Can I still get detected/banned by game anti-cheats if I'm running AutoHotKey script for personal use when no games are running?

Question

I love AHK (AutoHotKey) scripts for my work (not related to games at all). But there are some complains that game anti-cheats don't like it. So I fear using it.

I have written some AHK scripts that I intend only to use for my work and not for games. And I have added some logic in it that basically tells the AHK script to quit itself whenever Steam process is running. I used a 500 ms (milliseconds) timer logic. After every 500 ms, it checks if Steam process is running or not. If running, AHK quits itself.

I added this code to eliminate the risk of getting banned in games for running this script, because I've heard some rare cases where people got banned when running AHK along with game. With this code, I can't use my AHK script when Steam is running. So the script would never be running when I launch a game from steam (unless I automate Steam and game to run one after one within less than a second).

However there could still be some milliseconds between every checks where both Steam and Script could be running parallelly (assuming I'm not quick enough to launch a game too in those moments). For example, you launch Steam and AHK script is already active. The script won't instantly quit itself. It will only quit itself when next 500 ms have passed. And I've heard some anti-cheats are always active no matter you're playing game or not.

So I'm wondering if I can get banned (or detected) because of those moments?

I'm primarily concerned about two anti-cheats:

• CS2's VAC
• GTA's BattleEye

Answer 1

VAC, no. BE, probably.

VAC only checks during runtime for memory modification, so simply having it installed on your machine would not be grounds for a ban. You could likely even have it running for something else in the background and nit get banned, as long as the scripts in use don't touch CS libraries or binaries.

BattleEye on the other hand checks for the presence of common programs and apps used to cheat, including AutoHotKey, during launch. Even if the programs are not running, their presence alone is likely enough to draw a kick/ban.

For other engines, it would similarly depend on what is being looked for; if they're monitoring binaries, you're probably fine. All that said, you may want to consider having AHK and all its files on detachable media if you're concerned; then you can know for certain it won't cause issues while it's unplugged.

Answer 2

Regarding BattlEye on Rockstar Games, I received following responses from Rockstar Support:

We understand your query regarding the game. BattlEye only needs to be active during online play sessions, such as when playing GTA Online. Depending on your platform (Rockstar Games Launcher, Epic, Steam), you can change the setting or launch option to disable BattlEye for Story Mode.

We would like to inform you that if you are using scripting applications like AutoHotKey, you will need to make sure that BattlEye is disabled and Rockstar Games Launcher is closed, in this case, you should not be banned.

You will only get banned if you use any mods or cheat applications for playing GTA Online on their PC.

BattlEye should by default disabled if you're not running the launchers.

Rest assured that it can only detect such app when the game is launched. You may freely open your preferred app, just make sure that no Rockstar games are launched while it's running to avoid any issues.

However, I'm not sure how trustworthy this information is, but I'd guess an ideal anti-cheat should be responsible like this.