Hardware bans

[guiismiti]

Hi guys,

Here's the thing - not using PB in my CoD2 server right now, and I remembered a server on v1.0 (so, no PB) that banned hardware.
Do any of you know where I can find a tool for it?
Been checking Google but all I can find is cheaters whinning cause they got hardware bans from PB.

[Tally]

Hi guys,

Here's the thing - not using PB in my CoD2 server right now, and I remembered a server on v1.0 (so, no PB) that banned hardware.
Do any of you know where I can find a tool for it?
Been checking Google but all I can find is cheaters whinning cause they got hardware bans from PB.

I don't believe it is possible. The client that you might want to ban would have to have a program on their drive in order for you to get the info you need to ban. How are you going to do that? You can't download a program to a client from the game that is going to scan their hardware. That would be tantamount to a virus, and that's not going to happen, is it?

[guiismiti]

Well my entire clan got banished from that server. Server has been closed for a couple years now, but back then I tried changing name, IP, key and reinstalling the game but none worked. I read about the hardware ban somewhere.
Is there any possible constant client parameter that I can use for banning? Maybe even the profile name - I doubt someone would realize that the profile is banned.

[kung foo man]

Did you tried to remove every .cfg? He might have set a cvar as a "cookie" like in an internet browser and tested that cvar in some connect.menu with testDvarValue.

[guiismiti]

It's been years since it happened, can't remember. Still that's an excellent idea for banning.
Most people won't know about how it works and are not likely to create a new profile.

Will try to develop something on it and post the code if it's practically usable.

[guiismiti]

Found this:

http://www.itsmods.com/forum/Thread-...lientdvar.html

Very interesting. Too bad that this did not work on CoD2:

scriptMenuResponse "(dvarString((dvarstring(getting_dvar))))";

Is it possible to do something like this? I don't know if that's what you meant by using testDvarValue.

scriptMenuResponse dvartest "ui_allow_kar98k";

The kar98k is just an example.

[Tally]

Found this:

http://www.itsmods.com/forum/Thread-...lientdvar.html

Very interesting. Too bad that this did not work on CoD2:

scriptMenuResponse "(dvarString((dvarstring(getting_dvar))))";

Is it possible to do something like this? I don't know if that's what you meant by using testDvarValue.

scriptMenuResponse dvartest "ui_allow_kar98k";

The kar98k is just an example.

That particular method is for MW3, but using a menu to get a dvar for a client is a well known trick and works for all versions of Call of Duty. But you don't use scriptmenuresponse, you simply use getDvar in conjunction with onOpen{}.

Having said that, I really cannot see how you can use this principle to ban someone. If you attempt to write a custom dvar to a client's config file, it wont stay - it wont actually write to the file. The config file will only accept a set of dvars written by the engine. And all the values have a hard-coded range, so you can't set custom values and have it actually written to file. As such, how could you possible seek a value for a dvar which will tell you that a certain client should be banned?

The only method I can think where you might actually ban someone and not use PB is to use the file functions, and create a file for a player you want to ban. Use their GUID to create a value which is unique to that player. Then, when the player connects, you check his GUID against your stored ban files using the openFile() function, and check if the player is in the ban list. However, the player only has to get a new CD key and they will be able to play again. As such, it is not a hardware ban, which implies no amount of new CD keys will let them play on your server again.

[guiismiti]

I thought about that. Problem is I get GUID = 0 since it's a cracked server. No one here would buy a new key in case of GUID bans since the majority of the players didn't buy they keys they are using (that's why I use a cracked server).
I even thought about using the exec from the menu to write a .cfg file for every player. Leave it blank (menu 1) for regular players, and write disconnect on it for banned players (menu 2). File should be executed every few seconds.
Ridiculously easy to get unbanned, but most cheaters here wouldn't notice it, it would help at least a bit.

[kung foo man]

There are some cvars which can used to identify the hardware of the player, but that can lead to false positives (same hardware and monitor):

		seta sys_cpuGHz "3.29573"
seta sys_gpu "AMD Radeon HD 6670"
seta r_mode "1440x900"
seta r_displayRefresh "60 Hz" 
	

[guiismiti]

I think those settings are too common.

But if I could get a cvar from a player I'd just use self setClientCvar and test its value when the player connects.