To get a Service Medal in CS2, reach profile rank 40 (Global General) on official Valve servers and press the rank reset button: the medal goes straight to your inventory. It is free and open to every player, but each medal can only be earned during its own calendar year, so the 2026 Service Medal is available until December 31. There are six color tiers, from gray to red, and each higher tier requires one more full rank reset.
What the CS2 Service Medal Is and Why It Matters
The CS2 Service Medal is a cosmetic badge shown next to your name in the lobby and on the scoreboard. It has no effect on your CS Rating, your Competitive ranks or your Prime status; it simply shows how much time you have put into CS2 this year. Its value comes from the lack of shortcuts: you cannot unbox one or buy it on the Steam Market, you can only earn it by playing.
Anyone who owns the game can earn the medal for free, with no extra purchases. The system dates back to CS:GO in 2015; the number of tiers changed over the years before it settled at six, and that structure carried over to CS2. The design changes every year: the 2026 medal uses a gold color scheme with a purple star in the center and weapon motifs.
The defining feature of the system is a hard deadline. After December 31, the current season's medal can no longer be earned. Medals from past years cannot be bought, traded or awarded retroactively; they stay with the players who earned them in that year.
How to Get a CS2 Service Medal: Step by Step
The process is the same for every tier and does not change from year to year. The key point: XP only counts on official Valve servers. Community servers, workshop maps and custom lobbies give no profile progress, so the medal reflects real playtime. The second rule: do not leave matches early, or you will not receive XP for that match.
The full sequence:
Launch CS2 through Steam.
Play on official Valve servers: Premier, Competitive, Wingman, Casual, Deathmatch or Arms Race.
Earn about 200,000 XP: that is 40 profile ranks at 5,000 XP each.
Once you reach Global General (rank 40), a button to claim the medal appears above your XP bar.
Confirm the reset: your profile rank returns to the start, and the medal lands in your inventory.
To show it on your profile, select it in your inventory and choose to display it.
Resetting your profile rank does not touch your CS Rating in Premier mode or your Competitive ranks; these are separate systems. The easiest way to secure at least the gray medal is to start in January and play a few hours every week instead of leaving it all for December. Each additional reset in the same calendar year upgrades the medal by one tier.
Leveling up also triggers the weekly reward: Prime accounts get a Care Package with a choice of items on their first rank-up of the week. Our guide on what skins drop in CS2 covers how that works.
CS2 Service Medal Colors and Tiers
Color is the only visual indicator of how many resets you have completed. Progression is strictly linear: you cannot skip a tier, and every cycle starts again from rank 1. Early versions of the system in CS:GO had more tiers before Valve settled on six.
| Tier | Color | Resets | Total XP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gray | 1 | ~200,000 XP |
| 2 | Green | 2 | ~400,000 XP |
| 3 | Blue | 3 | ~600,000 XP |
| 4 | Purple | 4 | ~800,000 XP |
| 5 | Pink | 5 | ~1,000,000 XP |
| 6 | Red | 6 | ~1,200,000 XP |
The table makes it clear that medal tiers are about time and consistency, not skill. Higher tiers are realistic for players who stay active all year. To reach any tier at all, start in January and avoid long breaks: every week you skip is bonus XP you never get back. The red medal is covered separately below.
How to Farm the CS2 Medal Faster: XP by Game Mode
Leveling speed depends on the mode you play. Many players assume Competitive is the fastest option, but each mode has its own logic. Competitive and Premier award XP for rounds won, so your gains depend on teammates and opponents. Deathmatch rewards your personal score, which gives steady results regardless of how anyone else plays. Valve does not publish exact formulas, so the numbers below are rough figures reported by players.
| Mode | How XP is earned | XP per match (approx.) | Duration | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Competitive / Premier | 30 XP per round won | 300 to 500 XP | 30 to 45 min | Players with a consistent stack |
| Wingman (2v2) | 15 XP per round won | 120 to 200 XP | 10 to 20 min | Duos with a reliable partner |
| Casual | Based on match score | 250 to 350 XP | 15 to 25 min | Relaxed farming |
| Deathmatch | 0.2 XP per point | 100 to 150 XP before bonus | 10 min | Solo players with good aim |
| Arms Race | Based on match score | up to 300 XP | 10 to 15 min | Players who want variety |
For solo players, Deathmatch is the most reliable choice: a match lasts 10 minutes and XP depends only on your own shooting. Competitive and Premier pay off if you have a regular stack with a good win rate. Wingman suits duos, with short matches and the highest individual impact on the result. Mixing modes is a sensible way to avoid burnout from a repetitive grind.
