VAC2 Information & Hack Removal [February 27, 2007]

[Diddle]

Status of VAC2: Released (VAC2 is up and running)
* VAC2 supports all Valve/Steam games. That means HL1 & HL2 games, as well as third party mods, are supported.
* All servers have VAC enabled by default.
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Valve Anti-Cheat System (VAC)

What is VAC?

The Valve Anti-Cheat system runs on servers displaying the "Secured" shield logo. If a user connects to a VAC-Secured server while using a cheat, the VAC system will ban the user from playing on VAC-Secured servers in the future.

While server admins may choose to ban specific players, server admins cannot VAC ban players. The VAC system is automated - contacting Steam Support to report cheaters is not necessary, nor will Steam Support act on any information provided.

All VAC bans are permanent - Valve has a zero-tolerance policy for cheaters.

The VAC system does not generate false-positives. Only hacks and cheats (modifications designed to give one player an advantage over other players) will trigger a VAC ban - any modifications to a game's core executable files (.EXE) or dynamic link library (.DLL) files will trigger the VAC system.

VAC Bans versus Server Bans

The best indicator that your account has been banned by VAC is the "Your connection to this secure server has been rejected. Because of past cheating violations, you have been banned from playing on all secure servers" message which displays when a VAC-banned account attempts to access a VAC-secured server.

If you receive an error message stating "STEAMID IS BANNED" (or other similar messages) when attempting to connect to a server, your account is *not* banned by VAC - server administrators may ban you from a particular server (we cannot prevent this - whomever runs the server has control over whom is allowed to play there).

You will not be banned by the VAC system unless your account is used to cheat.

How do I report a cheater?

It is not necessary to report cheaters playing on VAC-Secured servers - the VAC system will detect and ban these individuals. We appreciate your good intentions by reporting individual players suspected of cheating, however, these reports are discarded.

If you are playing on an unsecured server, you may wish to report cheating to a server administrator - Steam Support cannot ban players for activities on unsecured servers.

Please do not post on how to get a specific player banned because you have a demo of them cheating. This sort of information is not reliable enough for us to use. VALVe uses VAC for its bans only.

The recommendation is that you contact the server owner where you saw the possible cheater and discuss it with the admin.

While we appreciate you wanting to rid the games of cheaters, VALVe lets VAC do its banning.

The following will not trigger a VAC ban:

* Using chat programs like X-Fire
* Playing multi-player mods which do not modify core .EXE and .DLL files
* System hardware configurations
* Playing with custom skins

Use only trusted machines to play on VAC-Secured servers - if you are not sure whether or not the machine you are using to connect to Steam may have cheats installed, do not play on VAC-Secured servers.

VAC Myths

There are some things people often blame or think is true about VAC. Most are false. Below are facts, not Myths ...

* Winamp or HLamp (a plugin for winamp) DO NOT get you banned.
* Using buy scripts, or any other cfg file script will NOT get you banned.
* Custom skins, sounds, etc. WILL NOT get you banned. However some custom skin packs also have cheats installed. Be VERY careful about what you are installing before you install it.
* Microsoft Windows Service Patch 2 won't get you banned.
* VAC does NOT scan your hard drive
* VAC does not exist to make Valve money, but rather because players said they wanted Valve to do something about cheaters.
* People on servers or server admins can't get you banned on all VAC enabled servers.
* Modified versions of maps (clear walls, etc.) do NOT get you banned. If you can connect to a server with a map, it's fine.
* The "AKS WARRIOR" friendslist phenomenon was not responsible for any "false bans" either, it was merely a DB problem.

Important Information:

* VAC uses a delay banning system. What this means is, a cheater gets flagged by VAC and then gets banned in the future. So it is very possible you can see someone cheating on a server. This is done so a cheater doesn not know what cheat got them banned ... creating confusion.
* VAC may not ban you immediately - the cheating violation may have occurred days or even weeks before the ban is apparent on your account.

* Nobody knows for sure how VAC works or when it updates. What we do know is that the updates are automatic, without warning, and that users start to get flagged for a hack/cheat very shortly after VAC has been updated.

VAC2 Status Information:

* VAC2 Proof
A VAC2 proof hack is not detected by VAC. It will not cause a VAC ban. Therefore you can use the hack on VAC-secured servers. Remember, VAC2 proof hacks don't stay VAC proof forever!

* VAC2 Detected
A VAC2 detected hack is detected by VAC. It will cause a VAC ban. Therefore the hack should ONLY be used on insecure servers. That is servers that don't have VAC enabled.

* Unknown
A unknown hack could possibly be VAC detected. It may cause a VAC ban. Therefore the hack should ONLY be used on insecure servers. Use at your own risk!
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If your account has been banned by the VAC system for cheating, there are several important considerations:

Steam Support cannot remove the ban on your account.
Regardless of whom was using your account at the time it was banned. The use and security of your Steam account is your responsibility.

The details of the ban will not be provided.
Steam Support will not disclose the cheats that were detected running on your system or the date and time the infraction took place.

