How to create an empty map for practice in Dota 2

William Davis Published 16/01/2022

An empty Dota 2 map is still full of possibilities.

Practicing in Dota 2 is a lot harder than it has to be. The last hit trainer and demo mode leave a lot to be desired, especially if you’re interested in the more niche parts of the game. Vision and jungle strategies are pretty inaccessible in the standard practice environment. Luckily for studious players, you can make your own lab environment with a little know how. Here’s how to create an empty map for training in Dota 2.

How to spawn an empty map in Dota 2

To spawn an empty map in Dota 2, click on the play button in the bottom right corner. From that menu, click the custom lobby option near the top and choose create. Select the edit menu in the bottom right to bring up the menu. Change the server location to local host and the game type to all pick. Lastly, be sure to click the enable cheats options.

When you load into the game, you should see a completely empty map. Lane and jungle creeps will still spawn as normal and the game will continue to run while you do whatever you want to do. If you want to max out your hero to get to the testing, open up chat and type in the following commands.

-lvlmax
-gold 99999
-wtf

Those three will automatically max out your level, increase gold to the maximum, and get rid of all cooldowns and mana costs on your spells and items. Those are only possible if you enable cheats in the lobby menu beforehand.

What is an empty map used for in Dota 2?

Having an empty Dota 2 map may seem useless, but it actually provides a much better training environment than demo mode. In the standard training area, there are no neutral creeps and only a small section of the middle lane. There’s no way to test things against different towers of neutral units. On an empty map, you can test your theories in a much more useful way.

For example, heroes like Chen and Enchantress make special use of neutral creeps. It’s impossible to test out Enchant or Holy Persuasion in demo mode without using some specialized console commands. The act of tabbing between your jungle creeps can take some time to get used to, but an empty Dota 2 map is literally free from distractions.

Another good use is testing out ward ideas. The demo mode map is only a small slice of the actual map, which makes it pretty useless for trying different ward combinations. An empty map has all the important spots needed to see what observers can spot and sentries can block. In a metagame where blocking jungle camps is extremely important, an empty map can be used to test out all the important angles.

Read Also

Dota 2

Oddin.gg’s head of risk helps explain how alleged match fixing during Dota 2 at EWC was flagged Michael Hassall The Dota 2 competition at The Esports World Cup 2026 was shaken to its core during the Survival Stage earlier in the week when Southeast Asian-backed, South American team PTime (better known as PlayTime) were removed from the event citing “integrity concerns.” While the case is still ongoing, and none of the accused confirmed to be guilty, one of the biggest questions behind the incident was just how these concerns ...

Dota 2

PTime removed from Dota 2 at EWC 26 as ESIC investigates coach and captain Michael Hassall Filipino organization PlayTime Esports has been removed from the Esports World Cup 2026 Dota 2 competition following an intervention by the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) and a ruling by the Esports Foundation and EWC. Following a postponement of the PTime vs. Vici Gaming Survival Stage matchup on July 14, ESIC announced that it was actively investigating two members of the South American-based PTime organization, Team Captain Gonzalo "DarkMago" Herrera and ...

Esports Betting

Here’s the complete Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 schedule Hannan Mundia The Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 has finally arrived, and here’s the complete schedule for the event to ensure you don’t miss anything. While it isn’t exactly the newest name in the esports scene, the EWC has quickly become a leading event for esports fans worldwide. It brings together professional players and fans from various games, combining them into one long event that everyone can enjoy. 2026’s Esports World Cup ...

Dota 2

Dota 2 at the EWC 2026 preview, details, predictions, and more Michael Hassall A titanic 24 teams are set to compete in Dota 2 at the Esports World Cup 2025 in one of the largest events of the competitive season. These two dozen organizations are set to take over the Paris Convention Center, filling it with top-tier competitive Dota 2 action. With a $2,000,000 USD prize pool, the largest on the Dota 2 calendar, there’s everything to play for in the final major ...

Dota 2

Top Dota 2 combos to boost your MMR fast Wasif Ahmed Dota 2 is a complex and interesting game that requires skill, strategy and teamwork to be successful. Having said that, one of the best ways to improve your MMR is by learning certain Dota 2 combos that have proven themselves over time. It’s worth knowing that there are not that many Dota 2 combos that have survived the test of time because every new patch changes the game’s meta. Nevertheless, ...

Dota 2

Dota 2 temporarily deletes popular hero before launching huge Dark Carnival update Michael Hassall If you were an Axe player in Dota 2 earlier this week, you’d have found yourself out of luck when you tried to pick the stalwart Oglodi warrior, as the hero was straight up removed from the game on June 23. The hero was completely missing from All-Pick and his hero model was replaced with a missing poster. Axe couldn’t even be demoed or picked in a custom game for ...

Dota 2

Team Yandex stop the magic, defeating LGD in BLAST Slam VII finals Michael Hassall Team Yandex have defeated LGD Gaming in the grand finals of BLAST Slam VII in a dramatic 3-1 series that saw both teams pushed to the limit, but ultimately Yandex come out on top. Concluding the last major tournament before teams head to the Esports World Cup and The International 2026 next month and in August, Yandex were able to counter the momentum of LGD that had brought them into ...