Valve Anti-Cheat

In 2001, Even Balance Inc., the developers of the anti-cheat software PunkBuster designed for Counter-Strike and Half-Life mods, stopped supporting the games as they had no support from Valve. Valve had also rejected business offers of integrating the technology directly into their games.{{Cite web |last=KoshVorlon |date=September 25, 2001 |title=Punkbuster to stop HL/CS development |url=http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/10724 |website=DSLReports }}{{Cite web |last=Gibson |first=Steve |date=September 25, 2001 |title=Punkbuster Retires From HL |url=http://www.shacknews.com/article/16158/punkbuster-retires-from-hl |website=Shacknews |publisher=Gamerhub}}

Valve started working on a "long-term solution" for cheating in 2001.{{Cite web |title=Eric Smith, Valve, HLDS mailing list, October 2001 |url=http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewthread&boardid=1&threadid=30074&id=14017 |website=Blue's News}} VAC's initial release was with Counter-Strike in 2002. During this initial release, the system only banned players for 24 hours.{{Cite news |date=August 29, 2002 |title=Online cheaters face games ban |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2221335.stm |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC}} The duration of the ban was increased over time; players were banned for 1 year and 5 years, until VAC2 was released in 2005, when any new bans became permanent.{{Cite web |date=March 25, 2005 |title=Update - Friday March 25, 2005 |url=http://steampowered.com/Steam/Marketing/Mar25.2005/?l=english |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050326114914/http://steampowered.com/Steam/Marketing/Mar25.2005/?l=english |archive-date=March 26, 2005 |website=Steam |publisher=Valve}} VAC2 was announced in February 2005{{Cite web |date=February 11, 2005 |title=New Counter-Strike: Source Map Coming Soon |url=http://www.steampowered.com/Steam/Marketing/Feb11.2005/?l=english |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050212053305/http://www.steampowered.com/Steam/Marketing/Feb11.2005/?l=english |archive-date=February 12, 2005 |website=Steam |publisher=Valve}} and began beta testing the following month. On November 17, 2006, they announced that "new [VAC] technology" had caught "over 10,000" cheating attempts in the preceding week alone.{{Cite web |date=November 17, 2006 |title=Steam Message - Friday, November 17 2006 |url=http://storefront.steampowered.com/Steam/Marketing/message/837/?l=english |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070106054030/http://storefront.steampowered.com/Steam/Marketing/message/837/?l=english |archive-date=January 6, 2007 |access-date=December 11, 2002 |website=Steam |publisher=Valve}}

During the early testing phase in 2002, some information was revealed about the program via the Half-Life Dedicated Server mailing lists. It can detect versions of "OGC's OpenGl Hack", can detect OpenGL cheats, and also detects CD key changers as cheats. Information on detected cheaters is sent to the ban list server on IP address 205.158.143.67 on port 27013,{{Cite web |title=Eric Smith, Valve HLDS Mailing List, July 2002 |url=http://planethalflife.gamespy.com/?start_from=459&vo=71 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150603135417/http://planethalflife.gamespy.com/?start_from=459&vo=71 |archive-date=June 3, 2015 |website=Planet Half-Life |publisher=GameSpy}} which was later changed to 27011.{{Citation |title=Eric Smith, Valve, HLDS mailing list, August 2002 |mode=cs1}} There is also a "master ban list" server.{{Cite web |last=Fields |first=Aaron |date=2002 |title=Valve Anti Cheat Updated |url=http://www.sk-gaming.com/content/5636-Valve_Anti_Cheat_Updated |website=SK Gaming }} RAM/hardware errors detected by VAC may kick the player from the server, but not ban them.{{Cite web |last=Fields |first=Aaron |date=2003 |title=VAC Update |url=http://www.sk-gaming.com/content/5995-VAC_Update |website=SK Gaming }}{{Cite web |last=rizzuh |date=June 19, 2003 |title=New VAC Module (2) |url=http://csnation.counter-strike.net/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030619231322/http://csnation.counter-strike.net/ |archive-date=June 19, 2003 |website=CS-Nation}}

Eric Smith and Nick Shaffner were the original contacts for game administrators.{{Cite web |last=efficient |date=November 16, 2003 |title=VAC Updated |url=http://csnation.counter-strike.net/viewnews.php/6693/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031211203004/http://csnation.counter-strike.net/viewnews.php/6693/ |archive-date=December 11, 2003 |website=CS-Nation}} In February 2010, the VAC Team consisted of Steam's lead engineer John Cook and his team of 16 engineers.

