PBBans News

PunkBuster Coming To War Z

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 01:06:40 +0000

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OP Productions LLC has contracted with Even Balance, Inc. to integrate our PunkBuster™ Anti-Cheat software into the survival mmo Zombie Game known as The War Z, developed by Hammerpoint Interactive.

http://www.evenbalance.com/index.php?page=announce.php

http://forums.playwarz.com/

http://store.steampowered.com/app/226700/

ClanBase League Partnership

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 15:45:35 +0000

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As some of you may have noticed with the recent shut down of Game-Violations that ClanBase was looking for a new Anti-Cheat partner to partner up with. Some might say that it would be hard to replace such a partner, due to the fact we've been with them for a long time.

I'm confident and happy to say that we have found one - that is definitely worthy indeed: PBBans

Every game on ClanBase that had their servers streamed to GV will have to stream it to PBBans now.

There will be a grace period in where clans can sort out the streaming. The rule will be mandatory on the 11th of March which means clans have enough time to stream their servers. In the same period the rules will be changed accordingly as well. There will be a tutorial posted soon in the ladder news items to set up your server quickly! I suggest starting to sort out the streaming as soon as possible.

http://clanbase.ggl.com/news.php?nid=374941

Happy Holidays from PBBans

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 03:00:22 +0000

Another year is about to come to an end and we would like to take this time to thank all of our streamers, donors and supporters for making another great year at PBBans.

We had a few ups and downs again this year. From another server move to adding a few new site features such as PBBans Lite Streaming, PBSS submissions for servers that doesn't belong to the submitter, Player Kick Logs and Cross Game GUID ban support between BF3 and MoH Warfighter to name some of the notable ones.

We also passed the quarter of a million bans mark this year (That number is counted as the unique number of bans on our MBi and does not count any external sources) and surely many more to come in the New Year and beyond.

Happy Holidays from all of us at PBBans. Have a safe and cheat free holiday season. We look forward to seeing you in the new year as we head towards 10 years of PBBans next Fall.

Battlefield 3 File Tweaker and MD5Tool kicks

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 23:46:02 +0000

We know some only use it to remove the blue tint but it's also used to cheat. For that reason we have added a MD5Tool scan that kicks for it over the past days. This is not an action from EA, DICE or Even Balance (PunkBuster). They have nothing to do with the current MD5Tool kicks for various .cas files.

If you are being kicked for MD5Tool Mismatch and it lists a file named cas_50.cas or higher then you have to remove the file and should perform a repair install using Origin to repair any game files that may have been modified by the tweaker.

We are not banning for it so removing the files you are kicked for and repairing your game install should stop you from being kicked. Please note that just because a player is kicked for this doesn't mean they are cheating.

We are not kicking for BF3 Colour Tweaker released by Realmware.

Oct 8th, 2012
If you are being kicked for "MD5Tool Mismatch: Update\Patch\Data\cas_50.cas (len=2048)" and you have never used the BF3 Tweaker please note GGC-Stream sent a invalid MD5Tool scan to many BF3 servers that stream to them.

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[10.08.2012 17:47:34] ->PBSV: PB UCON "ggc_85.214.107.154"@85.214.107.154:xxxx [pb_sv_md5tool a "" v "Update\Patch\Data\cas_50.cas" SZ157840 AT4096 LEN2048 E57AFBBACE8391DF703CC6BFFA66D27A]

[10.08.2012 17:47:34] ->PBSV: Added MD5Tool Entry: a "" v "Update\Patch\Data\cas_50.cas" SZ157840 AT4096 LEN2048 "E57AFBBACE8391DF703CC6BFFA66D27A"

That checks if the file created by the BF3 tweaker is on your computer and if it is not then you get kicked.

