How does Valorant detect smurf accounts? - Playbite (2024)

FAQs

How does Valorant detect smurfs? ›

Detecting Smurfs in Valorant

High K/D Ratio: Smurfs often have disproportionately high kill-to-death ratios, indicating their higher skill level than their apparent rank. Low Account Level: A player who performs exceptionally well but has a low account level may also be a smurf.

Just to add, Riot Games has algorithms that are pretty tight-lipped, but they're definitely using player behavior and performance metrics to spot smurfs. So if you suddenly start playing like a pro in lower ranks, you're gonna get noticed.

Even though Riot Games isn't specifically trying to fight those trying to play with friends, they are still being affected by the measure. In other words, you're not necessarily getting banned for being a smurf, but Riot Games has made it harder for these people to rank up.

Account sharing

The most common way Riot spots boosting behavior is when they detect IP sharing on a single account. Naturally, when you purchase a boost, the booster will log onto your account from a different location and network compared to the one you usually play on, which raises suspicion as a result.

It's always running in the background. Even when not gaming, players who have Valorant installed will have this anti-cheat system continue to work as long as it's connected to the game's servers. It behaves like a security guard as it's designed to watch out for cheats and other suspicious activities in your system.

Additionally, if they get caught, their accounts will get suspended because Valorant can detect the difference in IP addresses when logging in and out of the account.

Can you get banned for smurfing in LoL? The simple answer is No, smurfing isn't against League of Legends' Terms of Service. You can't get banned for smurfing. Some players usually own tons of alternative accounts and they never get banned.

We obtain info from vendors to help us identify from where you're using the Riot Services (like your approximate location based on your IP address).

You can also launch Deceive with lol , lor , or valorant as command-line argument to automatically launch your game of choice. Is this approved by Riot? Riot has confirmed that you won't get banned for using Deceive. It may break at any time though.

How to counter smurfing in Valorant? ›

Additionally, we have traced every single one of these smurf accounts back to its main account. Going forward, a main account found associated with a smurf account could result in a wide range of punishments, from temporary adjustments to behavior scores to permanent account bans.

This illegal practice involves spreading out these smaller transactions across multiple accounts to stay below reporting thresholds and evade scrutiny by regulatory agencies. Smurfing can have serious legal consequences and is considered a form of financial fraud.

Smurfing is technically not allowed in League of Legends — or any game. In Riot's Support page on smurfing, the developer states that there are anti-smurf measures in place. If a smurfing player gets through this, they risk getting banned from the game and from tournaments.