In July 2010, several players who successfully used information leaked from Valve to increase their chances of finding a rare Team Fortress 2 weapon called the Golden Wrench were banned by VAC.{{Cite web |last=Bobev |first=Radimir |date=July 8, 2010 |title=TF2 Engineer Update Gets Serious – VAC Bans Issued |url=http://www.devicemag.com/2010/07/08/tf2-engineer-update-gets-serious-vac-bans-issued/ |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711011329/http://www.devicemag.com/2010/07/08/tf2-engineer-update-gets-serious-vac-bans-issued/ |archive-date=July 11, 2010 |website=Device Magazine}}{{Cite web |last=WiNGSPANTT |date=July 8, 2010 |title=Goldengate: The Engineer Update Scandal |url=http://www.toptiertactics.com/2010/07/goldengate-the-engineer-update-scandal/ |website=Top Tier Tactics}} During the same month, approximately 12,000 owners of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 were banned when Steam updated a DLL file on disk after it had been loaded into memory by the game, causing a false positive detection. These bans were revoked and those affected received a free copy of Left 4 Dead 2 or an extra copy to send as a gift.{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Quintin |date=July 26, 2010 |title=Valve Anti-Cheat software goes a bit GlaDOS? |url=http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/07/26/valve-anti-cheat-software-goes-a-bit-glados/ |website=Rock, Paper, Shotgun |publisher=Gamer Network}}{{Cite web |last=Meer |first=Alec |date=July 27, 2010 |title=Valve offers free game after 12,000 false Steam bans |url=http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/valve-offers-free-game-after-12-000-false-bans |website=Gamesindustry.biz |publisher=GamesIndustry International}}{{Cite web |last=McElroy |first=Griffin |date=July 27, 2010 |title=Valve apologizes for banning over 12,000 legit Modern Warfare 2 players |url=https://www.engadget.com/2010-07-27-valve-apologizes-for-banning-over-12-000-legit-modern-warfare-2.html |website=Engadget |publisher=Verizon Media}}

In February 2014, rumors spread that the system was monitoring websites users had visited by accessing their DNS cache. Gabe Newell responded via Reddit, clarifying that the purpose of the check was to act as a secondary counter-measure to detect kernel level cheats, and that it affected fewer than 0.1% of clients checked which resulted in 570 bans.{{Cite web |last=Newell |first=Gabe |date=2014-02-17 |title=Valve, VAC, and trust |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/1y70ej/valve_vac_and_trust/ |publisher=Reddit}}{{Cite web |last=Warr |first=Philippa |date=February 18, 2014 |title=Valve couldn't care less what porn you watch (Wired UK) |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-02/18/valve-anti-cheat |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508174936/http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-02/18/valve-anti-cheat |archive-date=May 8, 2014 |website=Wired.co.uk |publisher=Condé Nast Publications |df=mdy-all}}{{Cite web |last=Scullion |first=Chris |date=February 18, 2014 |title=Valve rejects claims it receives players' browsing history |url=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/450001/valve-rejects-claims-it-receives-players-browsing-history/ |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305100503/http://www.computerandvideogames.com/450001/valve-rejects-claims-it-receives-players-browsing-history/ |archive-date=March 5, 2014 |website=Computerandvideogames.com |publisher=Future Publishing}}

As of May 2016, the system began banning accounts that were registered with the same phone number.{{Cite web |last=Grayson |first=Nathan |date=April 30, 2016 |title=Valve Steps Up Counter-Strike's Anti-Cheat Measures |url=http://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/04/valve-steps-up-counter-strikes-anti-cheat-measures/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160501100049/http://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/04/valve-steps-up-counter-strikes-anti-cheat-measures/ |archive-date=May 1, 2016 |website=Kotaku |publisher=G/O Media}} Additionally, a phone number that was used on an account at the time it was banned will not be allowed to be re-registered on other accounts for three months.

