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Search functions are provided for PunkBuster Admins who wish to search player's keybindings and scripts for anything that may be known to exploit the game.An optional "bad name" facility is provided so that PunkBuster Admins can prevent players from using offensive player names containing unwanted profanity or slurs.However, it is possible for a game hack to block screenshots (producing a cropped screenshot) or remove all visual features of a hack (cleaning the screenshot) to remain undetected, leaving the effectiveness of this feature diminished. PunkBuster Admins can request actual screenshot samples from specific players and/or can configure the PB Server to randomly grab screenshot samples from players during gameplay.
The results are compared against a set configuration and differences logged, and optionally, the client removed from the server.
PunkBuster Servers can be configured to instruct clients to calculate partial MD5 hashes of files inside the game installation directory.
PunkBuster Servers can optionally be configured to randomly check player settings looking for known exploits of the game engine. PunkBuster Admins can also manually remove players from the game for a specified number of minutes or permanently ban if desired. When necessary, the PunkBuster Server raises a violation which (depending upon settings) will cause the offending player to be removed from the game and all other players to be informed of the violation. Frequent status reports are sent to the PunkBuster Server by all players. Throttled two-tiered background auto-update system using multiple Internet Master Servers to provide end-user security ensuring that no false or corrupted updates can be installed on players' computers. Real-time scanning of memory, by placing a PunkBuster Client on players' computers searching for known hacks/cheats using a built-in database. The first game in which PunkBuster was integrated was id Software's Return to Castle Wolfenstein.įeatures Published features Valve was at the time fighting a hard battle against cheating, which had been going on since the release of the game. The first beta of PunkBuster was announced on September 21, 2000, for Half-Life. Tony Ray founded Even Balance to develop PunkBuster after his experience with cheaters on Team Fortress Classic. PunkBuster is developed and published by Even Balance, Inc.
The aim of the program is to isolate cheaters and prevent them from disrupting legitimate games.
A computer identified as using cheats may be banned from connecting to protected servers. It does this by scanning the memory contents of the local machine. PunkBuster is a computer program that is designed to detect software used for cheating in online games.