Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) is known for its top-tier first-person shooter gameplay and high skill ceiling. While building precise aim and crosshair placement is a sure-fire way to improve skill, it’s essential to not forget about movement!

As noted in our last movement guide, A Complete Beginner’s Guide to Surfing in CS:GO, surfing and bunny hopping (b-hop) are two ways players can improve their skill and familiarity with Valve’s engine. What’s more, the skills you learn in b-hopping can be transferred to surf and KZ too!

What Is B-Hop?

Initially discovered in the late 1990s in Quake, b-hopping allows players to gain speed by air strafing and maintaining their momentum. Players complete frame-perfect jumps while air strafing from side to side to increase their velocity within the engine. As players complete jumps, their speed increases, moving faster than the typical running speed.

The first instance of b-hopping was observed in 1998 in the Quake 1 engine. At the time, speedrunner Quick Lite completed a Quake speed run while bunny hopping. Since then, b-hopping was moved over to GldSrc. Bunny-hopping has continued to grow in popularity since its discovery in Quake and was then used in the Portal and Half-Life franchises.

B-hopping is also used in Counter-Strike games to move quickly around maps. In this case, having the ability to potentially out-pace your opponent when rotating from site to site is an undeniable advantage. While it’s unlikely you’ll be able to zoom around the map every time, there are many practical applications of b-hopping in a competitive server. For instance, many entry fraggers will b-hop around a corner or through doorways to make space for their teammates.

Also, the b-hop community is home to a passionate and dedicated fanbase. The community is known to be helpful to newcomers and is still thriving. Professional map builders continue to develop maps for players of all levels. Additionally, the best b-hoppers continue to speedrun established maps, creating different ways to complete them.

Before we continue, it’s essential to recognize that b-hopping in a competitive game server is different from b-hopping in an actual b-hop server. First of all, depending on the tick rate of the server you’re in, it is substantially more difficult to consistently b-hop. No matter how many hours of practice you have, it’s nearly impossible to b-hop for long stretches without certain server assistance.

For these reasons, it’s widespread for most b-hop servers to have “auto b-hop” enabled. This means the player holds down their jump key, and the server automatically b-hops for them. This is done to ensure consistent b-hops. Similarly, it’s not uncommon to adjust other server settings like the maximum velocity and stamina. However, controlling your speed and air strafing is done on your own and is not a skill to be underestimated.

The purpose of our guide is to break down the basics of b-hopping and does not focus on the settings or features of b-hope servers. All of the videos in our guide were recorded in a server hosting standard competitive environments (128 tick) with no additional enhancements. We hope to give you a foundational understanding of the process of b-hopping and its related mechanics. The basic skills you learn in this guide can be used in competitive servers or b-hop servers.

Jumping in Place

B-hopping is all about timing and practice. To b-hop, players need to have the correct jump timing under their belt. In essence, players repeatedly jump on the exact frame their first jump is completed. This might seem confusing, but once you try to b-hop, you’ll understand what we mean!

Start by going into a server (preferably 128-tick) and practice jumping up and down in place to get the hang of the timing. When you jump in the air, jump again right before your player model’s feet hit the ground – this is a b-hop. The jump will happen so quickly that it will void the typical jump sound you might be accustomed to hearing in-game. Repeat this process until you can complete several b-hops in a row without restarting.

Quick-tip: Usually, jumping with the space bar makes b-hopping significantly more difficult in a regular 64 or 128 tick server. Re-bind your jump to the scroll wheel; it’ll make hitting the b-hop way easier, trust us!

The Next Level

Once you’ve mastered the basic b-hop by jumping up and down in place, it’s time to take the process to the next level. Take your knife out and run forward for a few seconds until you reach maximum running speed (250). As soon as you jump, release your forward key and use your “A” and “D” keys to air strafe from side to side as you b-hop.

Quick tip: Type “cl_showpos 1” in the console to show positional and velocity information. This will help you recognize when your speed reaches above 250, the breakthrough b-hop speed.

Strafing from side to side while b-hopping is what helps you keep your momentum and increases your movement speed. This part of b-hopping is, without a doubt, the most challenging aspect for beginners. You’ll know that you’re successfully b-hopping when after completing a bhop, your speed is staying over the maximum running speed (250). If your speed is dropping below 250 after very briefly landing and jumping, you are not b-hopping.

When you first start, it’s easy to be discouraged. Know that b-hopping is a challenging skill to master, and some argue that even the best b-hoppers never truly perfect the art of b-hop. Just like all CS:GO skills, practice makes the most significant difference! Head into an empty server and start hopping away! Send over any feedback to Twitter, and stay tuned to Dignitas for more CS:GO guides.

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