CS2 MP9 submachine gun displayed in the weapon inventory

MP9 Guide for Counter-Strike 2

Damage, spray, the $600 kill reward, and when it beats a FAMAS.

The MP9 is the CT side's cheap SMG. It costs $1,250, pays $600 a kill - twice what a rifle pays - and fires 857 rounds a minute, one bullet every 70 milliseconds, as fast as the P90 and faster than any other SMG. Standing still it is also the most accurate SMG, 15.9 metres.

The trade-off is damage and range. With 26 a bullet and 60% armour penetration, it needs seven chest hits to kill an armoured opponent, and it loses 13% of its damage every 500 units, against 2-6% for rifles. It also carries only 90 rounds, the fewest of any SMG. This page goes through the numbers, the spray, when to buy it, and the skins and cases.

Last checked

September 2026

Weapon stats checked against CS2 build 1.41.7.6.

MP9 at a Glance

The full stat sheet, straight from the game.

Every number below comes from the game build of 18 March 2026. Two of them define the MP9: a $600 kill reward and 857 rounds a minute. It pays twice as much per kill as a rifle and fires at 857 rounds a minute, tied with the P90 for the fastest rate of fire available to the CT side. What it gives up is damage at range - with 13% lost every 500 units, one bullet to an unhelmeted head kills only inside about 3.6 metres.

Damage and money

Price	$1,250
Kill reward	$600
Side	CT only
Base damage	26
Armour penetration	60%
Headshot multiplier	4x
Damage lost at 500 units	13%
Wall penetration	100%
One-tap range, helmet	None (62.4 damage)
One-tap range, no helmet	141 u (about 3.6 m)

Handling and ammo

Rate of fire	857 RPM
Magazine	30
Reserve	60 (90 total)
Reload	2.13 s (mag in at 0.87 s)
Deploy	1.20 s
Mobility	240 (knife is 250)
Tagging power	100%
Accurate range, standing	15.9 m
Running inaccuracy	38.6
Recoil	Set pattern
Console command	`give weapon_mp9`

The weak spot is ammo and handling between fights. 90 rounds is three magazines and the fewest of any SMG, and at 1.20 seconds the MP9 is the slowest SMG to pull out. On the move it is far more accurate than any rifle - 38.6, about a third of the FAMAS's 107.5 - but the MAC-10 (27.9) and MP7 (30.5) do better still.

MP9 Damage & Armour

What one bullet does, and how many it takes.

Everything here assumes a full-health player at close range. Armour means kevlar on the body and a helmet on the head. The general rules behind these numbers are on the weapons hub.

Damage per bullet

Hitbox	No armour	Armour	Bullets to kill, no armour	Bullets to kill, armour
Head	104	62.4	1	2
Chest and arms	26	15.6	4	7
Stomach	32.5	19.5	4	6
Legs	19.5	19.5	6	6

Armour makes a big difference here. Without it the MP9 kills in four chest hits; with kevlar it needs seven. Several numbers also miss by very little: an unhelmeted headshot does 104, only four over a kill, and three stomach hits without armour add up to 97.5, two and a half short.

Where the MP9 drops off

The MP9 loses 13% of its damage for every 500 units of distance - more than three times what the FAMAS loses. The bullet counts above hold only this far:

Shot	Works up to
Stomach, no armour - 4 bullets	942 u (about 24 m)
Head, helmet - 2 bullets	795 u (about 20 m)
Stomach through armour - 6 bullets	564 u (about 14 m)
Legs - 6 bullets	564 u (about 14 m)
Chest through armour - 7 bullets	316 u (about 8 m)
Head, no helmet - 1 bullet	141 u (about 3.6 m)
Chest, no armour - 4 bullets	141 u (about 3.6 m)

Past each of those distances the count goes up by one. Damage is multiplied by 0.87 for every 500 units of distance, and it drops smoothly in between. Two headshots on an unhelmeted player kill out to 2,630 units, about 67 metres.

What this means in a fight

Against a player without armour, four chest hits take 0.21 seconds at 857 rounds a minute, about as fast as the AK's three hits in 0.20. Against kevlar it is a different gun: seven chest hits, 0.42 seconds, and eight past about 8 metres. That is why the MP9 is an anti-eco weapon first. Against armour, aim for the head - two helmeted headshots kill out to 20 metres, and at 857 rounds a minute the second one comes 70 milliseconds after the first.