Finally if you are a server admin and are thinking about making your own MD5 Tool scans please note this warning:

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WARNING: This is an advanced topic intended for experienced server admins who are comfortable with running PunkBuster-enabled game servers. Improper use of the MD5Tool Facility can result in inadvertently configuring PunkBuster to kick all players from the server.

http://www.evenbalance.com/index.php?page=md5tool.php

PunkBuster coming to Bullet Run

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 02:16:13 +0000

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Sony Online Entertainment LLC has contracted with Even Balance, Inc. to integrate our PunkBuster™ Anti-Cheat software into the online game known as Bullet Run™. Bullet Run is a free-to-play team-based FPS that puts players in the ultimate reality TV game show, where contestants showcase their deadly talents in the name of fame.

http://www.evenbalance.com/index.php?page=announce.php

PunkBuster coming to Medal of Honor Warfighter

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 02:09:09 +0000

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Electronic Arts Inc. has contracted with Even Balance, Inc. to integrate PunkBuster™ Anti-Cheat software into Medal of Honor™ Warfighter. We will soon be opening a section on our website to support PunkBuster™ for Medal of Honor Warfighter. EA, Medal of Honor Warfighter and the Medal of Honor Warfighter logo are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

http://www.evenbalance.com/index.php?page=announce.php

A game based signature is available for account users to select.

Welcome Back Everyone

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 01:41:11 +0000

Welcome back everyone; hope you enjoyed your time off. Hub is online and seems to be running smoothly. Please bear with us over the next few days as we fix any bugs and update docs to reflect the new Hub info.

Be sure to check that your servers are streaming in the Server Management area.
Hub profile information can be found in our Hub Guide
Automated Setup can be done using our Webtool

We received a great outpouring of support during our time of need and we want to express our sincerest thanks to those that donated, continue to donate and to those that offered to help.

PBBans Lite Streaming now available

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 18:17:22 +0000

When PBBans started in 2003 we allowed anyone to stream with the exception of players who had a ban on the Master Ban Index (MBi). In 2008 we had to revise that policy with additional requirements which included some suggestions from outside sources such as Even Balance. This was due to the mass fake ban attacks and since then we have denied streaming to many teams mainly for not meeting our revised requirements. Those include a website, active forums and a roster. While it doesn’t make streaming totally secure it does greatly reduce the risk of fake bans.

Today we are launching PBBans Lite Streaming which will allow those server admins who do not meet the website, forums or roster requirements a way to use PBBans while keeping our streaming security intact. It offers the same streaming benefits that our current admins have but with the following limitations:

- Player data from servers are not entered into the Master Player Index (MPi).
- New bans are entered into the Unofficial MBi. There are also no ban announcements for any ban added to the Unofficial MBi.
- No PBSS or Demo submissions.
- Streaming Lite Admins have limited access to the Master Player Index (MPi).
- Streaming Lite Admins do not have access to the same forum areas as Streaming Admins.

Some may ask why even offer lite streaming if the above limitations are in place. The goal of the lite streaming option is to give server admins who do not meet all our requirements the ability to use the PBBans Hub so they can have the protection that other admins have.

The lite streaming option is a good way for previously skeptical/reluctant server admins to get an idea of how effective PBBans Hub streaming can be in keeping cheaters out of their servers. Lite streaming admins also have the option to upgrade to full streaming at any time by meeting all the streaming requirements and submitting a ticket.

Lite streaming admins can enforce bans from the MBi and they can also enforce bans from the unofficial MBi as well. Our PBBans Full Streaming members now have the option to enforce unofficial bans for all games.

Cheating is not going away and in the end we are here to fight cheating in games. We feel the lite streaming option will help do that while keeping our streaming security the same as it has been since 2008.

PunkBuster coming to Ghost Recon Future Soldier

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 19:16:24 +0000

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Ubisoft has contracted with Even Balance, Inc. to integrate our PunkBuster™ Anti-Cheat software into the online game known as Ghost Recon Future Soldier™.

http://www.evenbalance.com/index.php?page=announce.php

PunkBuster coming to PlanetSide 2

Tue, 15 May 2012 00:17:03 +0000

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We will release system requirements at a later date. We will be utilizing Punkbuster, among other things, to prevent cheating.

https://twitter.com/#!/planetside2/status/202179813786656770

MBi passes quarter of a million bans

Thu, 03 May 2012 11:58:23 +0000

It's been almost 9 years since PBBans was created and now the MBi has just passed the quarter of a million bans mark. Seems like yesterday we were the little guy trying to make a name for ourselves. With the addition of PBUCON which resulted in the creation of the PBBans Hub, there was no more need for admins to choose which anti-cheat community they wished to stream to and streaming to multiple log repositories became a reality.

