Charms are small 3D trinkets that hang off your gun and swing as you move. Valve added them to CS2 in October 2024 and has since released more collections, a charm that holds a sticker, and charms that replay moments from Majors. This guide covers how they work and what the "pattern" number on a charm actually changes.
What a charm is
Charms arrived with the Armory update on October 2, 2024, which Valve described as introducing "dynamic items you can apply to your favorite weapons". They are physics objects rather than flat decals: they sway with your movement, and since an October 2025 update they also jolt slightly when you make an audible footstep.
A weapon can carry one charm at a time. Charms use the same colour-coded rarity grades as other CS2 items, running from High Grade (blue) to Extraordinary (red).
Where charms come from
Most charms come from the Armory. You buy an Armory Pass, earn Armory Credits as you gain XP, and spend the credits on items, including a random charm from one of the charm collections. Charms you don't want can be traded or sold like any other item.
| Collection | Added | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Missing Link | October 2024 | Sausage-shaped characters, many based on agents and CS references |
| Small Arms | October 2024 | Chunky toy versions of CS weapons |
| Missing Link Community | October 2025 | 23 charms on the Missing Link shape, made by Workshop artists |
| Dr. Boom | October 2025 | 22 round, grenade-like characters |
Two other kinds of charm sit outside those collections: sticker slabs and Major highlight charms, both covered below.
Attaching and detaching
Attaching works like placing a sticker: pick the charm, drag it to the spot you want on the weapon, preview it and confirm. Placement is entirely your choice, and you can put it anywhere your hands and arms don't cover.
Removing it takes a Charm Detachment. The charm goes back to your inventory unharmed and can be used again on any weapon. Every charm you redeem from the Armory comes with three free Charm Detachments, and more can be bought in the in-game store. That is the key difference from stickers: a sticker is used up when you apply it, while a charm can move between guns for as long as you have detachments.
Two practical points follow from this.
- A charm travels with the gun. If you sell or trade a weapon with a charm attached, the charm goes too. Detach it first if you want to keep it.
- Trade protection applies. Since July 2025, CS2 items received in a trade can't be modified for seven days. You can't attach a charm to, or detach one from, a weapon that is still trade protected, and a charm you received in a trade can't be attached until its own protection ends.
Charm patterns
Each charm carries a number that the game calls its Charm Template, usually just called its pattern. It is assigned when the charm is created, never changes, and stays with the charm through trades. Templates run up to 100,000.
What the number does depends on the charm. On many, it shifts the colour or finish. Hotspawn's pattern guide gives clear examples:
- Baby Karat CT and T: shades of bronze below template 50,000, turning gold above it.
- Die-cast AK: changes colour across the whole range, with gold versions around template 5,000.
- Lil' Sandy: the swimsuit cycles through red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.
On other charms the template makes only a small difference, and sources disagree about exactly which charms display a template at all. Nothing in the game ranks templates as rare; "good" patterns are a market preference, the same way certain paint seeds are for skins. The pattern also has nothing to do with where the charm hangs, which is set by whoever attaches it.
The practical rule is simple: inspect the exact charm before you pay for a pattern. If you're shopping for a specific look, the charm filters on Buy include charm pattern, so you can search for a template range rather than scrolling through listings.
Sticker slabs
In November 2025 Valve added the Sticker Slab, a charm that seals any sticker from your inventory. It attaches like any other charm, and you can crack it open and discard the slab at any time to get the sticker back. It's a way to show off a valuable sticker without using it up, or to add one more sticker to a gun that already has five.
Major highlight charms
For the Austin 2025 Major, Valve introduced Souvenir Highlight Packages for playoff matches. Each one held a Souvenir weapon with a dog-tag charm attached, and the charm carried a video clip of a moment from the match you picked. You can watch the clip from your CS2 inventory, in Steam, or while spectating a teammate. The Budapest 2025 Major used the same idea for its playoffs.
Cologne 2026 changed the delivery. That Major had no Souvenir packages, so after the final Valve sold highlight charms directly in the Major Shop for tokens: ten highlights from each of the six stages, plus Falcons lifting the trophy. Valve said the Cologne 2026 Shop would stay open until September 29, 2026. Our guide to Souvenir packages explains the wider change.
Sources
- CS2 Update 2024-10-02, The Armory (Valve's notes) — CS2 Meta History
- CS2 Update 2025-10-01 (Valve's notes) — CS2 Meta History
- Best CS2 Charm Patterns: All Rarest Charms Explained — Hotspawn
- The complete guide to Counter-Strike 2 weapon charms — EsportFire
- Valve introduces Souvenir Highlight Packages for Austin Major playoffs — esports.gg
- IEM Cologne Major 2026 champions autographs and highlight charms — Strafe