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Blaxxun

Complete Guide to spotting an XRAY-Raid and defending your Base against Cheaters

Thoughts on XRAY-Raiding and possible Solutions

I am well aware that me and my buddy hunted down a lot of people and that i am consequently not that popular, BUT please do not downvote this discussion because of that.

I created this topic in order to inform what we are up against, how to spot an XRAY-Raid and to discuss possible solutions that EVERYONE can incorporate into his base design. The battle against cheaters is of the utmost importance considering how unsafe the client is and the admins are almost entirely powerless. Which is why we have to help them and ourselves in the process by building bases in a certain fashion.

Also i am aware that this post could be read as a guide on XRAYing but i think its already easy enough to start Xraying. I have seen a lot of confusion in chat as to what exactly XRAYing is and how you spot it or defend against it and therefore informing the "public" of the dangers is beneficial in my opinion.

What exactly does XRAY stand for and how does it work:

XRAY stands in Minecraft for making certain blocks transparent. Now if you make smoothstone, dirt/grass, gravel and common ores see-through, you can easily spot bases from the surface as well as diamonds down in your mine.

XRAYers can either use a simple texture pack or install a MOD for more convenience. Both is undetectable by the server. Most any XRay-texturepacks display still and moving lava, which is why using lava is so effective against XRAYing. I am not sure how the mods handle the lava display but i would guess its toggle-able with a mere shortcut.

How do XRAYers approach a base they have spotted:

I. e. how you can determine if your base was XRAYed.

This section will give you all the info you need in order to get that cheating bastard banned, who stole all your diamonds and raped your wife treasure room. I am using actual screenshots from the three raids our base endured.

1) The Dig-Straight-Down-Method aka Insta-Ban-Kid

This fella is probably about 12 years old and figured that he can cheat the system and get some PHAT LOOTS. He is running around above ground with his nose in the dirt looking for anything resembling a base. If he happens to find one, he cannot be bothered to find the smart way in and instead digs down straight into your base. What he did not anticipate is the concept that actions have consequences and he is therefore dumbfounded when he finds himself banned the next day.

2) The CaveSystem-Upon-Base-Happen-Method aka Smart-Xray-User

You have to look out for this one. He is a seasoned cheater and knows every trick in the book. While performing his dirty trade, he considers the ramifications of getting caught and is therefore extra careful. When he spots a base that seems worth his time, he will look for nearby cave-entrances or cave-system (using the XRAY). After finding a suitable entry point, he will wander around in it in the general direction of the spotted base. If he wants to act extra-inconspicuously, he will even mine all the ore he does not need. Eventually he will be as close to the base as possible and start his final approach. More often than not, a simple shaft or stairwell will do.

While these raids may seem very unlikely and you are quick to call XRAY, he made sure that you cannot be 100% certain that he did not stumble into your base by accident.

3) The Grid-Mine-Into-Base-Method aka Ambitious-XRAY-Devotee

You have to acknowledge the dedication. This guy will spot a cool-looking base from afar and then take it upon himself to start a grid-mine effort in order to stumble into your base in the most inconspicuous fashion there is. While literally breaking thousands of blocks, he runs the risk to encounter very meager loot.

There is no way of verifying XRAY here, but a simple solution is offered below.

What can YOU do to deny XRAYers access to your Base:

  1. Small Effort

  • Placing your base above layer y=20.

    -> No grid-mine will accidentally (or not so accidentally) lead into your base because you are above diamond generation.

  • Keeping your base footprint as small as possible and outsource things like farms and mobgrinders.

    -> Making an XRay-Raid more obvious and making your base harder to spot as something worth-wile from the surface. Also finding your base legitimately will be nigh impossible.

  1. Moderate Effort

  • Use a smart exit for your base and fill up large tracts of your exit with smoothstone (or whatever is applicable). Maybe make an exit to a cave-system 30 blocks from your base and find your way from there to surface or let the exit-corridor lead into a side-shaft of your confusing and huge branch-mine.

    -> Denying Xrayers an quick-and-easy way into your base.

  • Constructing a lava pool above your base or use an already existent one.

    -> This will deny vision to amateur cheaters and make your base more difficult to approach for cheaters who spotted it.

  1. Considerable Effort

  • Checking your Base for Cave-Systems for 50 Blocks in all directions and then consequently filling up any open spaces with smoothstone - bonus points for incorporating ores farmed with silk touch.

    -> This will force the XRAYer to dig some kind of straight shaft, which will without questions result in an InstaBan.

  • Setting up shop under a huge ocean. Keep in mind that islands attract visitors so stay clear of those.

    -> Any approach attempt will be a completely obvious XRAY while also quite deadly. The trade-off in convenience is huge, though.

What can WE as a community do to combat X-RAY in general?

While making your base safer can deter a lot of cheaters from going the extra mile to get your treasure, it wont stop them entirely and there will still be cheaters claiming innocence. If an admin cannot be 99.9% certain the culprit did indeed cheat, he will not be able to ban him - innocent until proven otherwise.

Which is why i propose the Incident Report (need a better term). If your base is hidden well enough and you believe that last raid was facilitated by XRAY (i.e. unbelievable luck), you can report it to an admin. He will in turn investigate and confirm an "unlikely approach" and file that under the culprits name. If a culprit has several confirmed "unlikely approaches", you can be certain he does use X-RAY to find bases. The map spans over 400 km² and finding a base with a small footprint by accident is almost impossible. Just like people who find huge amounts of diamond using erratic mining patterns, cheaters who find several smartly hidden bases will be flagged and eventually banned.

If you do not grid-mine half a quadrant, you simply will not find 3 well hidden bases - noone is that lucky! Cheaters will not raid just one base. They want the high they get from using forbidden means to destroy someone's work. By using the Incident Report we as a community can ensure that most cheaters will be found out.

inb4 "Latrop how do you know all this?! You must be cheating as well!": I have never used an Xray pack on this server or even raided a base. All i do is gear up for PVP and kick ass, haha. I did use an XRAY texturepack about 8 months ago to light up all caves around a mobgrinder on our private server.

Also please suggest more possibilities of securing ones base. I am going to add some pictures later on.

EDIT: Did some formatting and added a new section on catching subtle repeat offenders. Also thinking about splitting the guide in two: One part for making your base safe and the other on spotting X-RAY raids and the Incident Report.

Posted Jan 16, 2012, 5:41 PM UTC · edited

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