MP9 Recoil & Spray

Where thirty bullets go, and how to pull them back.

The MP9 fires 857 rounds a minute, one bullet every 70 milliseconds. A full magazine of 30 is gone in about two seconds. The recoil pattern follows the same overall path every time you spray, which is why spray control can be learned. On top of it sits a little random spread that grows the longer you hold the trigger.

The dots show where each bullet goes if you hold the trigger and don't touch the mouse. The dashed line is where you aimed, and the white dot is the latest shot. The panel on the right is the mouse movement that cancels it - the same path turned upside down and mirrored. ×1 plays at real speed, ×0.5 and ×0.25 slow it down, and Step by step fires one bullet per click with Next shot.

The spray, shot by shot

Shots 1-3. Barely move. The first three bullets land almost where you aimed.
Shots 4-8. Straight up. Pull down.
Shots 9-12. The climb slows and the spray jumps left, furthest out at shot 12 - the widest point of the whole spray. Pull right.
Shots 13-14. Still left, and a little higher. Keep pulling down and right.
Shots 15-20. A swing to the right, furthest out at shot 20. Pull left.
Shots 21-24. Back to the middle. Pull right a little.
Shots 25-30. Right again, furthest out at shot 28. Pull left.

From shot 15 on, the spray hardly goes higher. The hard part is the jump to the left at shots 9-12: at 70 milliseconds a bullet, it happens in about a quarter of a second.

How to actually use it

The first eight shots are the part worth drilling - a straight pull down. That covers the four chest hits an unarmoured player needs, and more than half of the seven an armoured one needs (see Damage & Armour).

Spray control will not make the MP9 accurate on the move. Its running inaccuracy is 38.6, far better than any rifle, but still far from standing still. Tapping the opposite movement key - counter-strafing - brings you to a stop faster than just letting go of the key.

The accurate range is 15.9 metres, the best of any SMG, but past that distance the damage drop matters more than accuracy. At long range, short bursts at head height work better than a spray.

Did the spray change in 2026?

No. In April 2026 Valve changed how the screen moves when you fire, so it feels closer to CS:GO. Where the bullets land stayed the same. I also checked the pattern offline, on a private server, against my own Logitech G HUB Lua script for the MP9: its mouse path lines up with these 30 shots. I don't recommend using scripts like this in Competitive or Premier.

Sources: CS2 update notes, 21 April 2026

When to Buy the MP9

Anti-eco, force buys, and when the FAMAS is the better $1,950.

The MP9 has two jobs: making money against players with no armour, and giving you a gun on a round when a rifle is out of reach.

Against an eco

When the Ts are saving, most of them have pistols and no armour. That is where the MP9 is at its best: four chest hits in 0.21 seconds, and $600 for every kill against a rifle's $300. Three kills with an MP9 pay $1,800, more than the gun cost. The same three kills with an M4 pay $900.

What a force buy adds up to

Item	Price
MP9	$1,250
Kevlar + helmet	$1,000
Smoke	$300
Flashbang	$200
Total	$2,750

A FAMAS with the same armour and nothing else costs $2,950. So with less than that, the MP9 is gun that still leaves room for armour and a couple of grenades.

MP9 or FAMAS

Against armoured Ts, the FAMAS is the stronger gun: five chest hits through armour in 0.36 seconds against the MP9's seven in 0.42, and it keeps its damage much further out (see Damage & Armour). The MP9 is $700 cheaper, moves at 240 against 220, and pays twice as much per kill. If you can afford the FAMAS with armour, take it for fights at range; the MP9 is for close positions and for rounds where the money matters more than the kill speed. More in the FAMAS guide.

After a won pistol round

The round after a won pistol round is the classic MP9 round. The Ts usually have little money and no armour, and every kill at $600 puts you further ahead for the rounds after.

Dropping one for a teammate

At $1,250 the MP9 is one of the cheapest guns to drop. On an anti-eco round, an MP9 for a teammate who would otherwise play with a pistol costs less than a FAMAS and pays for itself after three kills.

MP9 vs Other SMGs

What the MP9 does better, and what it gives up.

