Categorizing Minecraft Cheats (Context for Analysis)

Before diving into specific analysis techniques, it's helpful to understand the broad categories cheats fall into, as this informs the detection approach: Note: The specific definitions of these terms have changed over the years and still are not defined by everyone in the same way. This matters little. In the end, these terms are conventions that serve to understand each other among us ScreenSharers and Bypassers.

• Ghost Clients: These modify the game from the inside, often packaged as modified versions (replacing vanilla/Forge .jar files in the versions folder), mods (placed in the mods folder), or sometimes modified libraries. They leave traces within the .minecraft folder structure and often in the javaw.exe process memory.

• Injection Clients: Typically involve an external injector executable (.exe) that loads a malicious Dynamic Link Library (.dll) into the running javaw.exe process. The DLL then uses interfaces like JNI or JVMTI to modify game behavior. Detection involves finding the injector/DLL files externally and looking for traces of the injected module in the game's memory.

• External Clients: These usually run as separate executables (.exe) that interact with the game by reading and writing to the javaw.exe process's memory directly using Windows API functions, without injecting code into the process. They leave minimal traces within the game's memory itself, requiring detection of the external executable and its activity on the system.

• Autoclickers/Macros: These simulate mouse clicks or keyboard inputs externally using OS-level APIs or mouse software/hardware features. They may have minimal direct interaction with the javaw.exe process.

Understanding these categories helps prioritize which artifacts and analysis techniques are most relevant based on the suspected type of cheat.