Valve warns that AMD’s anti-lag feature could lead to a Counter-Strike 2 ban

Valve has to caution Counter Strike 2 Players who may be blocked by the latest AMD graphics driver. The problem lies with AMD’s Anti-Lag+ feature, which turns on the Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) system, tricking it into mistaking the driver’s low-latency mode for cheating.

The problem is that Anti-Lag+ intercepts and redirects DLL functions. VAC sees DLL redirects as cheats (in other cases, they often are), which can lead to booting from Counter Strike 2.

Reddit string About this issue, “several gamers” claim that they received a VAC ban from using the latest AMD driver (23.10.1). “Apparently VAC bans everyone except cheaters,” u/Volfong quipped in the thread. “I can confirm that I was banned today and have Anti-Lag+ turned on,” u/trkemrasr wrote. “They better reverse this shit quick.”

Valve plans to do just that. “Once AMD ships an update, we can do the work of identifying affected users and unblocking them,” the publisher posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Until the issue is resolved, Valve recommends turning off Anti-Lag+ in your graphics card settings. If you do not change the default setting, you can disable Anti-Lag+ using the Alt+L hotkey. You can double-check the shortcut setting by opening the AMD Radeon software, clicking on the gear icon and choosing Hotkeys from the submenu. Selecting an existing hotkey for Anti-Lag+ allows you to customize it.

Engadget has contacted AMD for comment and will update this article if we hear back.

Counter Strike 2 It was launched in September after months of hype. The update that replaced Counter Strike: Global Offensive On Steam, it adds upgraded graphics and maps along with more realistic smoke. The game uses Valve’s Source 2 engine for improved lighting, sharper textures, and updated geometry. You’ll need a fairly recent Windows machine to play it, as Valve says it has no plans to bring the sequel to macOS or older PCs.