Declined VPN Blocker

[Jermbo]

I think it time to add VPN Blocker since we sometimes "Same Hacker" But different IP. Like Oceanman, and Couple people.
I wonder if this plugin will work for black wonder.

Sourcemod VPN Blocker: Page 6 (https://forums.alliedmods.net/showpost.php?p=2677266&postcount=56) Normal Tread (https://forums.alliedmods.net/showthread.php?t=312792)

Github: (https://github.com/PwnK/VPN-Block)

I hope this will help a lot when the Admin/Mod can't come due to life things.

 

[Sargentman16]

Wouldn't this negatively impact people who normally use VPN's? Some people just use Nord on a daily basis and it would a pain in the ass and tedious to have to turn it off each time they try to join a server.

 

[Pyric]

Honestly, in my experience if hackers/cheaters REALLY want to evade bans, they'll usually find a way, and Sargentman brings up a good point, a fair number of people run VPN's just as normal practice. I just don't think the return on effort (how many hackers/cheaters/ban evaders it blocks) is worth the effort/impact.

 

[Jermbo]

Wouldn't this negatively impact people who normally use VPN's? Some people just use Nord on a daily basis and it would a pain in the ass and tedious to have to turn it off each time they try to join a server.

Understandable. But keep in your mind. Whatever if you using that ip or vpn change ip every time you use vpn. That possibility hacker use that ip to cheat and banned. Then you use same ip as hacker that YOU didn’t use cheat. That can lead “source duplication”. Then that where as admin not trust you or believe that cheating or not.

 

[Jermbo]

Honestly, in my experience if hackers/cheaters REALLY want to evade bans, they'll usually find a way, and Sargentman brings up a good point, a fair number of people run VPN's just as normal practice. I just don't think the return on effort (how many hackers/cheaters/ban evaders it blocks) is worth the effort/impact.

Maybe. I rare use vpn. Only people use vpn that possibility getting good pings than their home router. Good pings is only I can think.

 

[Sargentman16]

Maybe. I rare use vpn. Only people use vpn that possibility getting good pings than their home router. Good pings is only I can think.

People use VPN's for other things other than getting "good ping". Protecting their bank info, watching blocked videos or shows, blatantly watching porn and avoiding sketchy ads. By your logic a cheater can still get someone unjustly banned using the same IP as someone who hasn't cheated, this wouldn't matter even if the plugin was added because whats to stop them from doing it again and finding different methods. It negatively impacts all parties.

 

[Jack the Ripper]

Maybe. I rare use vpn. Only people use vpn that possibility getting good pings than their home router. Good pings is only I can think.

If you don't even understand why people use VPNs, making this suggestion is just an ignorant move. Work on the English, deaf night owl.

 

[BananAsriel]

Maybe. I rare use vpn. Only people use vpn that possibility getting good pings than their home router. Good pings is only I can think.

summarizing the thread, the flaw in the suggestion is that it would cause more problems than answers due to the uses of a VPN. as mentioned above is not only for the improvement of connections, it has it security uses and such. The reason this would create more issues is because using a VPN has become a normal and common practice for a great amount of people. whilst it does address the problem of getting around bans the same method suggested would falsely target VPN users, chopping player count and bringing a load of appeals in.

 

[Jermbo]

summarizing the thread, the flaw in the suggestion is that it would cause more problems than answers due to the uses of a VPN. as mentioned above is not only for the improvement of connections, it has it security uses and such. The reason this would create more issues is because using a VPN has become a normal and common practice for a great amount of people. whilst it does address the problem of getting around bans the same method suggested would falsely target VPN users, chopping player count and bringing a load of appeals in.

Yea. I totally agree with and see that possible increase in appeals going though. Bene and Admins possibly can use this command "sm_vbwhitelist <SteamID>" however, this possibly not a good solution. Since there multiple people who are "innocent" with VPN. This might take a while and add people whitelist VPN with Steam ID.

