Question about nigh-unhackable games

[ShasVa]

Just a foreword: this isn't a trolling post. I'm genuinely asking and am interested.

Why is it that some games, especially online multiplayer titles, are nigh-unhackable, if not outright impossible to hack to any meaningful degree? Disregard the "morality" of hacking a multiplayer game for the purpose of answering the question. I'm more interested in the technical reason.

For many mobile titles, I understand it is because much of the code that is worth hacking is server-sided, and that even if changing it was possible, it would do no good anyway. Is it the same for titles like World of Warcraft and Warframe for example? I am aware that some games will not even run if they detect that Cheat Engine is installed, let alone running. Clever, but even that is not infallible.

Again with the morality put aside, it would be very interesting to be able to hack games like World of Warcraft. Not for malicious reasons of course, but for funzies. Then again if such a thing is not possible whatsoever, then so be it.

[STN]

You answered your question yourself. Server-sided

[AddictedToCodes]

Just a foreword: this isn't a trolling post. I'm genuinely asking and am interested.

Why is it that some games, especially online multiplayer titles, are nigh-unhackable, if not outright impossible to hack to any meaningful degree? Disregard the "morality" of hacking a multiplayer game for the purpose of answering the question. I'm more interested in the technical reason.

For many mobile titles, I understand it is because much of the code that is worth hacking is server-sided, and that even if changing it was possible, it would do no good anyway. Is it the same for titles like World of Warcraft and Warframe for example? I am aware that some games will not even run if they detect that Cheat Engine is installed, let alone running. Clever, but even that is not infallible.

Again with the morality put aside, it would be very interesting to be able to hack games like World of Warcraft. Not for malicious reasons of course, but for funzies. Then again if such a thing is not possible whatsoever, then so be it.

Sorry, but Cheat Engine cannot just simply change value on the server. That's already illegal pro hacking for which you can be sued. You can only change those numbers, which you have on your PC (most of online games can still have client-sided coordinates, but not the newer ones)

[MartaLabieniec]

Cheat Engine can't hack any online games. It is not possible. To hack online games, you must hack into the game server which is illegal and you must use other tools (which I will not give any example of them).

[Vlad Yvhv]

Plus, some games like Warframe have checks built in, where editing any of the important files stored on your computer can result in being banned from the game. This goes far enough that people are generally discouraged from even attempting visual mod stuff which may not touch the files, such as using Reshade. As far as I know, there's only one approved overlay thing, which doesn't do anything more than tell you the Warframe Marketplace website's current prices for relic rewards, so that you can make a more informed decision quickly. And even that is seen as sketchy by many players.

[Starcraster]

Why is it that they are nigh unhackable?

Well, either they are server sided, or someone has put work or burned money to secure their game from cheaters.

You don't need to put that much work in though. In fact, it's ridiculously easy to make your game nigh-impossible to hack. There are many ways you can choose to protect the game. And 90% of the cheaters seek for an easy solution and will stop trying when there is none.
You can have integrity checks. Dummy variables. Encrypted values. You can update the pointer to an address with every change. You can use interpreted languages. And you can combine any of these methods. And none of these are difficult.