Snap Tap Is Banned in CS2 but Not Valorant: Keyboard Rules in 2026
Quick answer: Valve banned hardware and software input automation — Snap Tap, SOCD cleaning, null binds — in Counter-Strike 2, and its anti-cheat can detect it. Rapid Trigger and adjustable actuation are still allowed. Riot has not banned these features in Valorant, but treats it as a use-at-your-own-risk gray area. Know which setting is which before you queue, and confirm your board with the keyboard test.
The key distinction: Rapid Trigger vs SOCD
These get lumped together because magnetic and optical keyboards expose them in the same software panel, but they do different things. Rapid Trigger changes when a single key turns on and off — it resets the moment the key starts moving up. SOCD / Snap Tap changes what happens when two opposing keys (A and D) are held at once, forcing the last input to win instead of cancelling out. That second category is what enables mathematically perfect counter-strafing, and that is where the rules bite.
What CS2 bans
Valve's stance is that automation which circumvents core skills — hardware-assisted counter-strafing included — is not allowed on official servers. In practice: turn off SOCD, Snap Tap, Snappy Tappy, Rappy Snappy and null binds before ranked. Rapid Trigger, adjustable actuation and continuous rapid trigger remain fine. Its anti-cheat can flag the inhumanly perfect input pattern, so this is a real ban risk, not a theoretical one.
Where Valorant stands
Riot has not followed Valve, so hardware SOCD is not currently triggering bans in Valorant. But Riot's kernel-level anti-cheat can see exactly what your hardware does, and its policy language is broad enough that it could change. Because Valorant's movement is slower and precision-based, the advantage is smaller anyway, which is why many pros don't bother.
Stay legal and test your board
If you have experimented with these features, a physical factory reset of the keyboard's onboard memory is the safe move before Valve matchmaking, and always check your league's rulebook separately. Whatever you run, make sure every key registers cleanly and your rollover is solid with the keyboard test — see our guide on testing keyboard ghosting for the fundamentals.