I see a lot of posts about running complex looking script commands to bind certain actions to certain keys / mouse buttons. I'm just looking for something that is probably best practice for all beginner players looking to get really familiar with a helpful layout - e.g. should smokes always be mapped to 'z', flashbangs always 'c' etc.

Any guidance from this community would be greatly appreciated! And if someone could help me understand how those complex command bindings work that would be even better. Thanks!

the standard settings are completely fine for beginners.

see if you like ducking with "c" more than "ctrl"

set different keys for each grenade seperately onto any button you like with time. dont need to do them all at once

most importantly, dont switch your weapons with the scroll wheel. use 1,2,3,4 etc

I think just having all your grenades mapped is the bare minimum. I use F for flash, C for smoke, X for molly, and z for HE.

Is mouswheel down or up better for jumping in cs2?

there is no optimal settings. its what you find most helpful. i have smoke and moly on mouse 4/5.

Mouse wheel for jumping. That’s really the only essential bind I’ve ever felt the need to use over 14yrs of playing CS

Not on the same grind as I used to be but I had no issues playing GE in CSGO using 4444 for nades. No issues at 18k with 4444 either.

The only other bind I use is X for push-to-talk, but that one’s variable. Whatever feels best for you

Just bind all your util to a key, imo there are no other binds needed

A lot of it is personal preference, but the most obvious changes I think are:

Jump on mousewheel down or up so you can bhop, whatever direction feels natural for you to scroll. Also for more precise normal jumps/crouch jumps you bind it a second time to space in console with bind space +jump

Primary and secondary on 1 and 2, knife on 3. Although any keys to can hit fast/comfortably work that's just most standard, basically anything not using default scroll to select is fine.

A little more advanced but if you want to quick switch to your knife after shooting awp, having knife bound to a second key closer than 3 is good. I have jump to bhop on mwheeldown and knife on mwheelup for quickswitch, I think Q is also common to use for this.

No difference just use whatever feels natural to scroll

Its about preference. I have unbind mousewheel, F flash, C he, X smoke, and V molly. Others are default.

same but HE 4

Comfortable push-to-talk key is a must. You need to be able to play at the same time while communicating, sometimes even while fighting. Most of the people use V for it and it is one of the most optimal keys for it. Do not use on Mouse4/Mouse5 for it because you will not be able to aim and communicate at the same time.

this question always turns into a much bigger settings rabbit hole than it needs to be.