Graffiti is one of the smaller customization systems in Counter-Strike 2, but it has its own rules that are easy to miss. This guide covers how to get graffiti, how to apply it in-game, and what you can do with it once you own it.
How to get graffiti
There are three ways to add graffiti to your inventory:
- Prime Status weekly care package. If you have Prime, graffiti can appear as a rank-up drop.
- Graffiti Boxes. These feature art from Steam Community Artists and can be purchased from the in-game store. A portion of the proceeds goes to the artists.
- Steam Community Market. Individual graffiti patterns can be bought and sold once they are sealed.
There are two variants:
- Monochrome patterns are black and white. They come from rank-up drops.
- Multi-colored patterns come from Graffiti Boxes.
How to apply graffiti
- Open your inventory and unseal the graffiti pattern. Once unsealed, it cannot be traded or sold.
- In-game, hold the spray key (T by default) to enter spraying mode.
- A preview shows where the graffiti will land. If there is no preview, the surface does not support graffiti.
- Press Primary Fire to apply. If you have multiple graffiti patterns, press Secondary Fire to cycle through them.
- Each unsealed graffiti has 50 charges. If you unseal a duplicate, you get 50 additional charges.
- You can apply graffiti once per round or every 45 seconds, whichever is shorter.
- Getting a kill in a round-based mode lets you apply one more graffiti immediately.
- One application lasts 7 minutes and degrades over time until it disappears.
- You can apply graffiti during the round restart delay (7 seconds in competitive mode) regardless of cooldown.
- Only sealed graffiti can be traded or sold on the Steam Community Market.
- Once unsealed, graffiti is locked to your account.
- You can delete unsealed graffiti from your inventory by right-clicking and selecting Delete Item.
- Consumed or deleted graffiti cannot be restored.
- If you want to collect graffiti for trading, keep them sealed. Unsealing destroys their market value.
- Monochrome graffiti from rank-up drops is free, but it is also the most common type.
- Community Graffiti Boxes support artists, so buying them is a way to fund community content.
- Graffiti fades after 7 minutes, so do not worry about it cluttering the map permanently.
[1] Steam Support: CS2 Graffiti FAQ
[2] Counter-Strike Wiki: Graffiti