Although the February 28 Dota 2 patch is relatively small, it targets cheaters and console commands, no doubt in the wake of Valve’s recent ban wave that eliminated over 40,000 cheaters in the Dota. 2 MOBAs.
The February 28th patch isn’t one of the biggest updates in Dota 2, but it seems to be a direct result of a recent wave of bans that removed over 40,000 rogue accounts.
In its warning message condemning cheating, Valve notes that rule breakers could access “a section of data in the game client that would never be read during normal gameplay.” Essentially, console commands allow you to mess with the backend of the game itself, so Valve removed commands that “could be used to introspect client state”, introducing a second layer of security, so to speak. .
The “recording” tool was also disabled in matchmaking games, as it created a “local demo that would contain information that was not intended to be viewable by the client during a game.”
Finally, player profiles are no longer accessible during the pre-game, and will only be visible once everyone has chosen their hero. This is likely an attempt to combat third-party tools that analyze player match history data to provide cheaters with the information they need to fight them.
Dota 2 Patch Notes February 28
Below are the full patch notes for the February 28 update, courtesy of Valve:
Some disabled features used by third-party tools:
- Disabled the “save” command in matchmaking games. This was used to record, in real time, a local demo that would contain information that was not intended to be seen by the customer during a game. Demo recording is still enabled for local lobbies to enable SFM and community content creation.
- Disabled a large number of console commands during matchmaking games that could be used to introspect client state. For example, “dota_lobby_debug”, “cl_dota_ambient_tree_shake_cooldown”, and “dev_simulate_gcdown” no longer work in these games, while “ping”, “disconnect”, and “dota_toggle_autoattack” still work.
- Player profiles are no longer accessible in matchmaking during pre-match. They remain accessible once the selection phase is over.
While some Dota 2 console commands have bitten the dust, there’s still a whole collection to explore if you’re in the mood to change up your multiplayer game a bit.