The system has been criticized for failing to detect LMAOBOX, a popular cheat program for Team Fortress 2, until May 2016, which resulted in a wave of bans.{{Cite web |last=Grayson |first=Nathan |date=May 3, 2016 |title=Valve Finally Cracks Down On One Of The Biggest Team Fortress 2 Cheats |url=http://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/05/valve-finally-cracks-down-on-one-of-the-biggest-team-fortress-2-cheats/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503110653/http://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/05/valve-finally-cracks-down-on-one-of-the-biggest-team-fortress-2-cheats/ |archive-date=May 3, 2016 |website=Kotaku |publisher=G/O Media}}

In February 2017, Valve announced plans to introduce a machine-learning approach to detecting cheats in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and that an initial version of the system was already in place, which would automatically mark players for manual detection by players through the "Overwatch" system.{{Cite web |last=Prescott |first=Shaun |date=February 16, 2017 |title=Valve wants to take a 'machine learning' approach to Counter-Strike anti-cheat |url=http://www.pcgamer.com/valve-wants-to-take-a-machine-learning-approach-to-counter-strike-anti-cheat/ |website=PC Gamer |publisher=Future plc}}

In March 2018, Valve publicized said machine-learning based approach in a talk at the Games Developer Conference, naming it VACNet.{{Cite web |last=McDonald |first=John |date=31 March 2018 |title=Robocalypse Now |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObhK8lUfIlc |access-date=July 23, 2020 |website=youtube}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}}

In October 2023, certain users of AMD graphics cards were banned from Counter-Strike 2 after AMD added support for their "Anti-Lag+" feature via a driver update, which the game flagged as a cheat due to it detouring certain DLL functions. AMD subsequently withdrew the driver update and Valve pledged to unban any affected users.{{Cite web |last=Shilov |first=Anton |date=13 October 2023 |title=AMD Counter-Strikes Itself, Pulls Driver After Anti-Lag Feature Causes CS2 Bans |url=https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-pulls-drivers-that-cause-counter-strike-2-bans-after-valve-roasted-them |access-date=14 October 2023 |website=Tom's Hardware |language=en}} During the same month, Valve continued to mistakenly issue VAC bans to accounts for playing on Windows 7, shortly before undoing those same bans.{{Cite web |last=Cooke|first=Hunter|date=3 October 2023 |title= Valve appears to undo false VAC bans for Windows 7 CS2 players |url=https://dotesports.com/counter-strike/news/valve-appears-to-undo-false-vac-bans-for-windows-7-cs2-players |website=Dot Esports |language=en}}{{Cite web|date=3 October 2023 |title= CS2 receives huge VAC-ban wave, falsely accused Windows 7 users reportedly get unbanned |url=https://escorenews.com/en/csgo/news/51437-cs2-receives-huge-vac-ban-wave-falsely-accused-windows-7-users-reportedly-get-unbanned |website=Escorenews.com |language=en}} Similarly, Valve also began issuing bans to users for excessively high mouse dpi settings.{{Cite web |last=Park|first=Morgan|date=24 October 2023 |title= Counter-Strike 2 is banning players for moving their mouse too fast |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/counter-strike-2-is-banning-players-for-moving-their-mouse-too-fast/ |website=PC Gamer|language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Nightingale |first=Ed|date=25 October 2023 |title= Counter-Strike 2 players banned for moving mouse too quickly |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/counter-strike-2-players-banned-for-moving-mouse-too-quickly |website=Eurogamer|language=en}}

Valve rarely discusses the software, as it may help cheaters write new code or conduct social engineering.

The software sends client challenges to the machine; if the appropriate response is not received, it is flagged as a possible violation. It uses Signature Scanning to detect possible cheats when scanning the computer's memory and processes. Whenever an anomaly is detected, an incident report is created and compared to a database of banned applications and/or analyzed by Valve engineers. The engineers may inspect the code and run it on their own copies of the game. If the code is confirmed as a new cheat, it is added to the database of cheat codes.{{cite book |last1=Xiao |first1=Bin |last2=Yang |first2=Laurence T. |last3=Ma |first3=Jianhua |last4=Muller-Schloer |first4=Christian |last5=Hua |first5=Yu |title=Autonomic and Trusted Computing: 4th International Conference, ATC 2007, Hong Kong, China, July 11-13, 2007, Proceedings |date=July 2, 2007 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-540-73547-2 |page=125}}{{cite web|url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/steamed-valve-software-battles-videogame-cheaters|title=Steamed: Valve Software Battles Video-game Cheaters|date=February 17, 2010|first=David |last=Kushner |website=IEEE Spectrum| publisher=Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers}}

According to Steam's lead engineer John Cook, to stop the anti-cheat software itself from being exploited, "The software is constantly updated and sent down in small portions for the servers as needed, so hackers only get to see small portions of it running at any particular time. So while they may be able to work around pieces of it, they can never hack everything."

