In 2020. the new competitive video game entered the arena of character-based tactical FPS, Valorant. Riot Games, previously known for the successful and popular MOBA, League of Legends, created a multiplayer shooter noticeably inspired by Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Overwatch.
But Valorant developed its own identity amongst the giants of Esports, attracting tens of millions of players in these two years of existence. As a confirmation of Valorant success stands for nomination for The Game Awards Best Esports game in 2020.
We noticed that many people want to know whether Valorant IP ban. After doing in-depth research, here’s what we found:
Because IP bans and blocks can be readily overridden, Riot prefers to employ account and HWID bans instead of IP bans in Valorant because they are more effective.
Now let’s dive a little deeper.
Valorant issue with cheaters and hackers
With games like Valorant, League of Legends, and others in its catalog, cheaters have been a persistent problem for Riot. With its anti-cheat technology that severely penalizes those it detects, the studio has been taking a more direct approach.
At the beginning of the game’s peak period, Valorant received numerous reports of hackers every day. With changes to the cheating mechanism as of 2022, reports have never been lower. The team at Riot’s game has been working relentlessly to enhance its continuing detection systems in order to increase competition integrity.
Vanguard anti-cheat protection
You must set up and use a specific anti-cheat program called Vanguard in order to play Valorant. The Valorant software is installed on your computer together with Vanguard.
Vanguard operates in the background to make sure that no cheating software is installed on your computer while you play Valorant. Vanguard deserves praise for being exceptional at what it does.
You are practically guaranteed an enjoyable playing experience without any outside interference, thanks to Vanguard’s protection against cheaters and a VPN’s protection against DDoS attacks.
The developers are continuing down this extreme path despite the harsh criticism it has received regarding Vanguard’s kernel-level drivers in order to give their tactical shooter the highest level of protection possible.
Riot Games has since successfully eliminated thousands of cheaters from their game. Vanguard demonstrates how rigorous Riot’s anti-cheat policy is. Loophole-finding players risk temporary and, in some situations, even permanent bans.
Vanguard and IP banning in Valorant
But, many players complained about Vanguard for banning their IP addresses.
So the question arose, does Riot use banning IP addresses on cheaters and hackers playing Valorant?
To be fair to answer this question, one needs to acknowledge that banning IP addresses is the lowest of measures in deterring potential cheaters, hackers, or toxic behaviored gamers.
So, yes, Riot Games has the power to ban an IP address, which prevents the user from using that IP address to connect to the game server any longer. This may occur if the user is deemed to be in violation of the terms of service or other guidelines established by the business.
How does the Riot Game IP ban work?
Receiving an IP ban on Valorant indicates that certain IP queries from players are blocked by the Valorant servers.
For instance, Riot Games may decide to ban a player’s IP address if they are abusing the game by utilizing third-party software to cheat or obtain an unfair advantage. In order to prevent other players from being subjected to a player’s toxic behavior, such as harassment or griefing, Riot Games may also decide to ban their IP address. The method mostly used in League of Legends.
A notification informing the user that their IP address has been blacklisted and outlining the grounds for the ban will be sent to them when this happens. Depending on how serious the offense was, the ban’s length may vary, and in some situations, it may even be permanent.
A banned IP address may be unblocked, or the user may connect to the game using another IP address; therefore, it’s crucial to remember that an IP ban is not a perfect solution. As a result, it is crucial that players always abide by the guidelines established by Riot Games and act fairly and respectfully at all times.
When you log in to Valorant, it keeps your IP address in its database, which serves as a personal identification number for you. It is typically intended to secure your account from prospective hackers, but if you disobey the rules, you can be sure that it will be immediately utilized against you.
Common commercial services, including CDNs, update servers, public DNS and NTP services, SaaS APIs, and cloud security products, are tracked by Riot in their IP space. Numerous strategies and techniques have been used by Riot Games engineering and research teams to collect, monitor, and curate data over time.
Generally speaking, commonly an IP ban is a significant action that is only taken as a mild resort to preserve the fairness of the game and ensure that all players can have a good time while playing.
Furthermore, to provide an argument why IP bans are completely meaningless, are dynamic IPs. One exception is IPv6, which is typically static, but according to Riot developers, Valorant utilizes IPv4. A dynamic IP restriction is also a terrible idea for IPv4. Although, developers in Riot Games have discussed creating IPv6 in the future.
Riot is most inclined to use harsher methods, such as account and HWID bans, rather than IP bans in Valorant because they are more efficient due to the easily overridden nature of the IP ban/block. If you are struck with a notification banning you from Valorant, you may search the solution for HWID or account unbanning rather than just IP unblocking.
Account and HWID bans are more efficient
Since your account is their property and is simpler for them to enforce, they usually take measures concerning gamer’s account. And if the cheaters are persisted in their wrongdoing, it can culminate in a permanent ban.
The most typical grounds for Valorant bans are:
– Toxic and abusive behavior (toxicity, flaming, harassment, AFK-ing, griefing, inting, dodging queue, friendly fire, false reporting),
– Cheating (aimbots, ESP, radar hacks, no recoil, wall hacks, skin changers, etc.)
– Account sharing (boosting, selling, or buying accounts)
– Fraudulent activity (real money transactions, fraudulent purchases, compromised accounts)
– False positive (By mistake, ban a player instead of one who is cheating).
As we said, the most typical sanction for cheaters, hackers, and other violators of Valorant regulations is an account ban. If you use third-party software or take advantage of any defects or glitches in the game to outperform the other players, you risk having your account or HWID (Hardware ID) banned on Valorant.
A far more efficient method that Riot uses in Valorant is HWID bans for cheating accusations.
An HWID ban prevents anyone from using the computer, regardless of their account, from playing. A ban on an account is merely a restriction on that specific account. You can make a brand-new account and play there in place of the latter.
A Valorant hardware ban is effective for 120 days after it is issued. The HWID ban will therefore end after 120 complete days have passed, and you will be free to play on a brand-new account using the same machine. The HWID restriction will, however, remain in effect for repeat violators.
For a detailed view of penalties and bans, you can check the Valorant FAQ link here.
And finally, how far Riot goes in their determined fight against cheaters is evident from one of the tweets from Riot’s employer saying:
„Valorant “Soulbans” are live, so if you’ve cheated before, all your past, present, and future accounts will also be suspended. Some spirits will be released when the game is, allowing you to try once more on a new account, but this is the absolute limit of our mercy.“
There is a lot of criticism going around, and problems with Vanguard do exist, but many players are reporting declines in toxic behavior and cheaters in their game sessions.