BattlEye

Introduction

BattlEye website
Abbreviation: BE

BattlEye is an anti-cheat tool created by BattlEye Innovations. It is currently included in Bohemia Interactive's ArmA and ArmA 2 series as an optional installation and server configuration option. It works by scanning connected clients for various cheat an exploit methods and upon detection, disconnecting (kicking) the offending clients. You can find more details about the BE cheat scanning engine on the info page.

Privacy

BattlEye will never violate your privacy in any way. The EULA clearly states this when installing BattlEye. Any other statements found anywhere else are superseded by the EULA.

BattlEye always has and will secure the user's privacy and protect against any sort of software exploitation from outside.

Setup

Latest version

You can find out what the latest version is by visiting the news section.

Installation

Installation of the BattlEye client is an option during the initial game installation process.

BE updates itself automatically during a running MP session with internet access. However in the case of troubles use the following options:

Manual BEClient.dll download

a) Download the latest BEClient.dll from the download section. Make sure to download the BEClient.dll for the your series of ArmA:

• ArmA
• ArmA II
• Operation Arrowhead

Now you need to put BEClient.dll to the right location:

• Windows 7

C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\ArmA 2 OA\BattlEye\

• Windows XP

C:\Documents and Settings\%USERNAME%\Local Settings\Application Data\ARMA 2 OA\BattlEye\

• STEAM

c:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\ARMA 2 Operation Arrowhead\Expansion\BattlEye\

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NOTE: You need to use the right subfolder for your game version (ArmA/ArmA 2/ArmA 2 OA).

Automated BEClient.dll installer

b) Download the installer for your series of ArmA.

Next run it and use run as Administrator (select file by left mouse click, right mouse click, select the "run as" option).

It is a very fast silent-installer. This means normally you wil not notice anything - no application widow, no progress bar, no completion info. Only if there are issues, it will speak up.

The automated installer looks for the BEClient.dll on your computer:

1. If your BEClient.dll is same or newer, then installer does nothing,
2. If your BEClient.dll is older, it updates the BEClient.dll version,
3. If the BEClient.dll is not found, it will install the latest BEClient.dll.

You can verify if it was installed by checking the software uninstall list. You find it under "BattlEye for OA uninstall".

Configuration

Client

Apart from installation there is no additional configuration required for game clients.

Server

Refer to the server.cfg section on how to enable BattlEye on a game server.

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NOTE: If you run multiple game servers on one machine, you need to specify separate BE paths for each in the server startup parameters.

BE commands

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NOTE: The #beserver command has been disabled for now, due to the game admin hijacking hack.
You need to use the BE RCon tool to ban players from your server.

GUID banning

BE can permanently or temporarily ban players from your server. The advantage over ArmA 2's PID banning is that the BE GUID cannot be hacked/changed client-side, therefore the only way for a player to get unbanned is to buy a new game/cd-key.

The following commands are available to manage GUID bans:

loadBans	(Re)load the BE ban list from bans.txt.
bans	Show a list of all BE server bans.
ban [player #] [time in minutes] [reason]	Ban a player's BE GUID from the server. If time is not specified or 0, the ban will be permanent; if reason is not specified the player will be kicked with "Banned".
addBan [GUID] [time in minutes] [reason]	Same as "ban", but allows to ban a player that is not currently on the server.
removeBan [ban #]	Remove ban (get the ban # from the bans command).

You can either enter them via BE RCon or in-game using "#beserver [command]" (if logged in as admin). For example

#beserver ban 11

Keep in mind that the player # used here is the one listed by BE's "players" command.

BattlEye GUID and IP bans will now both be loaded from and saved to bans.txt (no longer guidbans.txt and ipbans.txt) in your server's BE working directory.

RCon

Latest version: b0.91.

Since BattlEye server version 1.102 you can control your ArmA game server remotely (without having to be in-game) the BattlEye RCon tool.

1. Download the BattlEye RCon tool (BERCon.exe).
2. Create a file called beserver.cfg in BattlEye working directory on the server.
3. Set your private RCon password in the beserver.cfg.
4. Start the RCon tool on your computer.
5. Connect to your server with its IP, port and RCon password.

BattlEye working directory

The BattlEye working directory is a folder in one of three places:

• A folder named BattlEye within the ArmA II application data folder
• A folder named BattlEye in the path given by the -profiles startup parameter
• In a folder given by the -BEpath startup parameter

The ArmA II application data folder

In Windows Vista, 7 and 2008, that's the path given by %LOCALAPPDATA%\ArmA 2 for ArmA II and %LOCALAPPDATA%\ArmA 2 OA for the Arrowhead dedi. A typical value is:

C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\ArmA 2

In Windows XP and 2003, the application data folder is %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\ArmA 2. A typical example is:

C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application data\ArmA 2

These locations are the default and are used, if you launch the dedicated server without using either the -profiles or -BEpath launch parameters.

The -profiles location

The path given as the -profiles=... startup parameter used when launching the ArmA II dedi. If, for example, you would launch the ArmA II OA dedicated server using:

arma2oaserver.exe -profiles=D:\Games\ArmA2

then the BattlEye working directory would be:

D:\Games\ArmA2\BattlEye

The -BEpath location

You can also specify the BattlEye working directory directly using the startup parameter -BEpath. Example:

arma2oaserver.exe -BEpath=D:\MyBattlEye

In this case, the BattlEye working directory will be:

D:\MyBattlEye

Full examples

Here are examples of the full paths to the beserver.cfg file for a few different cases. The examples assume that the username of the user that will run the servers is "jimbob". "ArmA II" means running the arma2server.exe whereas "Arma II OA" means you're launching arma2oaserver.exe

ArmA II, Windows 7/Vista/2008, default:	C:\Users\jimbob\AppData\Local\ArmA 2\BattlEye\beserver.cfg
ArmA II OA, Windows 7/Vista/2008, default:	C:\Users\jimbob\AppData\Local\ArmA 2 OA\BattlEye\beserver.cfg
ArmA II, Windows XP, default:	C:\Documents and Settings\jimbob\Local Settings\Application data\ArmA 2\BattlEye\beserver.cfg
ArmA II OA, Windows XP, default:	C:\Documents and Settings\jimbob\Local Settings\Application data\ArmA 2 OA\BattlEye\beserver.cfg
Any ArmA II, any Windows, -profile=D:\profiles:	D:\profiles\BattlEye\beserver.cfg

Linux

For Linux dedicated servers, the default locations are:

• For the ArmA II dedi, it's ./battleye
• For the ArmA II OA dedi, it's ./expansion/battleye

Sample beserver.cfg

RConPassword xyzxyz
MaxPing 200

RCon commands

players	Display player list including BE GUIDs and pings.
kick [player#]	Kick a player, his # can be found in the player list.
RConPassword [password]	Change the RCon password.
MaxPing [ping]"	Change the MaxPing value. If a player has a higher ping, he will be kicked from the server.
Exit	Close the connection.

Support

• BE Support page with contact details
• Frequently Asked Questions:
  • I am getting kicked for the following violation(s). I don't use hacks, so what can I do to resolve this?
  • How do I enable BattlEye in-game to be able to play on BE-enabled servers?
  • Are administrator rights required when playing with BattlEye enabled?
  • I am using a 64-bit operating system but can't seem to find the right files in the download section. Is 64-bit unsupported?
  • I am running multiple dedicated servers from one installation. Is there anything I have to keep in mind regarding BattlEye?
• BI forum sticky threads
  • BattlEye Installer (A2:OA)
  • RCon server administration
  • BattlEye GUID banning