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PH How to Handle Suspected Ghosting and/or Hacking on the Server - Printable Version

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PH How to Handle Suspected Ghosting and/or Hacking on the Server - §5Aki - 04-12-2021

Hello, so, the title of this thread speaks all. Recently we've been having a problem with players not knowing how to properly handle ghosting, verbal ghosting, and/or suspected hacking.

Rule Number 1: Do Not Call Out Ghosters/Hackers!!!

Literally, don't. Calling them out does NOTHING in helping the situation. All it does is make the offenders more likely to dip and not be punished.

What to do if you suspect there's Ghosting/Hacking:
  1. Ping for staff in the Gmod #PH Channel Discord. 
  2. Give us the names of the offender(s)
  3. Steam IDs 
  4. General description of what's going on.
  • Example of what can be typed: @PH On-Call-Staff Aki (Steam Id: Steam_0:1:234567890) and Geb (Steam Id: Steam_0:1:234567890) are ghosting.

This can also be used for any other situation as well. 
  • Constant Mic spam, slurs being used, illegal spots, team switching, etc.
Give the names, Steam IDs and general description.
However, pinging for staff is supposed to be used with caution. Please do not ping for staff for small things.
  • Someone burped into the mic once, someone doing too many impressions over the mic, etc.
Pinging for staff is supposed to be for critical things that completely ruin games.
  • Aka Ghosting, Hacking, OR and increase of Mic Spam

Start recording even before staff says they can/cannot arrive. Any evidence is great evidence.
  • OBS and Brandicam are both free recording devices you can download on your computer.
Gather as much as you can on the offenders.

How can I gather evidence?
  1. If the Offender is on your team and you're Hunters:
  • Console command kill after the hunters are unblinded OR grenade bomb/spam shoot props to lower your health until you die
  • Begin recording once you're in First Person view of the suspected offender
  • Record who you can. 
  • If their account is public, check for friends online playing GMOD. If their account is private, keep an eye on who dies on the opposite team that influences their kills. Sometimes ghosters tend to kill their friends to make it easier to ghost.
What do I do when Staff does get on and the sus people are still at it?
  • You may continue recording if you want but just communicate with the staff team. Ask them if they need any help, relay some of the things you've recorded, etc.
  • However, allow the staff member to do their thing. They know what they're doing so don't over step or "help" in other ways.
  • An example of "helping" is hiding in barely legal spots to lure the ghoster/hacker towards you. Just keep playing the game as you normally would. Eventually the staff team will get a handle on the situation, the player(s) will be dealt with, or the player(s) will eventually leave.
What happens if the Ghoster/Hacker leaves before they're punished?
  • Talk to the staff team. See if they have enough evidence for them to be punished next time OR, if in the case of hacking, be banned.
  • In the case of hackers, it's good to go to the Ban Request area and put up a ban request if the staff believes so. Even if the evidence isn't enough to properly ban for hacking, the evidence will be kept in that thread for when the offender comes back on and begins again.
What if there is staff on the server and the Ghosting/Hacking suddenly happened?
  • Type @ before your message and it'll be sent straight to Admin Chat. The staff member should see it and begin the process of gathering evidence.
  • An example of how your message can be worded: @Hey, Aki and Geb are being kinda sus. They're both friends on Steam too and on opposite teams.
  • That's usually all the staff member needs to know. Sometimes they might have already noticed and already begun the ghosting procedures. Most likely the staff member will somehow contact you stating this or something similar.
  • Allow them some time to answer back. Don't abuse the @ chat because they're not responding. There are many components that can be at work as to why they're not answering you but, chances are, they've seen your message.
What do I do about someone Verbally Ghosting (aka in chat or in VC)?
  • Ask them to stop and refer them to the rules.
  • If they continue after that and completely ignore what they're being told, ping for staff about the situation.
  • If the situation grows to be a constant verbal ghosting every round that the player dies and you have the powers, gag/mute them. Alert the staff in the discord that they've been gagged/muted because of the verbal ghosting.
That is basically anything that you need. If anyone has any other points they'd like to bring up it would be greatly appreciated. In the end, listen to staff, respect the rules, and don't be a dick.  :D

RE: PH How to Handle Suspected Ghosting and/or Hacking on the Server - B0T.ikillyou - 04-12-2021

Really great recommendations in this post!
Thanks Aki for the awesome post!

