Arch Linux

cdwijs

Member

Registered: 2010-04-24

Posts: 303

Helldivers2 nProtect GameGuard: Is this also kernel-level in Linux?

On the steam page, I see Helldivers2 uses the Kernel Level Anti-Cheat nProtect GameGuard: https://store.steampowered.com/app/553850/HELLDIVERS_2/

On protondb I see the game runs fine on the steam deck, and by extension on Arch Linux: https://www.protondb.com/app/553850/

Does the anti cheat also needs kernel-level access on Linux?
Can I install Helldivers2 as a normal user in Linux? Does this guarantee the game doesn't do funky stuff with my Linux kernel?
Does proton emulate the anti cheat without kernel level access?

cryptearth

Member

Registered: 2024-02-03

Posts: 1,520

Re: Helldivers2 nProtect GameGuard: Is this also kernel-level in Linux?

https://areweanticheatyet.com/
https://areweanticheatyet.com/game/helldivers-2

cdwijs

Member

Registered: 2010-04-24

Posts: 303

Re: Helldivers2 nProtect GameGuard: Is this also kernel-level in Linux?

https://areweanticheatyet.com/
https://areweanticheatyet.com/game/helldivers-2

Thank you, that's a very cool site listing if the games run on Linux.
But that does not yet tell me if the anti-cheat "infects" the Linux kernel. Is it safe to install these games on Linux?

cdwijs

Member

Registered: 2010-04-24

Posts: 303

Re: Helldivers2 nProtect GameGuard: Is this also kernel-level in Linux?

Here I see Easy Anti-Cheat™  (AEC) and BattlEye are userspace only and have zero kernel access:
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/c … _on_linux/

cdwijs

Member

Registered: 2010-04-24

Posts: 303

Re: Helldivers2 nProtect GameGuard: Is this also kernel-level in Linux?

I've made a new user, and Helldivers 2 works fully in user mode. I have not given it the root password.

Lone_Wolf

Administrator

From: Netherlands, Europe

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 13,888

Re: Helldivers2 nProtect GameGuard: Is this also kernel-level in Linux?

You may find https://gitlab.winehq.org/wine/wine/-/w … compatible interesting .

You should also read https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Wine#R … er_account

---

Disliking systemd intensely, but not satisfied with alternatives so focusing on taming systemd.

clean chroot building not flexible enough ?
Try clean chroot manager by graysky

cdwijs

Member

Registered: 2010-04-24

Posts: 303

Re: Helldivers2 nProtect GameGuard: Is this also kernel-level in Linux?

Before I forget, I was unable to get Helldivers2 running with the default version of proton. It kept complaining my video card was unable to do DX12

After switching to the version by glorious eggroll, the game now runs without problems:
https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/proton-ge-custom-bin
https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/prot … m/releases

qu@rk

Member

Registered: 2021-07-28

Posts: 149

Re: Helldivers2 nProtect GameGuard: Is this also kernel-level in Linux?

You may find https://gitlab.winehq.org/wine/wine/-/w … compatible interesting .

You should also read https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Wine#R … er_account

How is it with firejail? I found --net=none to be quite useful.

Last edited by qu@rk (2025-04-09 17:41:10)