The MP9 wins on rate of fire and accuracy standing still, and loses on damage against armour and total ammo. How much that matters depends on who you compare it with. The table below has all the numbers side by side.

vs MAC-10

The T side's version of the same idea, $200 cheaper. On paper the MAC-10 kills through armour in six chest hits, but six of them add up to 100.05, so past point-blank it needs seven, 0.45 seconds against the MP9's 0.42. It is better on the move, 27.9 against 38.6, and carries 120 rounds to the MP9's 90. It is also far less accurate standing still, 11.0 metres against 15.9, and loses 20% of its damage every 500 units. Details in the MAC-10 guide.

vs MP7

$150 more and available to both sides. With 30 damage and 62.5% armour penetration it kills through armour in six chest hits, 0.40 seconds, out to about 11 metres, and an unarmoured player in four out to about 17 metres, where the MP9 needs a fifth past 3.6. It fires slower, 750 rounds a minute, and moves at 220 against 240. Details in the MP7 guide.

vs MP5-SD

Also $150 more, with the same fire rate as the MP7 and a built-in silencer. It needs six chest hits through armour only inside about 4 metres, then seven, 0.48 seconds - slower than the MP9. Its running inaccuracy is 40.6, close to the MP9's 38.6. What it offers is sound: its shots are quieter. Details in the MP5-SD guide.

vs UMP-45

$50 cheaper and the hardest-hitting SMG: 35 a bullet with 65% armour penetration. It kills through armour in five chest hits, 0.36 seconds, and an unarmoured player in three, 0.18 - but both only up close, because it loses 25% of its damage every 500 units. The magazine is 25 rounds and it fires 666 a minute. Details in the UMP-45 guide.

vs P90

$1,100 more, with the same 26 damage and the same 857 rounds a minute. Its 69% armour penetration saves one bullet through armour, six instead of seven, 0.35 seconds, and it holds 50 rounds a magazine. It pays only $300 a kill, like a rifle, which takes away the MP9's main reason to exist on an eco. Details in the P90 guide.

The PP-Bizon has its own guide: PP-Bizon. For the step up in price, see the FAMAS guide.

SMG Stats Table

All seven SMGs side by side, with the MP9 already open.

This is the same table as on the weapons hub, but filtered down to SMGs. The MP9 row is open with its damage per hitbox and full stats, and it is already ticked for comparison with the MAC-10, MP7 and UMP-45. Untick any of them, or tick the MP5-SD, P90 or PP-Bizon instead - up to four at a time.

Click a column header to sort. The full table with all 36 weapons is on the weapons hub.

Click any weapon for damage per hitbox, full stats and variants.

	Weapon	Type	Price	Kill $	Damage	Armour pen	RPM	Mag	Total ammo	HS kill vs helmet

Stats from the CS2 Weapon Spreadsheet, game build of 18 March 2026. Shotgun damage is per pellet. Headshot ranges are converted from game units at 39.4 units per metre. Zeus and knife values come from the game files rather than the sheet.

MP9 Skins & Cases

MP9 skins by market listings and price, and where they come from.

Three ways to look at MP9 skins. Most listed are the ones with the most offers across the markets I track, in other words the ones currently offered most often. Most expensive are the skins that stay expensive even in their cheapest wear. Cheapest are the ones that stay cheap even in their best wear. Prices update every 15 minutes, and the range on each card runs from the cheapest variant to the most expensive one, wear and StatTrak included.

Consumer Grade

Slide

$0.02 - $1.94

View prices →

Consumer Grade

Sand Dashed

$0.02 - $7.99

View prices →

Consumer Grade

Buff Blue

$0.01 - $3.82

View prices →

Mil-Spec Grade

Featherweight

$0.05 - $0.77

View prices →

Mil-Spec Grade

Nexus

$0.05 - $1.43

View prices →

Consumer Grade

Bee-Tron

$0.01 - $7.50

View prices →

Consumer Grade

Multi-Terrain

$0.01 - $0.02

View prices →

Consumer Grade

Dizzy

$0.01 - $9.72

View prices →

All of them, with a price for every wear, are on the MP9 skins page.

Cases with MP9 skins

Every case that can drop an MP9 skin, newest first. The number under each case is how many MP9 skins it holds.

