How does the CS:GO drops system work?
The main purpose of the drop system in CS:GO is to encourage active players on a weekly basis. To get a random drop, you just have to play your favorite game. As a result, you obtain different CS:GO items. Some of the drops may even be of great value.
Each weekly drop allows you to get items like weapon cases. To increase the chances of a drop, try to finish matches as much as possible during the week. If you're lucky, you'll obtain an expensive skin or rare cases which can be opened or sold for money.
In addition, you're guaranteed a drop if you increase your Profile Rank. This feature is available to you once a week. The game mode doesn't matter at all. You always receive drops when you complete your matches. To get the next rank, you need to earn exactly 5000 XP.
Drops are reset in the middle of the week. If you live in North America, this will happen on Tuesday. Players from Europe will have to wait for Wednesday. These are the features of the weekly drops associated with Profile Ranks.
Many gamers think that the quality of drops directly depends on the number of matches played per week. The more battles you complete, the cooler the skin or other item you obtain. Since the drops are always random, you cannot predict your reward in advance.
Players believe that Valve added drops to CS:GO to stimulate gaming activity. Whether this is true or not isn't known for certain. However, lots of gamers like getting in-game drops every week. Some of them even brag about their obtained rewards on game forums.
What kinds of drops I can get?
Let's start with the so-called graffiti drops. Lots of players don't like them. The fact is that graffiti drops don't give you valuable items. Their purpose is more to diversify the drop system in the game than to bring you any benefit.
Along with the graffiti drops, the game has skin and case drops. These drops are much more valuable. For example, you can sell some skins for a lot of money. As for the weapon cases, these are also in-demand trading items between players. Let's take a closer look at them.
Skins
Skins are items that allow you to change the design of weapons. They're the main target of most players who are looking for CS:GO drops. Why? Because some weapon skins are valuable collectibles. Their price can reach tens of thousands of dollars!
Unfortunately, items that are expensive are extremely rare to drop. The value of skins also depends on their quality. This is why a skin for the same weapon can sell for various prices. Sometimes the difference is quite significant.
Is it possible to earn money by farming skins with drops? This is a debatable issue. While some players consider this method quite acceptable, others say that trading is much easier and more profitable. We assume that both opinions are credible.
Weapon cases
A weapon case in CS:GO is the same as a loot box in other games. When case drops happen, you get something like crates that open with special keys. To date, these keys can be purchased on the Steam Community Market or third-party sites where players trade in-game items among themselves. During a standard match, a drop with keys is impossible.
Case examples | ||
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Once a case drop occurs, 2 scenarios are possible. The first one is buying a key and opening a crate. You'll receive a skin after that. The obtained item can be quite expensive or be worth mere pennies. It depends on your luck. The second scenario is the sale of a loot box on the Steam Community Market or another site.
Since CS:GO is quite an old game, a large number of cases are available to players. At the same time, the following types of weapon crates are very popular among gamers:
Rare Cases
Rare cases are given to players who have Prime accounts. For the most part, these are items that were released 2-3 years ago. Gamers can also receive case drops like these if they previously bought any Operation Passes.
We suggest you don't waste your time hunting for case drops that are considered rare. According to data from open sources, the chance of getting them is approximately 1%. Typically, it's easier to buy them than to try to get them by playing for dozens of hours and waiting for a drop.
Discontinued cases
Discontinued cases no longer drop in the game. You can only get these items by purchasing them from other Steam users. The number of such loot boxes is decreasing every year. They're replaced by new weapon cases that are added to CS:GO after the next updates.
Famous gaming bloggers sometimes buy a bunch of identical and expensive discontinued cases and open them on their streams. When the purchased loot boxes run out, they make a conclusion about the maximum amount you can earn from it. Their streams are very fun to watch.