Valve also accepts submissions of cheat programs and cheat websites from players by email. Players may also report players they suspect of cheating through their Steam Community profile, although players are not banned from these reports alone.

If a cheat is found, the player's Steam account will be flagged as cheating immediately, but the player will not receive any indication of the detection. It is only after a delay of "days or even weeks"{{cite web |title=Steam Support FAQ: I've Been Banned |url=https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?p_faqid=589 |website=Steam |publisher=Valve}} that the account is permanently banned from "VAC Secure" servers{{cite web |title=Steam Support FAQ: Valve Anti-Cheat System (VAC) |url=https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?p_faqid=370 |website=Steam |publisher=Valve}} for that game, possibly along with other games that use the same engine (e.g. Valve's Source games, GoldSrc games, Unreal Engine games). Valve never discloses which cheat was detected. Players have criticized the system for taking weeks to months to ban cheaters.{{cite web |last=Peel |first=Jeremy |date=February 12, 2014 |title=Rust's new anti-cheat system is working - but Facepunch are 'never going to be finished fighting' |url=http://www.pcgamesn.com/rusts-new-anti-cheat-system-working-facepunch-are-never-going-be-finished-fighting |website=PCGamesN |publisher=Network N}}

Large numbers of flagged accounts may also be banned in "waves" or “VAC waves”.{{cite web|url=https://www.csoonline.com/article/2226363/some-gamers-steamed-over-alleged-valve-anti-cheat-dns-spying.html|title=Some gamers steamed over alleged Valve anti-cheat DNS spying|author=Ms. Smith|date=February 16, 2014|website = CSO Online|publisher=International Data Group}}{{cite web |last=Grayson |first=Nathan |date=December 24, 2014 |title=A Lot Of Cheaters Just Got Banned From Counter-Strike |url=http://www.kotaku.com.au/2014/12/a-ton-of-cheaters-just-got-banned-from-counter-strike/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224062201/http://www.kotaku.com.au/2014/12/a-ton-of-cheaters-just-got-banned-from-counter-strike/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 24, 2014 |website=Kotaku Australia |publisher=G/O Media}}

Players that are banned face additional restrictions. Steam Family Sharing allows users to share their video game library with another Steam user to download and play, but games that the player is VAC banned from cannot be shared. If a user shares their games with another user, then cheats or fraud are detected on the recipient's account, the original owner of the games being shared may be VAC banned and the sharing function revoked.{{cite web |title=Steam Family Sharing |url=http://store.steampowered.com/sharing |website=Steam |publisher=Valve}}{{cite web |last=Maiberg |first=Emanuel |date=February 28, 2014 |title=Steam Family Sharing now available for all users |url=http://www.pcgamer.com/uk/2014/02/28/steam-family-sharing-released/ |website=PC Gamer |publisher=Future plc}} Banned users also cannot contribute to the Steam Translation Server project, that allows users to contribute new translations of Steam and its games.{{cite web |title=Steam Translation Server: FAQ |url=https://translation.steampowered.com/ |website=Steam |publisher=Valve}} Users banned from a game are not allowed to refund it.{{cite web |title=Steam Refunds: FAQ |url=https://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/ |website=Steam |publisher=Valve}}

Over 100 games support VAC; players that are banned from the following games face additional restrictions:{{cite web |title=VAC-enabled Steam games |url=https://store.steampowered.com/search/?category1=998&category2=8 |website=Steam |publisher=Valve}}

{{colbegin|colwidth=30em}}

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2{{Hash-tag}}
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3{{Hash-tag}}
• Counter-Strike (video game){{dagger}}
• Counter-Strike: Condition Zero{{dagger}}
• Counter-Strike: Source{{double-dagger}}
• Counter-Strike 2§
• Day of Defeat{{dagger}}
• Day of Defeat: Source{{double-dagger}}
• Deathmatch Classic{{dagger}}
• Half-Life 2: Deathmatch{{double-dagger}}
• Half-Life Deathmatch: Source{{double-dagger}}
• Ricochet{{dagger}}
• Team Fortress 2{{double-dagger}}§
• Team Fortress Classic{{dagger}}

{{colend}}

Mods based on the games above may inherit VAC support from the host game.

