What to do when you spot a hacker?

[DigitalDew]

****Changes/Additions 17 June 2007

1. Remain calm. Don't start yelling at them and using profanity over chat. Don't start asking if there is an admin around or pretend to be an admin, you don't want them to leave just yet. You want to get back at them, right?

2. After your death, simply go into spectate mode. And I cannot stress this enough, you must be in first person mode. Yes, I actually get numerous demo submissions in third person and, get this, freelook mode. This will only catch a speedhacker. I cannot see if they are walling or aimbotting from this angle. So again, please make sure you are in first person view.

3. Open your console. Do this by using the ~ key. That is called a "tilde". With the console open, type: record "demo name you choose" and press enter. Please don't use 2 or more word demo names with spaces or we will have to rename them to view them. Use underscores or other things instead of spaces. One name demos are preferred. Now, before you get too carried away, type: "status" (and "ma_users" if you are an admin). This should show names and steam id's of all players with random jumbled letters. This is the preferred status command as sb_status is not working at this time. This will give me all the information we need to prosecute the player. We will not accept screenshots of a status command. It must be shown in the demo itself. WHY? To ensure that you did not take a screenshot of your buddies/enemies steam id, then download hacks, change your name to match theirs, and hack away. At any point, you may now close your console and record the unsuspecting hacker.

4. Record long enough to fully prove the player is hacking (in spec with first person view). Yes, I get 2 second demo's too. Not good enough. Be reasonable though, we will not sit through an hour long demo, nor take the time to download it. You can stop the demo and start recording again using a different demo names if necessary. How do you do this you ask? Simply open your console back up and type "stop" in console. Imagine that. REPEAT STEP #3 AT THIS POINT TO START ANOTHER DEMO. Please make sure to get the person in one of three scenarios: 1. Killing someone. 2. Being killed by someone or 3. In autospectate mode (for admins on certain servers) because in the demos, it doesn't show who you are spectating at the bottom of them. This helps us verify who the person being spectated is.

5. Now that you have all the proof you need, simply type stop in your console. The demo is saved in your CSTRIKE folder under whatever name you chose to give it. One word names are preferred. With all that said and done, go to the server page (click server tab at top of SpawnPoint's homepage) and click the "report a hacker" link. Just fill in the asked for information and attach the demo. Here is a link to that page where you fill in the information and attach the demo.
http://www.spawnpoint.com/reportHacker.php
We will take it from there.

Please include CS:Source, CS 1.6, Czero, or whicher mod in your subject line as to speed up our turn around time. You may also include the server ip, time, and date the demo was recorded. Providing you "ingame" name will also help us post the credit for the demo. (cpnichol posts these "credits" every once in a while)

We will not rely on screenshots of status or telling us their steam id in the email. Status must be typed during the demo or no action can be taken.


WHY DO I HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS PROCESS?
If you go through any process other than this, you will be wasting your time and ours. The point behind this is to remove the hacker, not only from the server you caught him on, but across the entire SpawnPoint network. We go through many lengths to ensure our players do not have to put up with hackers. We urge you to be a part of this process. We have many admins, but as you well know, are not on at all times on every server. Even our admins are required to record a demo before banning a cheater.

I AM AN ADMIN, DOES THIS APPLY TO ME?
Yes. We have few global admins. Sure you can ban him from your server. But the thing you dont realize is, the servers are updated often. Our global ban list is uploaded to all the servers at once, replacing the ban list that is there. So guess what, when that happens, he is no longer banned from your server. Want to keep him banned permanently? Then record a demo, then ban the player, submit the demo to us, if the evidence is strong enough, you won't see the player again. If the player is not hacking, and a good player got banned, then the ban will not stick, along with bans for any other reason, racial slurs, disrespect of admin, ect.. These should be temp bans anyway.

IN SUMMARY:
You are not helpless against hackers on a server. Many of our admins will let you add them to your steam friends. My ([PHXX]XTR3M3) steam name is flashdog68 and I will answer you if I am at my PC. Other admins may offer their steam friends name also in this thread or directly to you if they choose. You still need to get the demo first before requesting an admin's help. Do not just yell for an admin without taking the demo first. We like to play too.

SpawnPoint version 3 now has a report a hacker link on the server page. We are only accepting demos through there now.