anything that can be done, to prevent cheaters joining a server?

[9.JG27 DavidRed]

hey guys!

today i had an interesting incident...

i was flying on our server, and then a guy joined...i have never seen this name on our server yet.he spawned in a p51 and we started a dogfight....

well, first i thought, mate this guy is damn good.

but then soon, i noticed a couple of things, which made me wonder...for example, as soon as he started to turn a bit tighter, there were always wingtip vortices visible.everybody who flies the p51 on a regular basis probably knows, that you see them often enough on fw190s and also on AI P51s, but only on very very rare occasions on human flown P51s.

 

at that point though i just thought, "hey nice, i havent seen them for a long time, maybe thats a change with the latest patch?"....

 

well the turning went on...i noticed, that this guy stalled really often, and yet i just couldnt get on him.he was totally outrunning me.normally, if you are in a horizontal turn fight,~ co E, against a human player, and one stalls, then the other one will quickly gain on him...well that wasnt the case...i could watch his wings drop all the time, and he still outturned me.with a closer look, i also noticed, that this guy didnt use any flaps at all.so he outturned me although i had combat flaps setting...

 

now well, this was all still no evidence of course, but it was a bit suspicious to say at least.up until the point, where this guy started to talk via chat...

without me even asking, he happily admitted, that he is cheating, that his plane is not affected by any g forces, and that he actually flies some kind of jet..with the hud of the su25t and a couple of things more.he also stated, that its really easy to do, and that he only added a couple of files, and adjusted some of the lua files...furthermore he stated, that he hasnt bought any of the modules available, and yet can fly all of them.

i didnt totally believe the "cheat" thing, and still saw the possibility of him just beeing damn good, and making fun of me.up until the point, where i actually outturned him, and shot off his wing...for him it was not even necessary to prevent a spin and recover, and that during a really tight turn.the plane didnt even start to spin away.he happily put the plane out of the turn, and started a landing approach in the fields, wheels down...

now i know, this is possible...ive done this myself already a couple of times. but this is extremely hard.and the way he has done it, i see just now way to achieve this without cheating...

 

btw, this was not the only cheating incident on our server...my squad mates told me, that a while ago, they had a guy joining our server in a blackshark, while in the mission itself, there were no blacksharks at all, but only P51s...

 

 

so my questions.....is there anything beeing done from ED, to prevent this in future?

and more importantly...is there anything we can do to make it harder for cheaters to join our server?

Edited May 9, 2014 by 9./JG27 DavidRed

[HiJack]

Enable integrity check on the server!

[9.JG27 DavidRed]

well, we have read about this a couple of times already...but i think we are not really sure how this works exactly...

 

btw, currently we run SLmod on the server..

[HiJack]

Read all you can on Integrity check as this stops a lot of players not interested in the "normal" play but who rather like to kill everyone in one go.

 

EDIT: a "lot" of players in DCS World is maybe the wrong phrase as I don't think there are many of these cheaters but still a problem. And a total fun killer when it happens.

Edited May 9, 2014 by HiJack

[9.JG27 DavidRed]

yeah, i also am of the opinion that these guys are in the very minority.

just had a quick look with the search function, and i cant find much, except a thread which i opened myself a while ago...

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=119524&highlight=integrity+check

[Frostie]

well, we have read about this a couple of times already...but i think we are not really sure how this works exactly...

 

btw, currently we run SLmod on the server..

To set up Integrity check is easy.

 

Goto the servers "C:\Users\[name]\Saved Games\DCS\config" folder.

 

Then open up network.cfg, use notepad++.

 

-----------------------------------------------------------

In there you'll find these default lines:

---------------------------------------

 

integrity_check = {

"Config/Weapons",

"Scripts/compile.lua",

 

 

Change it to this:

------------------

 

 

 

integrity_check = {

"Config/Weapons",

"Config/Effects/ParticleSystem2",

"Config/World",

"Scripts/compile.lua",

"Scripts/Aircrafts/_Common/customhuman.lua",

"Scripts/Database/db_sensors.lua",

"Scripts/Database/db_weapons.lua",

"Scripts/Database/db_weapons_data.lua",

"Scripts/Database/HelicopterConst.lua",

"Scripts/Database/PlaneConst.lua",

"Scripts/Database/SFM_Data.lua",

"Scripts/Database/scripts",

 

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------

That's a good start. Everytime someone joins your server it will check that those files of the client are exact to the servers.