How the Weekly XP Bonus Works and When to Play
The weekly bonus is the main lever for earning the medal faster. Every week, your first few thousand XP come with an increased multiplier, which then gradually drops back to normal. The weekly cycle resets on Wednesday at around 01:00 UTC. Once the bonus is used up, you keep earning XP, just much more slowly.
The practical strategy: your most valuable sessions come at the start of the week, right after the reset. That is when your first Deathmatch or Competitive matches pay several times the normal rate. If you use up the bonus in a couple of evenings, you can take a break until the next week, since playing without the multiplier is far less efficient.
You can earn the CS2 medal at any pace, but players aiming for purple or higher benefit most from scheduling their main sessions at the start of each week and not skipping whole weeks.
Earning the Red CS2 Medal in One Year
This is the question for anyone thinking about stacking several medals in one season. It is technically possible but realistic only for very active players. The red medal requires about 1,200,000 XP. Spread over 52 weeks, that is more than 23,000 XP a week, which means several profile ranks every single week with no breaks. The weekly bonus covers only part of that, and the rest has to come from regular matches without the multiplier.
A player who spends a few evenings a week in CS2 usually ends the year somewhere in the middle tiers, which is already a solid result. The red medal takes many hours of play every day across the whole year. That is why it earns respect in the lobby: everyone knows how much time it represents.
Other CS2 Medals and Coins
The Service Medal is not the only badge you can show on your profile. CS2 has several kinds of collectible rewards with different requirements. Some are granted automatically, while others belong to the past.
The main profile rewards:
The CS2 veteran medal is the 10 Year Veteran Coin. It is granted automatically once CS has been on your Steam account for 10 years or more. You can check the date in Steam under Account Details, in your list of licenses. No action is needed; the coin appears on its own.
The CS2 Major medal is the Event Coin. You need to buy a Viewer Pass during a Major and take part in Pick'Em: the coin upgrades from Bronze to Diamond depending on how accurate your predictions are. The most recent one was the Viewer Pass for the IEM Cologne Major 2026.
The CS2 map medal is the Contributor Coin. It goes only to creators of maps featured in official operations and is not available to regular players.
The Loyalty Badge and Global Offensive Badge are granted automatically: the first for owning CS:GO before December 6, 2018, the second for playing CS:GO before CS2 launched on September 27, 2023. New accounts can no longer get them.
The difference between these rewards is simple. The Service Medal refreshes every year and is open to everyone. The Event Coin is tied to a specific Major and requires a pass. Legacy badges highlight a player's veteran status. If you are wondering how much Prime costs in CS2, that is a separate topic: Prime does not affect the medal, but it is required for weekly rewards and Premier.
The Medal as a Mark on Your Profile
The bottom line: getting a CS2 Service Medal does not require pro-level skill or money. You need official Valve servers, about 200,000 XP and one button. Keep the December 31 deadline in mind, because after that the current season's medal is gone. The earlier you start, the better your chances of reaching green or blue instead of rushing for gray in December. If you want to climb in competitive play as well, see our guide on how to get a rank in CS2.
FAQ
How much XP do you need for a CS2 Service Medal?
About 200,000 XP, which is 40 profile ranks at 5,000 XP each. Every higher tier takes the same amount again after another reset.
Can you earn the medal on community servers?
No. Profile XP is only awarded in modes on official Valve servers.
Does the rank reset affect my Competitive rank or CS Rating?
No. Profile rank and Competitive or Premier ranks are separate, and the reset only affects your profile rank.
Can you still get last year's medal?
No. Each year's medal can only be earned until December 31; after that it can neither be earned nor bought.
