Counter-Strike Forum

CS2 grenade drop and pickup: what a dead player leaves behind, and what the limit cvars do about it

The question that comes up in scrims and on community servers is why a teammate's dropped smoke is sometimes not in the buy menu at all, or why it is there but you cannot take it. Two separate systems decide that, and both are configurable.

What gets dropped when a player dies

Valve's command list carries a family of drop cvars, each with its own default:

• mp_death_drop_grenade default 2, described as "Which grenade to drop on player death: 0=none, 1=best, 2=current or best, 3=all grenades". So on a default server a dead player drops the grenade they were holding, or their best one if they held none.
• mp_death_drop_gun default 1, described as "Which gun to drop on player death: 0=none, 1=best, 2=current or best".
• mp_death_drop_c4 default true, described as "Whether c4 is droppable".
• mp_death_drop_defuser default true, described as "Drop defuser on player death".
• mp_death_drop_healthshot default true, described as "Drop healthshot on player death".
• mp_death_drop_taser default true, described as "Drop taser on player death".

The grenade one is the one that matters for utility. A player holding a flashbang and a smoke on a default server drops one grenade, not both. A server admin who wants grenades to circulate has to set the value to 3.

Buying rules that decide what you are allowed to pick up

• mp_buy_allow_grenades default true, described as "Whether players can purchase grenades from the buy menu or not".
• mp_buy_allow_guns default 255, described as "Whether players can purchase guns: pistols (1), SMGs (2), rifles (4), shotguns (8), sniper rifles (16), heavy MGs (32)". The number is a bitfield, so 255 is every category at once.
• mp_buy_anywhere default 0, described as "When set, players can buy anywhere, not only in buyzones. 0 = default. 1 = both teams. 2 = Terrorists. 3 = Counter-Terrorists".
• mp_buy_during_immunity default 0, described as "When set, players can buy when immune, ignoring buytime. 0 = default. 1 = both teams. 2 = Terrorists. 3 = Counter-Terrorists".
• mp_buytime default 45, described as "How many seconds after round start players can buy items for".

The warmup exception, which is why you can stack four grenades at all

• mp_warmuptime default 90, described as "How long the warmup period lasts. Changing this value resets warmup."
• mp_warmuptime_all_players_connected default 0, described as "Warmup time to use when all players have connected. 0 to disable."
• mp_warmuptime_match_cancelled default 5, described as "Warmup time to use when the match will be cancelled (eg. due to a live VAC ban)."
• mp_freezetime default 5, described as "how many seconds to keep players frozen when the round starts".
• sv_warmup_to_freezetime_delay default 4, described as "Delay between end of warmup and start of match."
• mp_warmup_items_nocost default false, described as "Determines whether weapons are free to buy during warmup."
• mp_warmup_items_nocount_policy default 42, described as "Which items are unlimited during warmup (bitfield, 1=gun, 2=c4, 4=nade, 8=defuser/kevlar, 16=taser, 32=healthshot)".

That last line is the answer to the warmup trick. During warmup the bitfield 42 is 32 plus 8 plus 2, so healthshots, defuser or kevlar, and the C4 are unlimited. Grenades, which are the 4 bit, are not part of that set on a default server.

The purchase limits that were tightened this year

Valve's own list gives these defaults:

• ammo_grenade_limit_total default 4
• ammo_grenade_limit_default default 1
• ammo_grenade_limit_flashbang default 2
• ammo_grenade_limit_snowballs default 3
• ammo_grenade_limit_breachcharge default 3
• ammo_grenade_limit_bumpmine default 3
• ammo_grenade_limit_tripwirefire default 1

On the September 22, 2026 update Valve changed how the total behaves. Their release note reads: "ammo_grenade_limit_total setting now also enforces the total number of grenades a player is allowed to purchase in a round." Before that update the total was the number carried into the round; after it, buying is capped as well, so a player cannot burn the limit and then refill from a teammate's drop in the same round.

One thing the page does not settle

The Valve list does not define what the flag column means. It only tells you that the column exists and which entries carry which flags. The descriptions quoted above come straight from Valve's own text, and where a row has no description the command is left unnamed rather than guessed at.

The list itself carries two caveats worth repeating: it was retrieved from the October 2, 2023 build, revision 8384867, and Valve states that some commands shown on the list may be removed or hidden by default when the game receives new updates. Treat the defaults above as a snapshot, not a permanent contract.

Sources
Valve Developer Community: List of Counter-Strike 2 console commands and variables
Valve: Counter-Strike 2 update notes