Over the years we grew from a community of less than 100 streaming servers, using just phpBB forums to submit new bans by posting server PB logs (before streaming existed) to the community we are today. For anyone that never saw our old website from way back in 2004 you can view it here.

We wish to thank all the server admins over the years who have made it possible by: streaming their servers to PBBans, submitting PBSS and demos, and adding cheat related MD5 and CVAR checks to their servers. They are the ones who helped make this happen. We also wish to thank the many people who donated funds over the years that covers our hosting and hardware costs.

Streaming Security

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:28:43 +0000

After the recent fake ban events at GGC-Stream this week it's no secret that streaming is not completely secure. It has never been completely secure and the events of 2008 brought that to light. At which time we informed our streaming admins about the situation and possible solutions. The solution was to either close down for good or continue and tighten our security. Streaming admins wanted to continue so that was our decision.

The known fake bans exploit involves using an application to hook into a server and edit its memory to falsify PB logs streamed to a 3rd party. In order for that to happen the person must have full access to the server. In the case of Battlefield 3 the leaked server files could be used to achieve that goal.

The mass fake ban attack in 2008 was a wakeup call for us and we took it very seriously. That is the reason we have the high streaming requirements of requiring teams to have a working website, roster, forums showing activity to name a few. The rest of those requirements can be found here.

It's why we:
- manually approve all newly added servers to stream
- manually approve all newly added users to existing streaming accounts
- don't allow free online email accounts for streaming applicants.
- don't allow home servers to stream
- don't allow teams with cheaters to stream
- don't allow any server whose IP is found in the MPi (used by a player) to stream
- don't allow cracked servers to stream
- don't show the full 32 character GUID for clean players.

We also provide many details for all our bans to aid players in the appeal process should they wish to do so. That includes the server log entry of the violation raised, the server ip and group it belongs to, the guid, alias and IP address of the player.

Should any player end up on our banlist they always have the option to appeal. We treat ban appeals very seriously at PBBans. For example if a ban was the result of a PB raised violation from Even Balance (Violation #50000+) then we have the user submit a ticket to Even Balance. If they say it's a false positive or there is no record of a person with that violation (can be caused by network errors) then we lift the ban. For MD5 tool bans if we do not have the exact cheat file (using MD5 checksum) in our database we lift the ban. Better to let a cheater go free than to keep an innocent player banned.

Streaming was never a 100% secure system and technically any system where logs are sent to a remote location could also suffer the same problem. We knew the problem existed in 2008 and took the above steps (plus others) to help protect server admins and players from being exploited.

PunkBuster coming to Blacklight: Retribution

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:05:04 +0000

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Perfect World Entertainment, Inc. has contracted with Even Balance, Inc. to integrate our PunkBuster™ Anti-Cheat software into the free to play online first person shooter title known as Blacklight: Retribution.

http://www.evenbalance.com/index.php?page=announce.php

Happy Holidays from PBBans

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 13:12:15 +0000

As another year comes to an end we would like to take this time to thank all of our streamers, donors and supporters for making PBBans what it is today. Without you there would be no PBBans.

It has been another great year for PBBans. While we had a few ups and downs again, overall it's been very positive. From new site features such as our new forums to new games such as Red Orchestra 2, Battlefield 3 and Battlefield Play4Free. We wish to thank Tripwire Interactive for all their work of integrating the extra features of PB into Red Orchestra 2 based on our bug reports and suggestions. We also wish to thank Mikael Kalms of DICE for his work on Battlefield 3 with the AC and RCON tool developer community.

Happy Holidays from all of us at PBBans. Have a safe and cheat free holiday season. We look forward to seeing you in the new year.

Forums Upgrade (Complete)

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:14:24 +0000

Our forums will be offline during the morning (Eastern Time) of Dec 12th, 2011 for upgrades. Downtime should be 30-60 minutes providing everything goes smoothly.

Update
Upgrade complete. Welcome to IPB 3.2

Bare with us as we sort any bugs created from the upgrade. Same goes for some settings etc.