-B0T

RE: PH How to Handle Suspected Ghosting and/or Hacking on the Server - TheUltraFish - 04-12-2021

Going to nitpick because why not? Like the overall flow but want to bounce around some ideas.
Donors, you do NOT have to do anything. You do not have to use commands, ping staff, record, nothing. It can helpful, but is not necessary. Quite a bit of the things mentioned is for staff to do, it's what they signed up for, you didn't.

What to do if you suspect there's Ghosting/Hacking:
  1. Ping for staff in the Gmod #PH Channel Discord. 

  2. Give us the names of the offender(s)

  3. Steam IDs 

  4. General description of what's going on.
  • Example of what can be typed: @PH On-Call-Staff Aki (Steam Id: Steam_0:1:234567890) and Geb (Steam Id: Steam_0:1:234567890) are ghosting.


1. Is correct. You should do that because hackers/ghosters ruin the game. Please do not call them out in chat. Provide names if a staff member asks. Generally it's pretty easy to tell who is or who is not ghosting when checking the scoreboard.

2-3. We have relay, you don't need to do that. DM the responding staff member either in discord or when they join the server. Even then, the name will work fine. Remember that they can join the Discord and see that you are talking about them, talk about awkward.

Example is pretty good. Could just say ghosters and that would be fine. Making random donors/regulars do much additional work or staff jobs can have terrible results including overstepping donors. Overstepping donors can happen anyways but it doesn't help when you give the basic role as staff in this scenario.

How can I gather evidence?
  1. If the Offender is on your team and you're Hunters:
  • Console command kill after the hunters are unblinded OR grenade bomb/spam shoot props to lower your health until you die

  • Begin recording once you're in First Person view of the suspected offender

  • Record who you can. 

  • If their account is public, check for friends online playing GMOD. If their account is private, keep an eye on who dies on the opposite team that influences their kills. Sometimes ghosters tend to kill their friends to make it easier to ghost.

Do not console command death. Definite way to look as suspicious as possible or look like your timefarming. When you notice them starting to play well again kill yourself by shooting up a random prop or nading. Much less suspicious (as we put this all out on the forums). This is of course if staff do NOT answer the on call as well and you want to gather evidence for a ban request.

What do I do when Staff does get on and the sus people are still at it?
  • You may continue recording if you want but just communicate with the staff team. Ask them if they need any help, relay some of the things you've recorded, etc.

  • However, allow the staff member to do their thing. They know what they're doing so don't over step or "help" in other ways.

  • An example of "helping" is hiding in barely legal spots to lure the ghoster/hacker towards you. Just keep playing the game as you normally would. Eventually the staff team will get a handle on the situation, the player(s) will be dealt with, or the player(s) will eventually leave.

Use admin chat by opening the chat pressing @  which is the admin chat and giving your message or !pm staff about the issue. When staff join, you can clear off and continue playing unless staff ask for your help either be with questions or recording. Just play the game normally and everything should be fine.

What happens if the Ghoster/Hacker leaves before they're punished?
  • Talk to the staff team. See if they have enough evidence for them to be punished next time OR, if in the case of hacking, be banned.

  • In the case of hackers, it's good to go to the Ban Request area and put up a ban request if the staff believes so. Even if the evidence isn't enough to properly ban for hacking, the evidence will be kept in that thread for when the offender comes back on and begins again.

You technically have to do absolutely nothing. If you want or if a staff member asks, provide them with the information that you gathered. Make a ban request if you believe you have enough proof.

What if there is staff on the server and the Ghosting/Hacking suddenly happened?
  • Type @ before your message and it'll be sent straight to Admin Chat. The staff member should see it and begin the process of gathering evidence.

  • An example of how your message can be worded: @Hey, Aki and Geb are being kinda sus. They're both friends on Steam too and on opposite teams.

  • That's usually all the staff member needs to know. Sometimes they might have already noticed and already begun the ghosting procedures. Most likely the staff member will somehow contact you stating this or something similar.

  • Allow them some time to answer back. Don't abuse the @ chat because they're not responding. There are many components that can be at work as to why they're not answering you but, chances are, they've seen your message.

Just going to add to the last point. Gathering evidence can take time, especially the more crazy the server can get. Please be patient. Sometimes it can take not even a half a round to get evidence or it could take an entire map to gather evidence. It is a case by case scenario.


