Xbox/ PlayStation have a very well known Code of Conduct and enforcement system. The Hunter’s Cabin is adamant that we do not to enforce or police another companies Code of Conduct. We have always been advocates that gamers can play how they want with their own time and money. This is seen across the years with game sharks, game mods and cheating systems in PC. If they aren’t competitive and trying to win anything i.e. playing multiplayer games, or trying to be in the top of the leaderboard then it’s no harm no foul.
There is always the assumption of risk when you do something untraditional and how it could lead to a console or profile ban. We do not take the moral highroad and tell you how to play. What we do though, is control our own site leaderboard and events.
More details about politics are added at the end of the article.
Something we don’t do is We Don’t Ban for Unintended Hacked Lobbies
For achievement and trophy hunters, nothing spoils a clean profile faster than loading into an online match and having dozens of pop-ups suddenly flood your screen. In older classic titles especially legacy entries like Grand Theft Auto or Call of Duty Black Ops unprotected public servers are frequently compromised by modders.
Imagine, You jump into a single modified lobby and it can instantly set your level to max, grant millions in game currency, or force unlock every single trophy or achievement on your account in seconds.
At The Hunter’s Cabin, we take a firm stance on how our leaderboards and community handle these situations: we do not punish or ban players for getting caught in hacked lobbies against their will.
Presumption of Innocence: You Are Not Guilty Until Proven Innocent
On many traditional tracking sites, the moment a player’s account registers a cluster of impossible timestamps, such as ten gold trophies unlocking within the exact same time. An automated system immediately flags or bans the profile. The burden of proof is then pushed onto the victim, forcing players to plead their case or prove they weren't cheating.
We reject that model entirely.
- A fundamental principle of fairness is that you are innocent until proven guilty. We refuse to assume a member intentionally cheated simply because they logged into a public, developer-hosted server that happened to contain a rogue modder.
- Unlocking a trophy through someone else’s script is an entirely passive event. Players did not consent to having their profile modified, and punishing them for a developer’s unpatched server vulnerabilities makes no sense.
- Our anti-cheat and moderation guidelines focus on intentional manipulation such as actively downloading save files, using hardware mods, or selling/buying account services not getting collateral damage from joining a standard matchmaking queue.
How do we handle compromised timestamps, you ask? While we do not ban or penalize members caught in these situations, we still maintain the overall integrity of our competitive leaderboards. All that we ask of our members is that you keep the leaderboard clean and don't sub anything in our events that are deemed illegitimate.
However, we do offer the below:
- If your account suffers forced trophy unlocks from a modded lobby in games like GTA IV, GTA V (PS3/360), Modern Warfare 2, or World at War, your account remains in good standing.
- Because members can freely opt in or opt out of public leaderboard tracking at any time, you retain total control over how your stats are displayed without fear of losing your account access or community status.
- Rather than using aggressive, blanket-flagging bots, our team reviews suspicious profile activity manually. We look for clear patterns of intentional cheating rather than isolated incidents caused by public lobby exploits.
Gaming should be fun, and older multiplayer titles deserve to be played without the fear of permanent account exile. At The Hunter’s Cabin, we build our rules around common sense, fair play, and protecting the player experience above all else.
Here is exactly what each platform’s rules state regarding cheating, exploits, and unfair advantages.
PlayStation Network (PSN)
Sony details its rules under the PlayStation Community Code of Conduct and the PSN Terms of Service.
- Explicit Standard: "Do not cheat."
- Glitches & Exploits: "Do not use any bugs, glitches, vulnerabilities, or unintentional mechanics in PlayStation products or services to gain an advantage."
- Game Disruptions: "Do not disturb or interrupt gameplay."
- Unauthorized Hardware/Software: Modifying console hardware, running unauthorized software/firmware, using memory manipulation tools, or using unauthorized third-party hardware adapters designed to spoof inputs or grant an unfair advantage violates the System Software License Agreement (which bans reverse-engineering and bypasses).
Enforcement & Penalties on PSN
- Account Suspensions: Temporary bans on online play, messaging, or social features.
- Permanent Account Bans: Complete loss of account access, trophies, purchases, and subscriptions.
- Console / Hardware Bans: Sony frequently issues permanent console bans (ID bans) for modified hardware, memory editing, or persistent system-level exploits.
Xbox Network (Microsoft)
Microsoft lays out its anti-cheating framework in the Xbox Community Standards (specifically under Standard 1: Play fair and Standard 6: Where there are limits, there’s a reason) and the Microsoft Services Agreement.
- Explicit Standard: Microsoft explicitly defines cheating as using unauthorized hardware or software, exploiting bugs, or misusing game systems to gain an unfair advantage over others.
- Prohibited Behavior:
- Using mods, hacks, or cheats to alter gameplay or game memory.
- Exploiting glitches, bugs, or out-of-bounds map geometries for competitive gain.
- Utilizing unauthorized hardware (such as input reprogramming adapters or macro devices that manipulate controller polling).
- Automating gameplay via external scripts, bots, or automated macros.
- Boost swapping, win-trading, or manipulating leaderboard stats through unsporting conduct.
Enforcement & Penalties on Xbox
- Enforcement Strike System: Xbox uses a strike-based enforcement system. Minor cheating or unsporting conduct earns strikes that lead to escalating temporary restrictions (e.g., 1-day, 7-day, or 30-day multiplayer/voice bans). Strikes remain active on an account for 6 months.
- Severe Offenses: Severe or repeated cheating (such as console modding, network attacks, or automated bot farms) bypasses the strike warnings and results in:
- Permanent Account Suspensions
- Hardware/Device Bans (permanently blocking the physical Xbox console from connecting to Xbox Live)
Key Similarities & Differences between PlayStation and Xbox Policies
Banned (Includes using unintentional game mechanics)
Banned (Includes intentional bug/glitch exploitation)
Banned under System Software License
Banned under Microsoft Services Agreement
Direct suspensions & permanent bans based on safety reviews
Tiered Strike System (up to 8 strikes = 1-year multiplayer ban; severe breaches lead to immediate permabans)
Consoles are banned at the hardware ID level for modding
Consoles receive hardware bans for system integrity breaches
Source links for the governing Terms of Service and Code of Conduct policies for both platforms:
PlayStation / Sony Legal Documentation
- PSN Terms of Service & User Agreement: (https://www.playstation.com/legal/psn-terms-of-service/)
- PlayStation Community Code of Conduct: https://www.playstation.com/support/account/community-code-of-conduct/
- PlayStation Safety & Reporting Portal: https://www.playstation.com/support/account/organize-playstation-safety/
Xbox / Microsoft Legal Documentation
- Microsoft Services Agreement (Section 3: Code of Conduct): https://www.microsoft.com/servicesagreement/
- Xbox Community Standards (Standard 1: Play Fair): https://www.xbox.com/legal/community-standards
- Xbox Enforcement Action & Strike System Overview: https://support.xbox.com/help/family-online-safety/enforcement/types-of-xbox-enforcement-actions
Let’s be honest with ourselves; boosting trophies/ achievements is against Code of Conduct and that’s the bread and butter of being a Hunter with multiplayer games.
This also means, while not limited to, using turbo controllers, boosting, skips, cheeses, xp exploits anything that wasn’t intended to be in a game or a feature is considered cheating via their own code of conduct. Because of that we don’t just single out one form of cheating and attack people for it.
We advocate power to the players. It’s your time, your money, play how you want. But understand the risk and what it means for yourself and others.