VAC (Valve Anti-Cheat)
VAC is signature-based and runs in user space. Valve states publicly that VAC bans are not appealable, but adjacent issues — Game Bans, Trade Bans, account-recovery routes and Family Sharing un-links — are governed by separate procedures with more flexibility than the headline policy suggests.
Restriction tiers
- VAC ban
Permanent restriction from VAC-secured servers for the affected title.
- Game Ban
Issued by the publisher of a specific title, separate from VAC.
- Trade / economy ban
Restriction on Steam trading and the Community Market, applied independently of VAC.
What it checks
- Signature-based cheat detection in user space
- Delayed ban waves applied days or weeks after detection
- Per-publisher Game Bans separate from VAC
- Trade and economy-side restrictions through the Steam economy team
Identifiers it can use
- Steam account graph and login history
- IP and device identifiers tied to the Steam client
- Family Sharing relationships across accounts
Points an appeal can make
- Valve Support for adjacent (non-VAC) bans, account compromise and Family Sharing un-links
- Account recovery file built on purchase, login and device history
- EU GDPR Art. 15 request to surface the underlying signal
How appeals are handled
- VAC bans themselves are not reversed; the appealable surface is the adjacent restriction set
- Account recovery requires verifiable ownership evidence to take precedence over the current credential holder
Evidence to collect
- Steam ban summary and account profile
- Login IP and device history
- Purchase receipts proving original ownership
- Statement of compromise where applicable
Games that use VAC (Valve Anti-Cheat)
This page summarises public information. Anti-cheat vendors do not publish every detail of how their systems work, so read it as background, not as an explanation of how your own case was decided.
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