What do I do about someone Verbally Ghosting (aka in chat or in VC)?
  • Ask them to stop and refer them to the rules.

  • If they continue after that and completely ignore what they're being told, ping for staff about the situation.

  • If the situation grows to be a constant verbal ghosting every round that the player dies and you have the powers, gag/mute them. Alert the staff in the discord that they've been gagged/muted because of the verbal ghosting.

If a staff member is on, let them handle it. Even then, you DO NOT have to do anything. You are a donor, a player with a purple rank, not staff, it is not your responsibility it's staff responsibility. Ping staff, if none respond or can join in a timely manner, you can then gag/mute. Make sure to gather evidence so people are wrong if they say you are power tripping and have possible legitimate argument.

Once again, I like the work that went into this post. However donors are not staff and they do not need to help out. 

RE: PH How to Handle Suspected Ghosting and/or Hacking on the Server - gerbil - 04-13-2021

I will add my lil bit here because I am also bored and can't sleep rant ish thing lol

It is HEAVILY stressed to every Donor alive that Donors are not staff and are not required to do anything whatsoever. The donor guidelines are there and given to those who find the abilities and wish to use them in a way that helps the server. Most if not all staff ask for Donors to not overstep when staff are on server handling the situation(s) at hand. Staff are given guidelines to follow and will to decide when to gag / mute / kick / etc. It is not for you, as a Donor, to decide when a user should receive punishment while a Staff member is actively dealing with it.

Our Staff Guideline's are open to the public if you want an idea of what procedure we follow in different situations. But again we, as in PH Staff Team (or any of our Staff teams), can act on situation(s) to our own discretion.
PH Staff Guidelines

In most cases if Staff need help on the server, they will ping in our respected Staff Discord themselves for additional staff on hand. Or will message/ping for staff to take their place if they need to leave while the server is rowdy. (Leaving to something to do IRL cus we all adults, we need a break, or we've just had enough of the server for the day)
If they decide to, they can ask the Donors or Users (usually regulars familiar with the rules) for help.

Imma stress this even more: Stop calling out Ghosters and Hackers in chat, please and thank you.

We can and will warn for such things as calling out ghosters and hackers repeatedly while staff are present/on the way either privately, or openly VIA Voice/Text Chat after we've given reminders about Admin Chat (@) or Pings. It's infuriating when we are dealing with the situation but frustrated Donors, Regulars, or Guests start to get rowdy about it in the chat. It makes our jobs a little more difficult to do in the long run if a pair or group of ghosters are aware staff are watching and stop what they are doing entirely and disconnect, or hackers turn off their hacks/disconnect before staff can catch them.

It is completely optional and again standard users (Users/Member/Master/Regular/Donor alike) are not required to do anything whatsoever and just mute people Client-Side or disable the VC if they do not want to hear the shenanigans.

This is a good thing to read IF you wish to help the server in anyway you can. (Reading Both What Aki typed, and what Fishy typed, very good reads, recommendations, and suggestions)
Heh PH got tagged again- Everytime.

RE: PH How to Handle Suspected Ghosting and/or Hacking on the Server - Agent Barton - 04-13-2021

I feel like we keep having the same conversations over and over again about Donors and what they should and shouldn't do. And that will probably continue.

The key point of this post for everyone on the sever - DO NOT CALL OUT ANYONE SUSPICIOUS OF GHOSTING OR HACKING IN CHAT. EVER.

Easy enough. Use @ for admin chat when staff are online to discuss suspicious players. We all know they are annoying as all Heck, so we as staff want to see them punished too. Calling them out in chat achieves nothing.

RE: PH How to Handle Suspected Ghosting and/or Hacking on the Server - Damien - 04-13-2021

I agree with this post, More people should look at this if they're seriously considering making ban requests/moderating on the server.

RE: PH How to Handle Suspected Ghosting and/or Hacking on the Server - Zenful - 04-13-2021

Another thing along with this thread. Why don't we make this thread like a TOS when you buy donor or something like that for the server. I say "TOS" cause I don't the actual name for this. This specifically calls out donors by rank, and it's not specifically them so this won't solve the whole problem but many of those who call out ghosters are people who are users on the server. I get that this is trying to address people outside of donors as well, but this won't reach them in all likely hood. I'm not sure what to do about them but at the. very least maybe someone reads these guidelines and they get stopped. IDK.