What is a VAC ban in Rust

VAC stands for Valve Anti-Cheat. If a Steam account has a VAC ban, it's because Valve's automated system detected cheating on it -no human decides it by hand, and there's no way to appeal it or remove it afterwards. If it shows up on a profile, it's real.

VAC ban vs game ban vs community ban

All three show up as "banned" somewhere, but they're issued by different parties, for different reasons, with different consequences.

How to find someone's SteamID64

A SteamID64 is a 17-digit number (e.g. 76561197984957084) that uniquely identifies a Steam account -unlike a username, which anyone can change. There are a few ways to get it depending on what you're starting from.

SteamID vs SteamID3 vs SteamID64

All three always point to the same Steam account -only the notation changes. Steam, and the tools around it (BattleMetrics included), use all three depending on context, so it's worth being able to recognize them.

How to tell if someone is cheating in Rust

No single signal proves it 100% -not even an old VAC ban on an unrelated game proves anything about today's match. But there are patterns that, taken together, paint a pretty clear picture.

What is a cheater score and how it's calculated

It's an estimate, not an accusation: a percentage that combines several public signals from a Steam account to give an idea of how much it resembles a typical cheater profile -never proof that someone actually cheats.

What is BattleMetrics and what it's for

BattleMetrics is an independent service (not run by Facepunch or Valve) that tracks multiplayer game servers in real time -Rust is one of the biggest games it covers. It's the source of the server and connect/disconnect data this app uses.

What is a raid window in Rust

In Rust, raiding another player's base is a lot easier (and safer) when its owner is offline and can't defend it live. A "raid window" is simply the stretch of time a tracked player has been offline.

How to tell if your Steam account was hacked

If you see activity on your account you don't recognize, act as fast as you can -Steam lets you regain control, but it can't undo a VAC ban that landed while it was compromised.

How to protect your privacy on Steam

Steam lets you control, separately, who sees your profile, your friends list, your game details and your inventory -worth reviewing even if you've got nothing to hide.

What is Steam name history

Steam keeps every username an account has ever used and shows it publicly on its profile (the "also known as" dropdown) -unless the owner sets their profile to private.

Rust glossary: terms every player should know

Terms that come up constantly in Rust and in this app, explained in one line each.

Tracking

Done from Servers: open one, check who you want to watch and hit Follow. From then on they show up under the Tracking tab, with their status (online/offline) updating on its own.

Discord alerts

Posts a message to your Discord channel every time a player you track connects or disconnects -even with the site closed, your phone locked or your PC off. We check every minute (every 30 seconds on Overwatch); if the player hadn't been on for days, the alert can take up to 5 minutes.

Steam Profile

If you're not sure what a SteamID is or what a VAC ban means, there are dedicated guides for exactly that:

Schedule & raid window

Each row is a day (today on top); the horizontal axis runs from 0 to 24h. Green segments are the hours that player was online -at a glance you can tell if they usually play by day, by night, or at specific times.

Plans & billing

You can use the app without signing up, with the same permissions as Scout. Your tracking list isn't saved -close the browser (or come back another day) and you start fresh.