Edited May 22, 2014 by Frostie

[9.JG27 DavidRed]

thx frostie!!

we will give that a try...are those integrity checks avoiding graphical mods in any way?

 

those two lines made me wonder:

"Config/Effects/ParticleSystem2",

"Config/World",

[Frostie]

thx frostie!!

we will give that a try...are those integrity checks avoiding graphical mods in any way?

 

those two lines made me wonder:

"Config/Effects/ParticleSystem2",

"Config/World",

Particle sytem2 i'm not sure, the other no.

 

If you have any issues not joining because of mods let me know what you use and i'll adjust the list accordingly.

[9.JG27 DavidRed]

thank you very much frostie...i will report back whether there are any issues with joining the server from any of our guys with the different mods enabled!

your help is really appreciated!

[HiJack]

Also test your integrity check by changing one (or more) of the files on your client that connects to the server so you know it works. This test also tells you what message the user is getting when he cant join your server.

 

EDIT! Remember to copy the original files so you get back to them after testing!

[9.JG27 DavidRed]

Also test your integrity check by changing one (or more) of the files on your client that connects to the server so you know it works. This test also tells you what message the user is getting when he cant join your server.

 

EDIT! Remember to copy the original files so you get back to them after testing!

 

mh, which file would i need to adjust?

 

btw, are these integrity check lines interfering with tacview?

[Frostie]

 

btw, are these integrity check lines interfering with tacview?

No, tacview is affected by allow_object_export = false,

Edited May 21, 2014 by Frostie

[9.JG27 DavidRed]

perfect.....so far, at least all my mods dont seem to cause any trouble...

[9.JG27 DavidRed]

btw, a bit off topic, but would it maybe possible, to forbid the use of auto rudder with the use of integrity check?any knowledge on this?

[cichlidfan]

The integrity check has nothing to do with legitimate game settings.

[Mustang]

Particle sytem2 i'm not sure, the other no.

 

Particle system 2? My guess is to stop anyone potentially messing with the engine smoke effects.

[9.JG27 DavidRed]

ok, unfortunately, this guy comes back on our server even with integrity check enabled...

we apparantely have banned this same guy now three different times with three different UCIDs...

[LFCChameleon_Silk]

put his IP in the servers firewall block list. problem solved... till he comes back with a different IP address at least (provided he realizes whats going on)

[9.JG27 DavidRed]

well, unfortunately, he does realise whats going on, as this guy is registered on the forum, and just wrote me a pm...

[Home Fries]

I know that people don't normally publicly share the names of cheaters because cheaters sometimes use others' callsigns as a ruse, but if the cheater PM'd you then why not post his name and quote the PM? After all, this is his own account, and this could get the message out to the other server admins.

[cichlidfan]

... but if the cheater PM'd you then why not post his name and quote the PM? ...

 

Because...

 

1.6. - No Multiplayer Disputes on the ED forums, Including inter-Squad flamewars and Accusations of Cheating Against A Player or players.

[Home Fries]

Because...

Point taken, though I would consider a quote from a PM an admission rather than an accusation.

 

I understand if the OP errs toward discretion in this case.

[NineLine]

You can report PMs if you feel they some how go against forum rules.

[Whiplash]

I'm not so sure the identity of the individual should be the primary focus of the issue. One individual can turn into many. I think the last thing we need is developers allocating their resources to fighting cheaters. I say let this guy do his thing, hopefully we can use this person to develop a sound way of preventing cheaters. Since we already know who he is and it's obvious he's persistent on trying to join the server, it seems like a perfect way to test methods of banning this guy from the server permanently.

[ENO]

Home fries you should also know that least a few of the more common server hosts do talk in the background and share information on really flagrant cheaters. My lists are available to anyone who asks for them. Well server hosts Anyway

Edited May 21, 2014 by ENO