Terms of service

Last updated: 28 September 2026

These terms cover your use of afk.tf (“we”, “us”). Renting a bot means you accept them. They're written in plain English on purpose — if anything here is unclear, ask us before you sign up rather than after.

1. What the service is

We run trading-bot software on our own hardware on your behalf. The bot logs into a Steam account that you own, posts listings, and handles trade offers according to rules you set. We are a hosting and software service. We are not a broker, a marketplace, an escrow, or a financial service, and we do not give trading advice.

2. The bot account is yours

• You create and own the Steam account the bot runs on. It must be an account dedicated to this purpose — not your main.
• You remain responsible for that account at all times, including for anything the bot does on it.
• Your items, keys and metal stay in your inventory. We never hold your stock and we take no percentage of your profit.
• You can change the password or mobile authenticator whenever you like. Doing so will stop the bot until you give us the new details.

3. What we need, and what we do with it

To run a bot we need the bot account's login details and its mobile-authenticator secret (this is what lets it confirm trades without you), plus a backpack.tf API key. We use these only to operate your bot. We do not use them to trade for ourselves, to access any other account of yours, or for anything you haven't asked for. See the privacy policy for how they're stored and how long we keep them.

4. Your side of the deal

• Only trade items you actually own and are entitled to trade.
• No knowingly duped items, no items obtained by fraud, no scam offers, no fake or manipulative listings, and no using the bot to harass anyone.
• Follow the Steam Subscriber Agreement and backpack.tf's own rules. Your relationship with them is yours, not ours.
• Don't ask us to build anything designed to deceive other traders. We'll say no.

5. What automation can and can't promise

The bot follows the rules you set, including a hard floor that stops it selling an item below what it paid, and a review queue for anything unusual or above your value cap. Those reduce mistakes; they do not remove market risk. Prices move, items lose value, and a trade that looked good can turn out badly.

You trade at your own risk. We don't guarantee profit, and we are not responsible for the market value of anything your bot buys, sells or holds.

6. Uptime and interruptions

We aim to keep your bot running continuously and we'll tell you when we plan maintenance. We can't promise uninterrupted service: Steam goes down, backpack.tf rate-limits, and hosting fails. Where a failure is ours and material, tell us and we'll credit the affected time.

7. Payment

• Rent is billed monthly in advance, in keys or by card.
• When you pay in keys, the rate is fixed at the start of each billing month.
• Cancel any time from the dashboard or by messaging us. Your bot runs to the end of the period you've paid for, then stops. We don't refund part-months, but we also don't lock you in.
• If payment fails, we'll pause the bot rather than delete anything, and tell you.

8. Ending the rental

When a rental ends — by you, or by us — the bot removes its listings, stops taking offers, and sends your inventory to the Steam account you nominate. We then delete your credentials.

We may suspend or end a rental if you breach section 4, if payment fails and stays unresolved, or if keeping the bot running would put other customers at risk. Where we reasonably can, we'll warn you first.

9. Liability

Nothing here limits liability that can't legally be limited, including for fraud or death or personal injury caused by negligence.

Beyond that: we're not liable for trading losses, for the value of items, for action taken against your Steam account by Valve, or for outages at Steam, backpack.tf or any other third party. Our total liability to you is limited to the fees you paid us in the three months before the claim.

10. Changes

We may update these terms. If a change materially affects you we'll give notice by email or Discord before it takes effect, and you can cancel if you don't like it.

11. Who we are and which law applies

afk.tf is operated from Sweden. These terms are governed by Swedish law, and the Swedish courts have jurisdiction — this doesn't take away any consumer rights you have where you live.

Questions: ask on our Discord.

12. Not affiliated with Valve

afk.tf is an independent service. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Valve Corporation, Steam or backpack.tf. Team Fortress 2 and Steam are trademarks of Valve Corporation, and item names are used descriptively to refer to in-game items.