PunkBuster coming to Assassin's Creed Revelations

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:28:20 +0000

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Ubisoft has contracted with Even Balance, Inc. to integrate our PunkBuster™ Anti-Cheat software into the online game known as Assassin's Creed® Revelations.

http://www.evenbalance.com/index.php?page=announce.php

Clearing the Air

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 15:44:21 +0000

I'm sure some know about the PBBans decision to block the GGC website from accessing our banlists. We have done so for more than one reason but the biggest reason is they are encouraging admins they do not need to stream to PBBans which even led to some server admins dropping PBBans entirely. Their reason for that suggestion is because they import and enforce our bans anyway.

We blocked their servers from accessing our webserver and formally informed them to cease downloading our banlist to which they ignored and downloaded them using other means. We asked them for a second time to do so but again they refuse to acknowledge our request. We even displayed a similar message as this post to any traffic originating from their website but they added a redirect service anonym.to to bypass this message. So we are now posting this information to the public.

Shortly after we blocked them they removed the feed we used to import their bans and displayed "- Please contact the webmaster -" instead. That is why they are no longer included in our EBL. We remove any site that we cannot get an up to date banlist for because unbanned guids wouldn't be updated on our end which means innocent players would be kicked and we do not want that to occur. We respected their decision and have not tried to import them using other methods.

PBBans imports and enforces bans as well but we do not suggest anyone drop streaming to another site. The EBL was not created to replace anyone. In fact it was created out of my laziness. I was tired of checking the same GUID on many different anti-cheat websites so I made the EBL to check those sites automatically and if a match was found then provide a link to the website the guid is banned on. It was never my intention to replace any 3rd party anti-cheat website with the EBL in order to gain streaming exclusivity. In fact we often promote server admins to multi-stream to others to make a better anti-cheat community.

There have been other incidents that we ignored over the many months because we didn't want to start an AC war. Only people who win in those are the cheaters. Since streaming servers is what makes PBBans so effective, we will not allow anyone to import our ban lists and have them encourage users to cease streaming or not sign up with PBBans because the server admin can use an enforce bans option. Without streaming servers, fewer cheaters get caught and that is against our goal. I'm sure server admins know what it's like to have a player come in your server and spam their server info or clan website in a hope to attract players away from your server. It's disrespectful to say the least.

We didn't want to resort to this but in the end we have to protect ourselves and our goals. Server admins can stream to PBBans, AON, GGC and others simultaneously therefore we feel this decision is best for us but doesn't affect the anti-cheat community.

PunkBuster coming to Ghost Recon Online

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:22:49 +0000

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Ubisoft has contracted with Even Balance, Inc. to integrate our PunkBuster� Anti-Cheat software into the online game known as Ghost Recon Online.

http://www.evenbalance.com/index.php?page=announce.php

PunkBuster coming to Battlefield 3

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:34:57 +0000

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PunkBuster
BF3 will use PunkBuster as its anti-cheat system. Game servers that run in ranked mode are required to have PunkBuster active.
There have been problems with the PunkBuster screenshot mechanism under DirectX 10/11 in the past. However, we have collaborated with EvenBalance to make screenshots function reliably with DX10/DX11 in BF3.

http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/battlefield-3-pc/1419188-first-look-bf3-pc-game-servers.html

Battlefield 3 will be added to our systems upon release.

Account signatures have been added.

PunkBuster coming to Red Orchestra 2: Heroes Of Stalingrad

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 21:09:59 +0000

Tripwire Interactive have announced that Red Orchestra 2: Heroes Of Stalingrad will include both VAC and PunkBuster during a Teamspeak conference. Red Orchestra 2 support will be added to our systems upon release.

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Our current plan has PB implemented in three stages.

*Stage 0: Off
*Stage 1: Access to the server screenshot functionality and streaming bans
*Stage 2: Standard PB protection that WILL NOT interfere with Steam (and the overlay)
*Stage 3: Full PB that WILL (most likely) kick for the steam overlay

Server admins can work with these to decide what anti cheat environment works best for their server. And players will be able to filter for those settings as well to find servers that fit their preferences.

http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showpost.php?p=754176&postcount=45

Account signatures have been added.