Quick answer: Loyverse supports printer-driven cash drawers and, in its own words, does not require a specific brand. The drawer plugs into the receipt printer's RJ11 port; the tablet tells the printer, the printer opens the drawer. The two hard requirements are that the printer works in Loyverse and that the drawer and printer run at the same voltage — 12V or 24V.
One behaviour is worth knowing before opening day: the Open Cash Drawer button only appears when a printer has “Print Receipts and Bills” switched on. Our NBCD-410 is built in 12V or 24V — tell us your printer model and we ship the matching build.
How a Loyverse cash drawer actually opens
A cash drawer is a metal box with a spring and a solenoid. It has no processor and nothing to pair with a tablet. What it needs is a short 12V or 24V pulse to pull the latch, and the receipt printer supplies it through the drawer port on its back. Loyverse describes exactly this chain: the drawer is connected to the receipt printer, the printer is connected to the device running Loyverse, and the printer sends the signal that opens the drawer.
Loyverse app → network / Bluetooth / USB → receipt printer → 12V or 24V pulse → RJ11 → drawer opens
So choosing a drawer for Loyverse is mostly choosing it for your printer. Loyverse puts it plainly: as long as the receipt printer is supported by Loyverse, a compatible cash drawer will work with it as well. If the printer is not working in Loyverse yet, start with the Loyverse receipt printer guide — the drawer cannot be fixed on its own.
Voltage: the requirement Loyverse flags with a warning sign
Loyverse's supported cash drawers page carries one requirement marked as important: the printer and the drawer must operate at the same voltage, 12V or 24V, and if they differ they may fail to work or become damaged.
In practice a mismatch rarely fails cleanly. A 24V drawer on a 12V printer can open when empty and refuse when full of coins, because the solenoid has more weight to move. That reads like a loose cable and wastes an afternoon.
The answer is in the printer's specification, usually listed as “cash drawer drive”. Our own NBTP-5880, for example, specifies a DC 12V / 1A drawer drive, so it pairs with a 12V drawer. If your printer's datasheet does not state it, ask the supplier before ordering drawers — we will do the same for you if you send us the model.
When the drawer opens by itself
Once the drawer is plugged into a printer that has Print Receipts and Bills enabled, Loyverse opens it automatically when:
- a cash sale is completed;
- a refund receipt is printed for a cash refund;
- an employee opens a shift to enter the starting cash;
- an employee closes a shift to count the final cash;
- a Pay In or Pay Out is recorded;
- Print test is used on the printer.
That last one is useful at installation: Print test proves the printer connection and the drawer wiring in one tap.
The missing “Open Cash Drawer” button
Opening the drawer without a sale is a permission, not a default. In the Back Office, go to Employees → Access Rights, edit the employee group, tick Open cash drawer without making a sale in the POS section and save. The button then appears in the ⋮ (More) menu on the Sale screen.
Except when it does not. Loyverse notes that the Open Cash Drawer button is only visible when at least one printer is connected with Print Receipts and Bills enabled. If the only printer at a till is set up for kitchen orders, or the receipt printer has dropped off the network, the button disappears — and it looks like the permission is broken when it is not.
We would add one piece of operational advice: grant this permission to supervisors, not to every cashier. A no-sale drawer opening is exactly the event you want to be rare and accountable.
A drawer or a kitchen bell — not both
The same RJ11 port on a receipt printer can drive a kitchen bell instead of a drawer. Loyverse is explicit that if one printer handles both Print Receipts and Bills and Print Orders, the RJ11 port works only as a cash drawer trigger and the bell will not ring. A kitchen bell needs a printer dedicated to kitchen orders; the drawer stays on the counter printer.
The tablet-specific risk: no printer, no drawer
Because the drawer hangs off the printer, anything that stops the tablet reaching the printer also stops the drawer opening. On a network printer that means a router reboot, a Wi-Fi dropout or a printer that picked up a new IP after a power cut turns into a customer paying cash and a drawer that stays shut. Give the printer a fixed IP address, and make sure staff know where the drawer's manual key is before they need it.
How many drawers?
| Setup | Receipt printers | Drawers |
|---|---|---|
| Single counter | 1 | 1 |
| Two tills, both taking cash | 2 | 2 |
| Counter + kitchen printer | 2 | 1, on the counter printer |
| Counter + kitchen printer with bell | 2 | 1 on the counter printer; bell on the kitchen printer |
NETBYE cash drawers
| Model | Style | Width | Voltage | Interfaces |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NBCD-410 | Standard, metal | 410mm | 12V or 24V | RJ11 |
| NBCD-460 | Flip top | 460mm | 12V or 24V | RJ11 / RJ12, optional RS-232 and USB |
Both are printer-driven drawers of the kind Loyverse supports, and both work with any receipt printer that has a drawer-kick port at a matching voltage — ours or anyone else's. The NBCD-460 flip-top suits tight counters. See the full range of cash drawers.
Frequently asked questions
Does Loyverse need a particular brand of cash drawer?
No. Loyverse states it does not require a specific brand; any drawer compatible with your receipt printer will do, provided the voltages match.
Can I connect a cash drawer straight to my tablet?
No. Loyverse supports printer-driven drawers: the drawer connects to the receipt printer, not to the tablet.
The Open Cash Drawer button is missing.
Check two things: that the employee's group has the “Open cash drawer without making a sale” access right, and that at least one connected printer has Print Receipts and Bills enabled. Without the second, the button is hidden.
The receipt printed but the drawer did not open.
The command reached the printer, so suspect a voltage mismatch, the RJ11 cable, or the drawer's key lock being in the locked position.
Why does the drawer open when I close a shift?
That is by design. Loyverse opens the drawer at shift open and shift close so staff can count the cash.
A note on this guide. The drawer side above — solenoids, RJ11 wiring, voltage behaviour, our drawer and printer specifications — is what we know from the products we supply. The Loyverse-specific parts, including printer-driven drawer support, the brand and voltage statements, the automatic-open events, the access right, the button visibility rule and the kitchen bell behaviour, are drawn from Loyverse's published help centre. We have not tested our drawers against Loyverse ourselves, and we have not claimed we have. Menus change between releases, so confirm current details with Loyverse. If something here did not match your installation, tell us and we will correct this page. We would rather publish something accurate than something impressive.
Get pricing
NETBYE supplies distributors, system integrators and retailers worldwide. Our drawers are built by our partner factories in Shenzhen and sold under our own model range — we handle specification, quality control and support, so you deal with one supplier rather than several factories. Direct wholesale pricing, low MOQ on first orders, and OEM/ODM covering branding, drawer layout and note/coin tray configuration.
Tell us which receipt printer model you use (so we ship the right voltage), how many tills, what quantity and which country, and you will get an accurate quote in one reply. If you are specifying printers and drawers together for a Loyverse rollout, we will quote them as a matched set. Request a quote.
Related guides
More hardware for Loyverse POS:
And the same hardware for other tablet-based POS systems: