BattlEye

What follows reflects only what BattlEye Innovations publishes about its own system. The vendor does not document its detection signatures.

BattlEye describes two layers. The first is preventive. The company writes that BattlEye “at its core is a proactive protection system which puts a strong shield around the entire game,” which it says blocks the bulk of hacking outright. The second layer is detection: the vendor advertises “fast dynamic and permanent scanning of the player’s system in user- and kernel-mode” using “specific and heuristic/generic detection and cheat analysis routines,” and calls this an “intelligent dynamic on-the-fly detection system.” On the server side, the BE Server enforces constant responses from connected clients and kicks violating players.

The FAQ gives concrete examples. BattlEye inspects files that the game process attempts to load, stating that if a file is blocked, “the game process tried to load them, which is the reason BE is checking them.” It performs memory integrity checks, raising a Corrupted Memory violation when it “detects that your game’s or system’s memory is not what it is supposed to be.” It also blocks third-party software that relies on kernel drivers with known exploitable security flaws.

The privacy policy enumerates the data processed: IP address, game identifiers, hardware device identifiers such as serial numbers, operating system information, information about game-related and OS-related files and memory, and information about running processes, drivers and other executable code. BattlEye adds that it may transmit flagged executable code to its servers for review, may use automated decision-making, and generally stores no information on users where nothing is detected.

Account-based global ban, which BattlEye says can be SteamID-based. Bohemia Interactive states such bans apply across all BattlEye-protected servers; players remain able to join servers that do not require BattlEye. BattlEye states global bans are permanent. The vendor does not publish whether a ban carries across different BattlEye-protected titles.

BattlEye issues global bans, which it describes as a “secure global banning system that can be SteamID/account-based.” Bohemia Interactive tells Arma Reforger players that “BattlEye bans are global and apply across all BattlEye-protected servers,” and its DayZ guidance notes banned players are still able to play on servers that do not require BattlEye. Neither BattlEye nor Bohemia publishes whether a ban issued in one BattlEye-protected title carries over to a different one, so we do not state it either way. BattlEye does require the game to be identified when appealing: an appeal must include “your exact (!) global ban ID and the name of the game,” with the ID taken from the in-game “Global Ban #ID” message.

Bohemia Interactive, publisher of DayZ, Arma 3 and Arma Reforger, states it has “absolutely no involvement in the process of detecting cheats/hacks nor administrating any bans” and directs players to BattlEye. Other publishers may handle appeals differently.

An appeal is filed only as a ban appeal ticket through the contact form on battleye.com; BattlEye says appeals sent elsewhere are not processed, and that sending the same appeal repeatedly “will not accelerate the reviewing process in any way.” The vendor states that “no details about your ban (including evidence) will be revealed,” that it cannot lift a ban that resulted from cd-key or account theft, and that “Global bans are permanent and no exceptions will be made.”