 

[Jermbo]

Keep in mind that I haven’t test with sourcebans. Since my tf2 server doesn’t have “Sourcebans”

 

[Chig Bungus]

I believe this would be a good addition to our community moderation on our servers, however other people bring in very truthful inquiries, such as people regularly using VPNs to receive better connection. Again, not saying this is a terrible suggestion, but thinking of the different inputs that have been posted here, I do not see this as a possibility unless there was a way to circumvent the automatic blocking of VPNs for those who are true players and do not cheat.

 

[Pyric]

If the end goal is just blocking people who are banned, there are a handful of different methods to try and make the ban more significant than just banning the account.

The most common one (that I'm aware of/) is flagging the IP of a banned account and flagging any other accounts that connect from that IP. Granted there are ways around that one, but it will still filter out a good number of banned players from being able to evade.

Beyond that, a Gmod server I used to be involved with had a system that could flag the specific computer that was being played on, beyond just the IP address, that system worked exceedingly well at filtering out ban evaders.

And then there's still the logical/ethical issue of just deciding that VPN use is punishable. As has already established, a lot of people use VPN's for privacy/security/other purposes.

Finally there's also the discussion about if players who do use VPN's, will want to stay with our community enough to disable their VPN, as for some people the use of a VPN is non-negotiable while online.

I don't disagree that ban evaders are a huge issue, especially given that US 2fort has a known cheater/hacker who has been around on several different accounts, despite having been banned on a few of them. But I don't think punishing anyone using a VPN, or blocking VPN's entirely, is the solution.

 

[Sargentman16]

I believe this would be a good addition to our community moderation on our servers, however other people bring in very truthful inquiries, such as people regularly using VPNs to receive better connection. Again, not saying this is a terrible suggestion, but thinking of the different inputs that have been posted here, I do not see this as a possibility unless there was a way to circumvent the automatic blocking of VPNs for those who are true players and do not cheat.

We could implement this in by not making it automatic but instead choosing which players get affected by it, it'd be slower and you'd have to nick pick them but you could at least get rid of certain notorious hackers and griefers like oceanman, affecting less players.

 

[Sargentman16]

We could implement this in by not making it automatic but instead choosing which players get affected by it, it'd be slower and you'd have to nick pick them but you could at least get rid of certain notorious hackers and griefers like oceanman, affecting less players.

If thats even possible

 

[Jack the Ripper]

If the end goal is just blocking people who are banned, there are a handful of different methods to try and make the ban more significant than just banning the account.

The most common one (that I'm aware of/) is flagging the IP of a banned account and flagging any other accounts that connect from that IP. Granted there are ways around that one, but it will still filter out a good number of banned players from being able to evade.

IP bans already apply to any ban that is issued while an

And then there's still the logical/ethical issue of just deciding that VPN use is punishable. As has already established, a lot of people use VPN's for privacy/security/other purposes.

Finally there's also the discussion about if players who do use VPN's, will want to stay with our community enough to disable their VPN, as for some people the use of a VPN is non-negotiable while online.

I don't disagree that ban evaders are a huge issue, especially given that US 2fort has a known cheater/hacker who has been around on several different accounts, despite having been banned on a few of them. But I don't think punishing anyone using a VPN, or blocking VPN's entirely, is the solution.

If someone wants to use a VPN in a tf2 server, you can bet that they don’t want to disable it if you ask nicely. Current members might end up disabling theirs, but new players won’t, they will just go to a different server. This would cause the community to get even less new players, and might end up causing a net loss in player count if the people who use VPNs are numerous. Blocking people from using VPNs is dumb and will make everyone think you’re dumb. That’s also assuming that the VPN plugin even works to begin with and can take into account new VPN providers. If that plugin functions off of a big list of IPs, it’s going to only deter a small subsection of cheaters.

 

[Jim]

This idea has been rejected before because it baselessly punishes legit users on a VPN. Rule breakers will just keep shuffling through IPs until they find one that isn't banned.

 

[Benedevil]

Hello,

we don't want to restrict users who value privacy or have other reasons to use VPNs. I don't believe in punishing everyone for a few people abusing the resource. I'm happy to discuss alternative solutions but this one will not be accepted.
However, thank you for your concern. Your suggestion and feedback is still very valuable to us.