{{dagger}} Denotes GoldSrc games, if a player is banned in one of these games they are banned from all of them.
{{double-dagger}} Denotes Source engine games, if a player is banned in one of these games they are banned from all of them.
{{Hash-tag}} Denotes games that have a stricter policy of having all servers VAC protected, and additionally bans players for editing of any game files except config files.
§ Denotes games that face digital goods restrictions and or revocation.{{cite web |title=Steam Support FAQ: Items Not Properly Awarded |url=https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=5766-ETUA-8707 |website=Steam |publisher=Valve}}

The user's Steam profile is also marked with "ban(s) on record", which is publicly visible and cannot be hidden, regardless of the profile visibility of the banned account. An analysis of 43,465 users that had been banned between April 2011 and October 2011 showed that the more VAC banned players a user is friends with, the more likely they will also be VAC banned themselves in the future. After they were banned, they lost more friends, were more likely to increase their privacy settings and also had more VAC banned friends than non-banned players.{{cite book |last1= Blackburn |first1= Jeremy |title= WWW 12 Proceedings of the 21st Annual Conference - Branded with a scarlet "C": cheaters in a gaming social network |publisher= International World Wide Web Conference |pages= 81, 89 |doi= 10.1145/2187836.2187848 |year= 2012 |last2= Simha |first2= Ramanuja |last3= Kourtellis |first3= Nicolas |last4= Zuo |first4= Xiang |last5= Ripeanu |first5= Matei |last6= Skvoretz |first6= John |last7= Iamnitchi |first7= Adriana |isbn= 9781450312295 |s2cid= 2609577 }} Banned players are also sometimes referred to as going on "VACation".

Banned players are also excluded from competing in most electronic sports tournaments. In 2014, professional player Joel "Emilio" Mako was banned during a live stream;{{cite web|url=http://esport.aftonbladet.se/esport/dreamhack-will-take-special-precautions-dhw/|title=DreamHack: "We will take special precautions at DHW"|website=Aftonbladet|publisher=Schibsted|date=November 21, 2014|first=Tobias |last=Lundgren}}{{cite web |last1=Higgins |first1=Chris |title=The 5 most awkward CS:GO Pro bans |url=https://www.redbull.com/gb-en/the-top-5-most-awkward-cs-go-pro-bans |website=RedBull.com |publisher=Red Bull GmbH |date=January 27, 2015}}{{cite web |author1=Luis "MIRAA" Mira |title=emilio VAC banned mid-match |url=https://www.hltv.org/news/13373/emilio-vac-banned-mid-match |website=HLTV |publisher=HLTV |date=October 9, 2014}} he initially denied using a cheat, claiming it was caused by "a friend of his played on one of his smurfing accounts which mail is linked to his main account".{{cite web|url=http://esport.aftonbladet.se/team/team-property/team-property-emilio-statement|title=Team Property statement regarding emilio|work=E-sport|date=October 11, 2014}} Then in 2015, he admitted to using a cheat.{{cite web|url=https://esport.aftonbladet.se/csgo/emilio-admits-cheating-wants-to-compete-again/|title=Emilio admits cheating, wants to compete again|website=Aftonbladet|publisher=Schibsted|date=February 24, 2015|first=Simon |last=Engstrand}}{{cite web |author1=Milan "Striker" Švejda |title=emilio Admits to Cheating |url=https://www.hltv.org/news/14333/emilio-admits-to-cheating |website=HLTV |publisher=HLTV |date=February 25, 2015}}{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Chris |title=Swedish professional CS:GO player Joel "emilio" Mako admits cheating |url=https://www.tweaktown.com/news/43798/swedish-professional-cs-go-player-joel-emilio-mako-admits-cheating/index.html |website=TweakTown |publisher=Tweak Town Pty Ltd. |date=February 26, 2015}} Hovik "KQLY" Tovmassian, Simon "smn" Beck and Gordon "SF" Giry were banned shortly before they were scheduled to play at DreamHack Winter 2014.{{cite web|url=http://www.redbull.com/uk/en/esports/stories/1331691928609/counter-strike-hacker-spotting-guide|title=How to spot a hacker in Counter-Strike|date=November 25, 2014 |website=RedBull.com |publisher=Red Bull GmbH |last=Higgins |first=Chris }}{{cite web |last=Copeland |first=Wesley |date=May 1, 2017 |title=CS:GO eSports Community Shaken Following Revelation of Cheating |url=http://ign.com/articles/2014/11/25/csgo-esports-community-shaken-following-revelation-of-cheating |website=IGN |publisher=Ziff Davis}} The ESEA League claimed the bans were a result of working with Valve directly.{{cite web|url=http://www.hltv.org/news/13643-esea-more-to-come-soon|title=ESEA: "More to come soon"|website=HLTV |publisher=HLTV|date=November 21, 2014|author1=Luis "MIRAA" Mira}} Simon "smn" Beck and Hovik "KQLY" Tovmassian both admitted to using cheats.{{cite web |last1=Lahti |first1=Evan |title=CS:GO competitive scene in hacking scandal, 3 players banned |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/csgo-competitive-scene-embroiled-in-hacking-scandal-as-three-players-are-banned/ |website=PC Gamer |publisher=Future plc |date=November 22, 2014}}

