Fortnite Ban
Fortnite Ban
I recently played Fortnite without any problems, but then got kicked off with claims about a VPN slow connection or cheating. They offered a permanent ban after I explained my system had legitimate software like Battleye, VAC, and PunkBunster installed—things that would have triggered detection in other games too. I checked online and saw others facing the same issue, so I created another account to try again. After reformatting my drive and changing my subnet IP, I managed about five hours of playtime before being banned again. The same software was involved, but now I’m wondering what details the system checks on the machine to make a decision. Could you clarify what information they look for? Also, what steps can I take to challenge or overturn this ban?
P.S. The only recent activity on my SSD was an AHK script for a work program, which I downloaded just before the ban—maybe that’s worth mentioning! Thanks for your help!
The message suggested checking for a VPN usage, but it was triggered by the content itself.
AHK is viewed as a cheating tool because it can automate actions in games, including potentially enabling aimbots. Searching for "AutoHotKey Fortnite" reveals many discussions about using it for cheating and experiences with bans.
There are often misleading alerts. The developers' unwillingness to provide further details reveals two issues. First, the game is overly popular, so banning a few harmless users seems justified. Second, they lack proper professionalism in managing matters. This becomes an issue with any anti-cheat system, even if it makes evading detection harder. While it offers some protection, it also misses verification details. VAC, PunkBuster and similar widely used platforms have databases that can accurately identify false positives compared to actual cheaters. As far as I know, they typically don't impose permanent bans for single violations unless it's clearly a false positive. They collect sufficient evidence to make informed decisions. Sometimes services let you check user IDs to see past violations or reasons, including screenshots and logs.
Steam displays on a player's profile whether they've faced prior game bans for cheating, specifically VAC bans. It often provides details about the games involved. It doesn't reveal proof directly, but search results suggest this information is available.
It depends on the data the app decides to transmit. Network-wise, they would notice an IP and MAC address. The IP refers to your router's public address. The MAC is either your router's public MAC or the MAC of the device you're using. You might check if it's being blocked by altering it on your machine, assuming a wired setup. This process is commonly called "MAC address spoofing." I doubt that's their method—you likely have separate accounts for yourself and your children, so they probably just block your account while rejecting new ones you don't like. Have you considered assigning one computer for work and another for gaming? Most companies will start blocking your public IP once you become a significant issue in the gaming community.
I didn't install through Steam, I got it directly from them, which means Steam can't review it.