Valve bans Counter-Strike players for exploiting Armory Pass
In a surprising turn of events, Valve hammered down on Counter-Strike 2 players who farmed the Armory pass stars by using an exploit which allowed them to gain an increased number of stars within one game.
Many community members and streamers were surprised by a message upon opening CS2 which reads:
“Your trading privileges in Counter-Strike 2 have been suspended for exploiting bugged XP lobbies in Deathmatch on official Counter-Strike 2 servers. Your trading privileges will be restored on October 1, 2025.”
Image source: Ozzny on XThis punishment comes after Valve’s attempt in fixing the exploit by readjusting the score calculation in Casual, Competitive, and Wingman to exclude knife and utility damage. However, the community found another way to abuse and farm XP by setting up farm lobbies.
How did the exploit work?
Initially, players found that getting kills with utility gave more XP to unlock stars resulting in chaos during Deathmatches with Grenades, Molotovs and HE grenades storming Dust 2. In fact, if you join one of these lobbies and opted to not farm, you’d immediately find yourself disconnected from the server.
But, since Valve’s update on score calculation, players instead switched to rushing with P90s in Tunnel. The XP abusers went deeper to even organize casual farm lobbies with a message sent to the general chat upon connecting to the server and it reads: (P90/ NO NADES/ 7-7/ TUNNEL FARM or KICK).
It doesn’t stop here! By using incorrect game settings and changing the server’s mode flags, players could create lobbies in the game. This allowed them to spawn with Team Deathmatch instead of regular Deathmatch since it allowed them to earn more credits than intended, and the only way to join these lobbies was via invite only.
The community’s reaction
As a consequence, players received a year-long trade-ban revoking their right to trade items which might seem like a harsh punishment, but opinions differ as actions have consequences, and players used the exploit on their own will.
On one side, many players have voiced their support, commending Valve for taking action to protect the game’s integrity. In a competitive, community-driven environment like CS2, maintaining the fairness of systems like the Armory Pass is essential to preserving player trust in the rewards they earn.
Conversely, others believe the punishment is too severe, particularly for content creators who depend on the game’s economy and trading system for income. Some argue that many of these creators may not have fully understood the seriousness of the exploit they were using, especially considering the initial lack of transparency from Valve regarding the bug.
At last, these actions will certainly put an end to the exploit and get players to work hard again for their stars, similar to previous operations. This serves as a reminder to both players and creators about the importance of maintaining integrity in gaming, especially content creators as their actions hold the power to influence thousands of players.
Featured Image is exclusive to Strafe Esports
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