stands for whatever server location you choose.
this helpful table will help you decypher what server code coordinates with what location:

ATTENTION: NOT ALL SERVER LOCATION CODES ARE DECYPHERED YET. GO TO THIS LINK TO HELP ME DECYPHER THE REMAINING LOCATIONS, ALL HELP WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED

key:
servers that are in the same location will be seperated by a / (forward slash).
inserting each server will most likely lead to the same result, although I have barely tested any of these, considering I have other things to do besides playing with people I don't know the language of :P

server code	actual server name
atl	Atlanta
bom	Mumbai
can	Most likely Canada
dxb	Dubai
eat	Moses Lake
fra	Frankfurt
gru	Sao Paulo
hkg	Hong Kong
iad	Sterling
jnb	Johannesburg
lax	Los Angeles
lhr*	London
lim	Lima
lux	Luxembourg
maa	Chennai
mad	Madrid
man*	Manilla
okc*	Oklahoma City
ord	Chicago
par*	Paris
pwg / pwj / pwu / pwz	Most likely PerfectWorld (China) servers
scl	Santiago
sea*	Seattle
sgp	Singapore
sha / shb	Shanghai
sto	Stockholm
syd	Sydney
tyo	Tokyo
vie*	Vienna
waw	Warsaw

*: relay clusters lhr (London), man (Manilla), okc (Oklahoma City), par (Paris), sea (Seattle), vie (Vienna) are only routing clusters -- they don't have actual game servers in these locations. From what I understand they will still route you into servers from approx. that location though.

Part 4: Pasting the command and finishing up

At this point I assume you already have the command you need ready.
I will try using

 sdr SDRClient_ForceRelayCluster atl 

What you would want to do is:

• take the command you need
  
• paste it into the dev console
  
• press Enter, or press submit in the console window. either will work.

Now you will most likely see the following:

this means that everything went okay! good job!
if that DIDNT happen, check that you did every step beforehand the right way around, and if that STILL doesn't help, type a comment in the comment section!

Now we just need to adjust to the new setting. your ping will most likely be higher, so I suggest using one of the following options:

• type this command into the console:

  mm_dedicated_search_maxping 350

  or
  
• go into your game settings once again, and slide the slider on the option "Max Acceptable Matchmaking Ping" all the way to the right, or just type in the value 350 as shown in the picture
  

now let's test if it works!
go into a game, doesn't matter what gamemode, I chose deathmatch due to me being on a cooldown from competitive MM.
now bring up the developer console just as you did last time

and then type

status

into the console.

now you'll see the console spit out the server region you're playing on!

and... that's pretty much it! you did it!

IMPORTANT NOTE: THE RELAY CLUSTER REGION WILL RESET EVERY TIME YOU REOPEN CSGO, SO EITHER PUT THE COMMAND INTO YOUR AUTOEXEC.CFG OR TYPE IT IN EVERY TIME YOU OPEN THE GAME!

Part 5: thanks and a goodbye

SPECIAL THANKS:
A special thank you to steam user 𝕯𝖆𝖗𝖌𝖚𝖓𝖊𝖗 for helping me find the file that explains the relay cluster location names!
and secondly, THANK YOU, THE READER for reading my guide and getting until this point. I made this in the hopes of helping both newer and older players play with people that can talk to them, and I really really really really hope it helped you make your matchmaking experience the best it can be!


Peace <3

[Juan D. Uta and the Homiez]

Awesome thanks

[xazetti]

Happy to provide at least anything. If I come across a method worth using I'll probably make a new guide detailing that and link it here.

[Juan D. Uta and the Homiez]

I see, thanks for the info.

[xazetti]

you can use a vpn, though I wouldn't recommend this as you'll experience high ping times. That's the only method I know of.

[Juan D. Uta and the Homiez]

Alright, and what about anoher method to do this?

[buseton]

You cannot use this command anymore unfortunately.

[Juan D. Uta and the Homiez]

This doesnt work anymore right, or is there another way to choose another location i want to play?

[xazetti]

fair enough. I get what you mean now.

[✪ quacke]

Yeah I see the point of the guide, but for example people living in Eastern/Northern Europe who want to connect to servers with english-speaking players, this could be needed. I often get connected to Polish or Russian servers because I live in Sweden. I decreased my max-ping and it's helped, I mostly connect to EU North or EU West servers now.

[xazetti]

lmao then it's kinda pointless, valve auto routes you to the closest possible server. you can do mm_dedicated_search_maxping 20 or something like that if you have issues with connecting to far away servers.