Your account may still be used to play on unsecured servers.
Your account may still be used to play single-player games, or to connect to non-secure game servers and for games played over a LAN. To find non-secure servers, please change your filter settings in the server browser list to show servers which are not VAC-secured (from the Steam main menu go to the View option, select Servers and then select "Not secure" in the Anti-Cheat drop-down).

Deleting an account will not release its CD Key(s) to be used on other accounts. It is recommended that you not register retail products or purchase new Steam subscriptions on your banned account.

If you choose to purchase a new copy of the game, please register it or install it under a newly-created Steam account. Prior to installing, remove all cheats from your system - if you do not know where the cheats were installed, you may want to consider reformatting the machine and starting over with a fresh installation of your operating system.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

Q: Will I get VAC banned if I cheat with a VAC2 proof hack?
A: No, it's not likely. A VAC2 proof hack is not detected by VAC. It will not cause a VAC ban. Therefore you can use the hack on VAC-secured servers. Remember, VAC2 proof hacks don't stay VAC proof forever! Also, we're not sure exactly how VAC2 works and detects hacks/cheats. So when Steam updates or a VAC2 update is known, you should immediately stop using all hacks/cheats until further notice.

Q: Can I get VAC banned if someone sends Valve a demo of me cheating and a screenshot of my SteamID?
A: No. Valve will not accept demo's, Steam ID's, etc of a cheater for banning. That sort of information is not reliable enough for Valve to use. Valve uses VAC for its bans only.

Q: My account was banned by VAC2. Is there a way to be able play on VAC-secured servers again?
A: Yes, you will have to purchase the game again and create a new account.
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Hack Removal Instructions:
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Important Links:
Steam Users Forums > VAC
MPC Forums > VAC

Sources:
Valve Anti-Cheat System (VAC)
Cheaters, Abusive Admins, New Cheats, and Cheat Websites
How do I report a cheater?
What's with all the cheaters?
Read This If You Have Been Banned

For more information on Valve's policies, please see the Steam Subscriber Agreement and the Rules of Steam Online Conduct.
Steam Subscriber Agreement
Rules of Steam Online Conduct

[Nielssonus]

But when your steam account is banned, isn´t it the same like a cd key / hardware ban? In fact, without the steam account you can´t play anymore. Or is there a way in creating a new steam account?

[Diddle]

But when your steam account is banned, isn´t it the same like a cd key / hardware ban? In fact, without the steam account you can´t play anymore. Or is there a way in creating a new steam account?

You can make as many Steam Accounts as you want. But what I doubt is that you can use the same cd-key again, while the Steam ID that had it registered in the first place is banned. You can't register the game with another Steam Account when you still have the first one active, but I doubt that it will work when the first has been banned.

[Lord-Vader]

First time offence is 1 year

[DeadMilk]

how bout a process guard???

[Diddle]

how bout a process guard???

Added to the TS, since that is most likely a feature of VAC for CS:S. Thx.

[straying]

Added to the TS, since that is most likely a feature of VAC for CS:S. Thx.

maybe Process Guard will hide the hacks from VAC?

[Diddle]

maybe Process Guard will hide the hacks from VAC?

Only way of finding out is when VAC comes out, so I rather wait testing that.

[pizalot]

Thanks a lot for this, this will answer MANY questions

[speedmeup]

I dont think VAC was released yet, and everyone can feel safe. Here is why i feel this way. First of all, the cvar for making a server secure would more than likely have tio be set, as its part of the server.cfg included in source and nobody has heard anything about needing to set it.

Second of all, I am banned on all public servers as far as CZ and 1.6 goes, and this is the same account my HL2 is linked with. Since I am already banned, one would think that once servers switch to the new VAC I would be banned from CS:Source servers as well.

I guess I will just keep everyone updated here as to when I am finally denied access to CS:Source servers, that way everyne knows when VAC is out.

[Halal]

I got this msg when joined a CSS server:
************************************************** *
You are joining a server that implements Valve's anti-cheat system (VAC).
Please note that the use of Cheats is a violation of your End User License
Agreement for the software and/or your Steam Subscriber Agreement.

If Valve or the game host detects your use of Cheats on an VAC-enabled
server, your Steam Subscription and/or your product key for the software
will be banned from playing on VAC-enabled servers for one (1) year.
************************************************** *

VAC is relased?!?!

[SpawnZ]

Halal from which server did u get that from!?! and could u take a pic of it or soemthing

[Clipse3GT]

Would VAC ban you on a lan game, like when playing against bots? But, you are still connected to steam :S

[Diddle]

Would VAC ban you on a lan game, like when playing against bots? But, you are still connected to steam :S

No, because VAC is only activated when the server you join 'asks' for it. Your local LAN server does not, so don't be afraid.
Btw, I think that the text Halal posted was from the MotD window. It's just to scare people, because I still haven't been able to find any secure server...

[Supremespeed]

ive been in some servers that have that in the console, they execute some kind of config to everyone who joins that echos it out to their console, i have no idea how, but its just a fake to scare everyone, also the server was listed insecure so too bad for them