Cheaters & Peer-To-Peer  Networking

Multiplayer game development is, as often said, truly challenging. Even with best practices implemented, such as adding Identification service, cheating remains a persistent issue, particularly in peer-to-peer (P2P) networking games.

This article covers the techniques used by cheaters to either attack or abuse multiplayer video games. It also goes into the alternative options, primarily dedicated game servers, that game developers can use to solve these issues.

Peer-To-Peer (P2P)  Networking: What Is It?

In contrast to a centralized server approach where a dedicated, “independent” server is authoring each player’s action on a cloud network, peer-to-peer networking is a decentralized approach to game hosting. Specifically, it means one player's computer or console acts as the authoring game server.

Such an approach has the advantage of reduced costs, reduced latency in certain scenarios, and is primarily used by developers given its simplicity in terms of development and integration.

While shared authority can be done in P2P, it is very rare because it is much more complex and, as such, isn’t covered in this article as such.

Vulnerabilities in P2P Networking

The very nature of P2P hosting presents multiple security exposure to risk.

• Lack of Central Authority: As there are no independent server that is supervising all transactions and actions in-game, this means no built-in oversight or authority to detect anomalies or cheating. Opening the door for players to exploit the game (see topic below).

• Easy Manipulation & Decompiling of Game Data: In a P2P setup, game data like player location, health, ammunition, etc., are often stored on individual clients. Dishonest players can manipulate this data to their advantage. Additionally, as players get the compiled code for the server, they can decode (using a decompiler) what the server does and try to modify the data to cheat.

• Exposure of IP Addresses & IP-Based Attacks: Since players connect directly to each other, their IP addresses can be exposed, making them susceptible to various attacks or harassment. With access to other players' IP addresses, cheaters can initiate Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, booting players from the game or severely degrading their connection quality.

Cheating Techniques in P2P Systems

Exploiting the vulnerabilities of P2P networking, cheaters have devised various methods to gain an unfair advantage or disrupt the gaming experience for others:

• Lag Switching: Cheaters can intentionally introduce lag to disrupt the flow of the game. By delaying their data transmission, they can 'freeze' the game momentarily and make moves without other players being able to respond in real time.

• Data Manipulation: Since game data resides on individual clients, a cheater can modify their data to give themselves infinite health, unlimited ammunition, or even change their location instantly.

• Ghosting: In games where players are supposed to have limited visibility of the map or other players, a cheater could gain complete visibility, giving them an unfair advantage.

Introducing Dedicated Game Servers: The Gold Standard Solution

The most effective and comprehensive way to counter the vulnerabilities of P2P hosting is by implementing dedicated game servers. Instead of players connecting directly to each other or relying on one player to host, all players connect to an independent, authoritative server that manages the entire game session.

Benefits of Dedicated Game Servers

• Complete Server Authority: Dedicated servers act as the single source of truth for all game state information. The server validates all player actions, making it nearly impossible for cheaters to manipulate game data locally since the server has final say on all game events.

• Robust Anti-Cheat Protection: With server-side validation, dedicated servers can implement sophisticated anti-cheat systems that monitor player behavior patterns, detect impossible actions, and instantly respond to cheating attempts. All game logic runs on the server, making it inaccessible to potential cheaters.

• Data Integrity: All critical game data is stored and processed server-side, ensuring consistency across all players and eliminating the possibility of local data manipulation. This is by far the most critical element if your game as in-game economy or is F2P – otherwise, players can set their own prices or make changes, manipulating your game’s economy making it worthless.

• IP Address Protection: Players' IP addresses are completely hidden from each other since they only connect to the dedicated server. This prevents IP-based attacks, DDoS attempts, and protects player privacy and security.

• Consistent Performance: Dedicated servers provide stable, predictable performance regardless of individual player connections. There's no "host advantage" as all players have equal standing relative to the authoritative server.

• Advanced Network Optimization: Modern dedicated server solutions can be deployed globally with intelligent matchmaking that connects players to the nearest server location, minimizing latency while maintaining security.

• Scalability and Reliability: Dedicated servers can handle larger player counts, provide better uptime, and can be scaled dynamically based on player demand without compromising game integrity.

Drawbacks and Considerations

It’s essential, however, to understand that no system is entirely foolproof. While a dedicated game servers offers many advantages, it does introduce potential challenges:

• Higher Costs: Running dedicated servers the traditional way can significant infrastructure investment, ongoing operational costs, and maintenance. These costs are typically absorbed by the developer or publisher. However, thanks to orchestration services like Edgegap which have “just in time” scaling, “pay per use” pricing for usage, one price for all servers worldwide (no regional variations) and most importantly the ability to fraction the vCPU usage of the server, which can allow you to pay only ¼  of a full server, meaning only ¼ of the list price.

• Dependency on Infrastructure: Game availability depends on server uptime and network connectivity. However, professional hosting solutions typically offer high availability and redundancy. Edgegap’s orchestration deploys game server to 17+ cloud providers ensuring it’s never down if one of them has issues.

• Potential Latency Increase: If servers are not strategically located, players might experience higher latency compared to local P2P connections. This is mitigated by deploying servers in multiple geographic regions through services like Edgegap which deploys game servers closest to users to 615+ locations worldwide for latency reduction of 58% on average versus traditional orchestraton.

Conclusion

While P2P hosting provides cost and simplicity advantages in specific scenarios, its fundamental vulnerabilities make it unsuitable for competitive or long-term multiplayer games. Dedicated game servers represent the gold standard for secure, fair, and reliable multiplayer gaming experiences.

The investment in dedicated server infrastructure pays dividends in player satisfaction, game longevity, and protection against cheating. For developers serious about creating a solid multiplayer experience, dedicated servers are not just recommended—they're essential.

Modern cloud-based orchestration platforms make game server solutions easier than ever to deploy and manage dedicated servers globally, providing the security and performance benefits without the traditional infrastructure burden and costs.

Learn more about Edgegap game server orchestration for your favorite game engine Unreal Engine or Unity Engine.