In March 2020, Elias "Jamppi" Olkkonen filed a lawsuit against Valve, alleging that a lifetime VAC ban negatively affected his esports career, specifically his inability to play in Valve-sanctioned Major tournaments, which subsequently prevented him from signing onto the esports team OG. The VAC-ban is tied to an account which he previously owned when he was 14, and then sold to a friend who incurred the ban;{{cite web |last1=Biazzi |first1=Leonardo |title=Jamppi reportedly sues Valve over VAC ban that prevented him from signing with OG |url=https://dotesports.com/counter-strike/news/jamppi-reportedly-sues-valve-over-vac-ban |website=Dot Esports |publisher=GAMURS Group |date=March 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Amos |first1=Andrew |title=CSGO pro Jamppi sues Valve over permanent VAC ban |url=https://www.dexerto.com/csgo/csgo-pro-jamppi-sues-valve-over-permanent-vac-ban-1345875 |website=Dexerto |publisher=Dexerto Limited |date=March 27, 2020}}{{cite web |author1=Jarek "DeKay" Lewis |title=Finnish CS:GO Player Jamppi Sues Valve Over Alleged VAC Ban |url=https://www.dbltap.com/posts/jamppi-csgo-lawsuit-valve-vac-ban-01e4brm9mvg3 |website=DBLTAP |publisher=Minute Media |date=March 26, 2020}}{{cite web |author1=Nick J. |title=Banned CSGO player Jamppi files lawsuit against Valve |url=https://win.gg/news/4154/banned-csgo-player-jamppi-files-lawsuit-against-valve |website=WIN.gg |publisher=World Intersports Network Inc |date=March 27, 2020}}{{cite web |author1=OES Admin |title=Jamppi suing Valve for supposed unfair VAC ban |url=https://www.onlineesports.com/news/cs-go/jamppi-suing-valve-for-supposed-unfair-vac-ban |website=Online Esports |publisher=Sogosa Pte Ltd |date=March 26, 2020}} the lawsuit alleges that a lifelong VAC ban for a minor, particularly without the ability to first plead his case, is unreasonable.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

A few users used to collect VAC bans, but this was eventually made less prolific as Valve updated the VAC ban message shown on the user's profile, now showing "Multiple VAC bans on record" instead of the actual number of VAC bans.{{Cite web |date=2024-04-02 |title=Meet Xeonir, the man behind the Steam account with over 100 VAC bans |url=https://videogames.si.com/features/steam-ban-collector |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=Video Games|publisher=Sports Illustrated |language=en-US}}

• Cheating in online games
• Warden (software)

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=35 Official VAC discussion forum]
• [https://store.steampowered.com/search/?category2=8 List of Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) enabled games]

{{Valve}}

Category:2002 software

Category:Anti-cheat software

Category:Proprietary software

Category:Valve Corporation