Last checked: October 15, 2026
CS2 terminals show you a skin and its price before you decide whether to buy it. Unsealing a terminal requires no key or opening payment. You normally receive up to five purchase offers, shown one at a time, and can buy one item from that terminal.
The confusing part is the difference between seeing a rare item and owning it. A glove offer still requires you to pay the displayed price. You can decline it without buying anything.
How do you open a terminal in CS2?
- Find the sealed terminal in your CS2 inventory and choose to unseal it.
- Set the maximum offer limit to a budget you are comfortable with.
- Check the offered item’s finish, wear, float and price.
- Compare it with matching market listings before accepting.
- Buy the item using Steam Wallet funds or decline to continue through the offers.
Valve added the maximum offer limit in its March 4, 2026 update. The limit filters the prices you are willing to see. It does not promise a valuable item at a discount.
Before buying, use the inspect view to check the actual item. Our CS2 inspect guide explains what to look for.
What is the difference between a terminal and a case?
| Question | Terminal | Standard weapon case |
|---|---|---|
| Do you need a key? | No | Usually yes |
| Can you see the exact item before paying for it? | Yes | No |
| Can you decline the item? | Yes | No |
| What does payment buy? | The specific offered item | An opening with a random result |
A terminal gives you a buying decision. Paying to open a normal case commits you to whichever item the opening produces.
How do you get CS2 terminals?
Terminals can appear among Weekly Care Package rewards for eligible Prime players. You can also buy sealed terminals through the Steam Community Market.
They are not guaranteed every week. Check our weekly drop guide for how rewards work and the weekly reset guide for when a new reward becomes available.
Can you get gloves or knives from terminals?
The terminal’s collection determines the possible items.
Genesis offers weapon skins. Dead Hand offers weapon skins and rare gloves. Neither of those terminals has knives in its listed item pool.
See the Dead Hand Collection and our Dead Hand gloves guide for the relevant items.
Receiving a glove offer is not a free glove drop. You still have to accept the purchase price.
Why are terminal skins more expensive than market listings?
This is one of the recurring complaints in Reddit discussions: a player gets excited about an offer, checks the market and finds a cheaper listing.
Terminal prices adjust with demand, but they do not guarantee the lowest available price. A cheaper listing can also be a different version of the skin.
Compare these details:
- The exact weapon and finish.
- The wear category and float value.
- Whether the item is StatTrak.
- Any relevant pattern index.
- The currency and final purchase price.
Two Factory New skins can have substantially different floats. That can matter to collectors, although a lower float does not automatically justify any price premium.
For example: if a terminal asks $40 and a genuinely comparable item costs $30 elsewhere, accepting means paying $10 more. Those are illustrative prices, not live quotes.
If you are considering resale, compare the amount you could receive after fees. A seller’s asking price is not guaranteed resale income.
Do you have to buy terminal skins to get XP?
No. Collection Catalog progress comes from receiving the required offers, so buying the skins is unnecessary.
Open the Collection Catalog XP panel inside the terminal interface. It shows the items you have already been offered and the requirements for completing each rarity tier. Completed tiers award 5,000 XP, which you claim through that panel.
Progress can come from multiple terminals belonging to the same collection. Opening another terminal does not automatically award another level, and completed catalog rewards are not an unlimited weekly XP source.
For regular progression, see our CS2 XP guide and Service Medal guide.
What are the odds of a rare terminal offer?
Perfect World’s official probability disclosure lists separate rarity probabilities for Genesis and Dead Hand:
| Rarity | Genesis | Dead Hand |
|---|---|---|
| Mil-Spec, blue | 80.128% | 79.923% |
| Restricted, purple | 16.026% | 15.985% |
| Classified, pink | 3.205% | 3.197% |
| Covert, red | 0.641% | 0.639% |
| Rare special item, gold | Not in the pool | 0.256% |
These describe item rarity probabilities, not the chance of making money. For Dead Hand, gold means a glove offer that still has a purchase price.
The CS2 rarity guide explains the colour system.
What happens if you decline every offer?
The terminal is consumed when you exhaust its offers. You receive no purchased skin if you decline them all.
Check the expiry timer shown in the terminal before leaving an offer undecided. Do not assume an activated terminal will remain available indefinitely.
Unsealing itself has no opening fee, but a terminal you bought still cost money. A terminal received through a weekly drop also had potential value while sealed.
Can you sell a terminal or the skin you buy?
A sealed terminal can be sold on the Steam Community Market, subject to your account and item restrictions. Decide whether you want to sell it before unsealing.
Purchased skins can also become tradable or marketable after the applicable restrictions expire. Check the specific item’s dates rather than assuming you can immediately resell it. Our trade hold guide explains common restrictions.
Are CS2 terminals worth opening?
They can be useful for browsing offers or completing catalog XP rewards. Whether a purchase is worthwhile depends on the particular item and price.
Before unsealing, decide whether you would rather keep or sell the sealed terminal. Before accepting an offer, compare the exact item with current alternatives. A rare colour makes an offer interesting. The price determines whether it suits your budget.