Operation cases
These cases drop if you have a particular Operation Pass. You receive new cases while the specific Operation lasts. Then the frequency of their drops decreases. Some items become unavailable to CS:GO players. At the time of writing this post, the following cases of this type have been released:
Operation Bravo Case | The best drops of this case are the following skins: AK-47 Fire Serpent and Desert Eagle Golden Koi. The price of the first item can reach 5500 $. The second skin is cheaper: from 85 $ to 220 $. |
Operation Phoenix Weapon Case | When you receive a new case of this type, you have a chance to own the AWP Asiimov skin. Its price is 80-250 $. It's just a pity that such expensive items drop out extremely rarely. |
Operation Vanguard Case | Many players dream of case drops like these. They give them the opportunity to get rare and cool skins. In particular, you can become the owner of the AK-47 Wasteland Rebel by opening this crate. The price of this item reaches almost 1000 $. |
Falchion Case | This should have been called Operation Bloodhound Case. The fact is that the dropping of this item was exclusively available to players who bought the corresponding Pass. However, the developers of the game decided to name it differently. Inside this crate, you can find the AK-47 Aquamarine Revenge, which is worth up to 300 $. |
Operation Wildfire Case | This case will appeal to fans of drops who prefer expensive skins. Among other things, the AK-47 Fuel Injector can be obtained from it. This drop can make you 1000-1100 $ richer. |
Operation Hydra Case | When opening this case, pray to the RNG Gods that control the drop system in the game. If they show you favor, the AWP Oni Taiji will be added to your collection of skins. You can sell it for 200-1050 $. |
Shattered Web Case | Dropping of this case occurred especially often during the Operation of the same name. The luckiest players got the AWP Containment Breach out of it. This is a pretty rare drop that can bring you 45-950 $. |
Operation Broken Fang Case | When players receive case drops, quite a few of them decide to try their luck and purchase the keys. If you follow their lead and open this crate, you may end up with the M4A1-S Printstream. Although this is a rare drop, it makes sense to try to get it. This skin costs from 100 $ to 900 $. |
Operation Riptide Case | While Operation Riptide lasted, players received a lot of these case drops every week. Some of them were lucky and the Desert Eagle Ocean Drive skin was added to their inventories. Its max price is 360 $. |
As a conclusion, we'll add that any drop can give you Exceedingly Rare Special Items. These are knives, that is, the most expensive skins in CS:GO. It goes without saying that most players dream about these drops. But many gamers never get them, even if they open cases in the amount of 10-30 per week.
How to find out what skins are inside the case?
This is easy to do. Go to the Steam Community Market and enter the name of the Counter-Strike case in the search form there. In a second, you'll see a list of items that are for sale. You should pay attention to those whose names match your request.
Select the case you want in the search results and go to its page for more details. You can get all the info about possible drops there. If your search doesn't return any results, there is probably an error in the service or you entered the wrong crate name.
Prime and Non-Prime accounts
Users with Non-Prime accounts could receive drops earlier. The situation changed in 2021. Since then, Non-Prime players haven't received CS:GO drops. Many gamers didn't like that they had to pay money for a privileged account, but the developers haven't returned free drops to CS:GO.
Along with item drops, Prime status gives players many other benefits. Let's start with the fact that Prime players fight each other in all official game modes. This means that Non-Prime gamers don’t participate in their battles.
Prime account users are less affected by the activities of toxic players. Although Steam keeps order on community servers, it's not always possible to ban them quickly. Meanwhile, annoying gamers usually don't have Prime status. Most often, they're found in Non-Prime matchmaking.
Finally, players who have Prime accounts earn experience points and Competitive Skill Groups. If these CS:GO features are important for you, we advise you to think about buying a Prime account. It costs only 14.99 $.
What is the probability of getting a CS:GO case?
Skin Rarity | Skin Type | |
---|---|---|
Standard | StatTrak | |
Mil-Spec | 79.92 % | 7.99% |
Restricted | 15.98% | 1.59% |
Classified | 3.2% | 0.32% |
Covert | 0.64% | 0.064% |
Rare Special Item | 0.26% | 0.026% |
Most of the drops are Mil-Spec skins. No wonder they're usually very cheap. Getting a drop of Rare Special Items, which are often very expensive, is much more difficult. The same goes for Covert and Classified skins. The chance of obtaining a Restricted weapon drop is also not too high, but at least it's an achievable goal.
FAQ
Can you still get CS:GO drops?
Yes, if you have a Prime Account. Play CS:GO regularly and the drops won't take long. You can get them by playing in a variety of modes: Casual, Wingman, etc.
Can you get drops in CS:GO without Prime?
Non-Prime users can't get drops, even by playing from morning to night. To make this possible, upgrade your account. Plus, you must constantly be active in the game: participate in Operations, gain experience points, play with friends or other users, etc.
Can you get key drops in CS:GO?
No. CS:GO drops are primarily skins and cases. As conceived by the developers, the keys don't drop while you're playing. You must buy them. Thanks to your support, Valve is able to continue to develop the game, maintain the servers, and pay the salaries of the programmers.