http://dbd.game/killswitch
Why are basic server-side anticheat checks not in place after 9 years?
Why do we not have basic server-side validation checks yet? Cheaters have been running rampant recently, and the amount of things they are able to do that they have no business doing is absolutely mind boggling.
- Why does the server send every client the true name and profile of players who have anonymous mode active? The client does not need that information for any reason and only makes it accessible for cheaters.
- Why are survivor and killer clients able to tell the server they are using perks that they did not bring into the match? You would think something as basic as "check if the perk the client says they are using is one they sent as part of their loadout" would be implemented by now, but cheaters can still have every perk in the game active if they want.
Here, a Claudette that is only running Empathy is using Head On multiple times from a locker, while keeping me stuck in the carry animation.
- Why are survivors able to perform actions like repair generators, heal other survivors, and sabotage hooks while downed or on the killer's shoulder? You would think the server would be able to reject an action like this, but no, you can use cheats to tell the server you're sabotaging a hook and healing yourself while being carried and the server will happily let you.
This survivor was even able to somehow sabotage to prevent me from hooking them in the basement. Why is this a thing survivors can do?
- Why are killers and survivors able to start EGC literally whenever they want? A client can simply tell the server "hey, EGC has started" even with multiple gens remaining (not insta completing the gens, just straight up starting endgame) and the server will start EGC.
(notice in this clip, a survivor pops a gen normally. But then EGC starts despite no other gens being highlighted, because they can trigger EGC without even having to pop gens!)
- Why are survivors able to tell the server "I jumped into the hatch" when the hatch isn't even available yet?
By the way, all of these gifs are my gameplay encountering cheaters in just this past week. It's actually ridiculous how often I've been running into cheaters recently.
All of these (and more) are instances where a cheating player can send information to the server that could EASILY be detected as illegal actions, but the server will let them anyway because BHVR has almost no server-side checks for the most basic of actions. Not to mention with things like anonymous mode and MMR, BHVR's servers still send information to the client that the client does not need or use in regular gameplay, and only makes accessible for cheaters. So BHVR, why haven't you done anything server-side yet to combat cheating like this?
Comments
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At least you were lucky to encounter the blatant, obvious cheaters. The 'subtle' ones who only use a slight speedhack or push the peddle in specific times (like when they think they are not seen or while the Nurse is blinking) are the worst. Not only you have to chase them to understand it's pointless, they will even have their whole team defend them just because of the survivors' us vs them default mentality, even if they are not in SWF with the cheater.
But I absolutely agree with the post, I've been talking for years about the server-side validation of player actions and how it would make most of the cheats just impossible even without any anti-cheat, but people just kept saying something like "it's the anticheat problem" or "it's an eternal race against cheaters smh". It seems because of the global ignorance about software architecture DbD's cheater problem has always been underestimated by the community, I think if the content creators spoke out about this years ago, we would have at least something implemented by now. But instead they demand to nerf the Nurse (who suffers from speedhacker the most) and just brush off the cheater problem with the same excuses listed above, making it seem like the devs can't do anything about it.
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The answer is simple. Does having people work on detection tools built into DBD's code to detect when impossible actions occur and do something about that make money? No it doesn't. Chapters and Cosmetics bring money.
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Most of the cheaters don't even bring money (at least not to BHVR, unless they themselves sell the cheats lol), since they keep using that endless supply of free EGS accounts and unlock everything with cheats (which is also somehow possible, their back-end doesn't even protect their main source of money).
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You think the cheaters are going to pay for cosmetics if BHVR built up stronger checks against it? They are more likely to move on to a new game completely than spend money on DBD.
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My bad, I've accidentally read "cheaters and cosmetics bring money" instead of "chapters"
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100%. If it doesn’t help bring in more revenue, they’re not going to work on it, period. Not enough people are leaving the game due to cheating issues, apparently.
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FYI : they are just on trial version of the anti-cheat
And i dont think they even did anything to combat cheating this year.
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I know BHVR added certain streamers (like KnightLight) to their "whitelist" this year, where they are somehow separated from being able to be queued with most cheaters, but I can't recall anything nearly as much being done for your average player, or even anything at all. Maybe in 2026…
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It really is dire. I don't understand why this game is still not able to detect and kick players who are blatantly cheating like this. Or at least reject nonsensical client-side info. Even games like Minecraft have basic systems and plugins to prevent things like players flying when they shouldn't.
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They did a lot on that front a few years ago but it seems that they're only doing the bare minimum since then.
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It does, though? People quitting the game due to cheaters is lost revenue.
The suggestion that they just haven't bothered to implement ANY server-side checks in the whole history of the game's development is incredibly misguided. Just because something's serverside doesn't mean it's unbeatable. Not even mentioning how careful they have to be around false positives.
There were a good couple of years where the super crazy cheats weren't possible like they are now. I hope there's going to be a big release of anticheat measures like they deployed a while ago.
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Cheating in dbd is basically free. I’ve met people who’ve been doing it for years and say it’s easy because there’s no real protection in this game. As long as it isn’t too obvious, nothing happens.
And nothing will change going forward. What we will get is another ten Feng and Sable skins by next year.3 -
Is it misguided?
To my knowledge as a DBD player since 2019, the only changes that have been made in terms of server side validation (aka, explicitly preventing cheaters from doing a specific thing) are:
- Exit gate trigger is now disabled until endgame collapse so you can’t escape early
- Joining people’s parties now requires a confirmation so cheaters can’t force their way into custom games
that’s it.
You can see the gifs I posted here all have this year’s christmas decorations. Cheaters can still instantly start endgame, teleport anywhere, prevent you from hooking, and instantly heal anyone. Doesn’t seem like there is any server side validation to me.
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