What does the float capping calculator do?
Pick the skin you want out of a Trade Up Contract and the wear you want it in. The calculator gives you the highest average input value that still lands the result in that wear. It also shows the lowest average you can use without landing in a better, more expensive wear.
Add an input skin and the calculator turns that cap into a real float for that skin. That is the number you look for when you buy inputs on a marketplace.
What is float capping?
Float capping means buying trade-up inputs with floats low enough that the output lands in the wear you want. The name comes from the fact that each skin has a float range, and the output float is squeezed into that range.
If you want a Factory New output, you need low float inputs. The calculator tells you exactly how low. For the background, read float capping explained.
How is the output float of a trade-up calculated?
Valve has not published the formula. Community guides written after the October 2025 update, based on testing, report that the game now does three steps:
- Turn each input float into a position inside that input skin's own range: (float - input min) / (input max - input min). We call this the trade-up value.
- Average the ten trade-up values.
- Place that average inside the output skin's range: output = output min + average x (output max - output min).
Before that update, guides describe a simpler formula: the plain average of the raw input floats, placed into the output range. The calculator lets you switch between both, with the normalised one on by default. The source for each is linked next to the switch.
How do you work out the maximum input float?
Turn the output formula around. To land below the upper edge of a wear tier:
Max average = (tier end - output min) / (output max - output min)
The average must stay below that number, because the tier end already belongs to the next wear. For the lower limit, use the tier start instead of the tier end.
| Target wear | Output must be | Formula for the max average |
|---|---|---|
| Factory New | below 0.07 | (0.07 - min) / (max - min) |
| Minimal Wear | 0.07 to below 0.15 | (0.15 - min) / (max - min) |
| Field-Tested | 0.15 to below 0.38 | (0.38 - min) / (max - min) |
| Well-Worn | 0.38 to below 0.45 | (0.45 - min) / (max - min) |
| Battle-Scarred | 0.45 to 1 | any average works |
If the tier sits fully outside the output skin's range, that wear is not possible, and the calculator greys it out.
Worked example 1: a Factory New AWP | Duality
The AWP | Duality is a Classified skin from The Revolution Collection with a float range of 0.00 to 0.80. You trade up ten Restricted skins from the same collection and want it Factory New.
Max average = (0.07 - 0) / (0.80 - 0) = 0.0875
So the average trade-up value of your ten inputs must be below 0.0875. What that means in raw floats depends on the input skins:
| Input skin (Revolution Restricted) | Float range | Raw float needed for FN (all ten the same) |
|---|---|---|
| M4A1-S | Emphorosaur-S | 0.00 to 0.80 | below 0.07 |
| MAC-10 | Sakkaku | 0.21 to 0.79 | below 0.26075 |
For the Sakkaku: 0.21 + 0.0875 x (0.79 - 0.21) = 0.21 + 0.05075 = 0.26075. That is a Field-Tested float, yet it still counts as a clean input, because it sits near the bottom of the Sakkaku's own range.
Under the classic formula, the plain average would have to be below 0.0875. A Sakkaku can never go below 0.21, so under the old rules it could not help you reach a Factory New Duality at all. This is the biggest change the normalised formula brings.
For Minimal Wear, the window is from 0.0875 up to below (0.15 - 0) / 0.80 = 0.1875.
Worked example 2: an AK-47 | Inheritance and a mixed outcome
The AK-47 | Inheritance is a Covert skin from The Kilowatt Collection with a range of 0.00 to 0.797346. You trade up ten Kilowatt Classified skins.
- Factory New: average below 0.07 / 0.797346 = 0.087791
- Minimal Wear: average below 0.15 / 0.797346 = 0.188124
There is a catch. The same contract can also give the AWP | Chrome Cannon, whose range is 0.00 to 1.00. With an average of 0.087 the AK lands at about 0.0694 (Factory New), but the AWP lands at 0.087 (Minimal Wear). If you want both outcomes Factory New, you have to use the tighter cap: average below 0.07.
Check every outcome skin in the contract, not just the one you hope for. The trade-up calculator shows the output float of every outcome at once.
Here is what each Kilowatt Classified input needs, if all ten are that skin and you aim at the 0.087791 AK cap:
| Input skin (Kilowatt Classified) | Float range | Raw float below |
|---|---|---|
| M4A1-S | Black Lotus | 0.00 to 0.70 | 0.061454 |
| Zeus x27 | Olympus | 0.00 to 0.67 | 0.058820 |
| USP-S | Jawbreaker | 0.00 to 1.00 | 0.087791 |
Why should I stay a little under the cap?
Floats are stored with limited precision, and prices for inputs right at the cap are often high. If your average lands exactly on the line, the output can round into the worse tier. Leave a small safety gap, for example aim for 0.086 when the cap is 0.0875.
When should I use a float capping calculator?
- Before you buy trade-up inputs, to know the highest float worth paying for.
- To check if a wear is even possible for the output skin.
- To compare input skins. A skin with a high minimum float can be a cheap, clean input under the normalised formula.
- To test an average you already have, using the check field under the inputs.
After you set your cap, build the full contract in the trade-up calculator to see all outcomes, odds and expected value. The float checker is handy to see where a single float sits.
