Valve: Using AMD Anti-Lag+ in Counter-Strike 2 may result in VAC ban

Using AMD Radeon Anti-Lag+ in Counter-Strike 2 may incorrectly result in a VAC ban. Valve confirms this. The feature, which is currently only available for RX 7000 video cards, makes changes to the engine’s DLL files. That can trigger the VAC system.

Valve calls out to AMD users via social media to not use Anti-Lag+ in Counter-Strike 2. The feature, which is intended to reduce latency, works by ‘redirecting’ features of Source 2 engine DLLs. That can be flagged as cheating by Valve’s VAC anti-cheat system. “Tampering with CS code will result in a VAC ban,” the company wrote.

AMD made Anti-Lag+ available for Counter-Strike 2 with its latest driver version, Adrenalin 23.10.1. Valve says it can identify affected users and reverse the bans once AMD releases an update. The GPU maker has not yet responded to the incident, but appears to have withdrawn the driver. The download link on AMD’s website no longer works and the driver can no longer be installed via the Adrenalin software; the latter produces an error message.

AMD’s latest driver has made their “Anti-Lag/+” feature available for CS2, which is implemented by detouring engine dll functions.

If you are an AMD customer and play CS2, DO NOT ENABLE ANTI-LAG/+; any tampering with CS code will result in a VAC ban.

Once AMD ships an update we…

— CS2 (@CounterStrike) October 13, 2023