Fever Case2025 · 1 skin

Revolution Case2023 · 1 skin

Dreams & Nightmares Case2022 · 1 skin

Operation Riptide Case2021 · 1 skin

Snakebite Case2021 · 1 skin

CS20 Case2019 · 1 skin

Danger Zone Case2018 · 1 skin

Horizon Case2018 · 1 skin

Clutch Case2018 · 1 skin

Spectrum 2 Case2017 · 1 skin

Glove Case2016 · 1 skin

Gamma 2 Case2016 · 1 skin

Chroma 3 Case2016 · 1 skin

Falchion Case2015 · 1 skin

Chroma Case2015 · 1 skin

Operation Vanguard Weapon Case2014 · 1 skin

Winter Offensive Weapon Case2013 · 1 skin

CS:GO Weapon Case 22013 · 1 skin

MP9 skins that never came from a case

Some MP9 skins come from map collections, operations, or the Armory instead of cases. Collections marked "souvenir" also come in souvenir packages from Majors.

The 2018 Inferno Collection1 skin · souvenir

The 2021 Dust 2 Collection1 skin · souvenir

The 2021 Mirage Collection1 skin · souvenir

The Achroma Collection1 skin

The Alpha Collection1 skin

The Arabesque Collection1 skin

The Ascent Collection2 skins

The Assault Collection1 skin

The Baggage Collection1 skin

The Boreal Collection1 skin

The Cache Collection1 skin · souvenir

The Canals Collection1 skin

The Cobblestone Collection1 skin · souvenir

The Control Collection1 skin

The Dead Hand Collection1 skin

The Dust 2 Collection1 skin · souvenir

The Genesis Collection1 skin

The Gods and Monsters Collection1 skin

The Harlequin Collection1 skin

The Mirage Collection1 skin · souvenir

The Overpass Collection1 skin · souvenir

The Radiant Collection2 skins

The Safehouse Collection1 skin · souvenir

The Sport & Field Collection1 skin

The Spy Tech Collection1 skin

The St. Marc Collection1 skin

The Train 2025 Collection1 skin · souvenir

Browse all CS2 cases and all collections, or check what your own skins are worth with the Inventory Value Calculator.

Common MP9 Mistakes

Small habits that cost rounds, and what the numbers say instead.

Reloading after every fight

Since the 18 March 2026 update, a reload throws away whatever is left in the magazine and takes a full one from your reserve. The MP9 has only two spare magazines of 30, the least ammo of any SMG, so two early reloads can leave you with an empty gun before the round is over. How this habit caught me out is in the AK-47 guide.

The second reload mistake is reloading when you are not safe. From pressing R to being able to shoot again the MP9 needs 2.1 seconds. Only reload when you are sure nobody can swing on you for more than two seconds.

Waiting for a one-tap

A helmeted headshot does 62.4 damage, so the MP9 never kills with one bullet to a helmeted head. Even without a helmet, the one-tap works only inside about 3.6 metres. Two headshots, or a short burst at head height, are what actually kill.

Taking long fights

The MP9 loses 13% of its damage for every 500 units. Past about 8 metres it needs eight chest hits through armour, and past 20 metres two helmeted headshots are no longer enough. Hold close angles where the fight starts inside that range. The numbers are in Damage & Armour.

Buying it against a full buy

Against Ts with armour and rifles, seven chest hits and a limited range put the MP9 at a disadvantage. If you can afford a FAMAS with armour, it is the stronger gun in that round. More in When to Buy.

Spraying all thirty

After the eighth bullet the MP9 spray jumps far to the left, then swings right, and the random spread keeps growing. With only 90 rounds for the whole round, a wasted half-magazine hurts more than on other SMGs. The spray section shows where the bullets go.

Shooting on the move at range

The MP9's running inaccuracy is 38.6, far better than any rifle, and up close it lets you keep shooting while you move. At range it still goes wide. Stop first: tapping the opposite movement key - counter-strafing - brings you to a stop faster than just letting go of the key.

More SMGs

The other six SMGs in CS2, starting with the MP9's T counterpart.

// T · $1,050 · T counterpart

MAC-10

Essentially a box that bullets come out of, the MAC-10 SMG boasts a high rate of fire, with poor spread accuracy and high recoil as trade-offs.

Read the guide →

// Both · $1,400

MP7

Versatile but expensive, the German-made MP7 SMG is the perfect choice for high-impact close-range combat.

All-round SMGopen →

// Both · $1,400

MP5-SD

Often imitated but never equaled, the iconic MP5 is perhaps the most versatile and popular SMG in the world. This SD variant comes equipped with an integrated silencer, making an already formidable weapon whisper-quiet.

Silencedopen →