Valve Anti-Cheat ( VAC ) The Valve Anti-Cheat Module.
What exactly is VAC we hear you say? Well, it's an anti-cheat implementation
introduced by valvesoftware
to aid server admins in clamping down on those people in the community who have
no respect for the game, nor for the people who actually play the game without
the need of cheats.
VAC is a server-based implementation which means that it is installed on the
half-life dedicated server, and will check clients are cheat free compliant
-- if found not to be, it will issue a incremental ban from all VAC 'secure'
servers. The ban that will be issued to the cheater will depend on the severity
of the cheat, and or the number of offenses. We won't be listing exactly what
VAC checks for, but we will detail how to activate the module on your server.
» Installing VAC on your server:
Installing VAC on your server is a 2 minute process, and can be achieved in
a number of ways.
1. add -secure to your hlds target line which will
initiate the module download automatically from speakeasy.net when you start
the hlds session.
OR
2. navigate to your cstrike/liblist.gam file, and open it with an editor such
as notepad. You'll see a line in there which will say "secure 0",
change the 0 to a 1 to activate it, save the file, and start your server up.
The server will then download the latest version of the modules to your server.
» About VAC Updates:
Valve periodically updates the VAC modules, which in turn, your server will
download and update them automatically. You can keep uptodate with when new
modules are released via Counter-Servers main page, or by subscribing to the
VALVe mailing lists.
» VAC In Action:
Here's a screenshot of VAC in action, from
someone who never cheats, and wouldn't dare install a cheat on his
system! It was his brother who did it! It wasn't his fault!!. Now
we all know what the question is going to be. Ask yourself, do you
feel lucky? 0_o
For those of you who actually mail us asking how to have the ban removed
-- that's what the system is there for, and if you've allowed someone
on your system who's installed cheats, they owe you for a new copy
of CS, or you'll just have sit your punishment out.
» I'm Running a LAN, can i use VAC?:
A simple answer to this is officially, no. There are a few 3rd-party, unsupported
solutions which attempt to simulate VAC in a LAN environment, available for
review on our Anti-Cheat forum. There are also a few other programs out there
which can offer some anti-cheat protection for LAN servers ( non-VAC ), which
can be found detailed in our tools section. For a complete list of programs,
please see the tools section.
If you have any additional questions, you can post to the Anti-Cheat
forum here.
» I've been banned by VAC, can you unban me?:
Quite simply, no, we can't. The bans are not administered by us, they are operated
under Valvesoftware. Infomation on why you were banned is logged @ Valve, so
we would only suggest contacting them in the event you feel you've been wrongly
banned -- otherwise, you're wasting your own time, and theirs.
------------------------------
» Some Funny Emails:
" Can u please help me my brother was came home from college and went
on my comp and dled hacks for counter-strike and apparently did something to
make it so I cant join servers NOT EVEN MY OWN CLAN SERVER!!!! Please help "
-- We recommend you take 200mils of prozac per day. It will at least make you
feel better.
" Hello. i played HL CS for about 2 years and i used to hacker for
about 3 months. I found a hacker about 2 days ago and now it says im ban from
all server's. who do i talk to about this or how do i get it to were i can play
again. It says im ban intill 2008 (5 YEARS). Well please email me back ASAP
if you can Thanks and ahve a nice day "
-- This is why we shouldn't play CS 24/7 people! School is important, as the
proof suggests!
" My name is Jeremy and last time I tried to connect, I got the ban
message. Now, there has to be some sort of mix-up here, because I've been playing
CS for almost 3 years now and have NEVER cheated, I don't even know how cheats
work!! I have no interest in cheats whatsoever, so when I got this message I
was shocked. No one has access to my computer, so it must just be a mistake.
How can I get un-banned? You are welcome to monitor me or whatever you want
to prove that I don't hack."
-- Have you considered going into politics?
" hello.. i was playing half-life counter-strike the
other night and a crzy guy came on the server... He was cussing everybody out
and i told him over the mic to chill out. He then said thaths it and yelled
at me and said i was gonna be sorry. Then he hacked me and tripled my lag, made
it so i cannot change guns, messed with all my controls, every time i "fired"
it said that i said "i am a stupid bitch ass", and i exited. Then
i retried a different server and it didnt not let me connect. No joke.... i
wasnt hacking or anything... i play on the name W*H*I*T*E**T*R*A*S*H always
have always will. I got hacked by some crzy counter-strike nut! I reinstalled
half-life and CS and I still cannot join ANY servers.... Can u guys send me
a list of files he corrupted or give me straight advice or updates or patches
or fixes or something so i can enjoy my half-life PLEASE! Thank you. p.s. The
hacker guy had a counter-strike clan server called 5*3** or something. Thanks"
-- Bans aren't issued because an admin plays around with your
config, a ban is issued because you had cheats installed.
