[Tutorial] How to Avoid Receiving a Runescape Ban from HTTP Referer[Tutorial]

[Trent!]

Hey there guys, I've been around Sythe for a few years, and I've noticed something that frightens and concerns me quite about some of the content of people's posts. I'd guess that as many as 90%+ (possibly more) of the Sythe community is completely unaware of this problem and why it is so dangerous. There are some sites which are aware of this danger (such as robotzindisguise.com) and have taken the initiative to remove this problem for their user by filtering the runescape.com portion of any URLs posted with asterisks. This protects the users and allows them to still get to the proper location by simply clicking the URL and manually replacing the asterisks with Runescape.com. Since Sythe does not currently do this, I am creating this guide to help you all protect yourselves.

Today I'm going to explain what HTTP Referrer is and why it is dangerous to your Runescape account safety (ANY accounts from your IP).

Let's start with a brief explanation of what HTTP Referrer is and how it works:

Whenever you follow a link, the site you go to receives information about the very page that referred you. Anyone interested can read up on this aspect of internet privacy here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_referrer

Referer logging is used to allow websites and web servers to identify where people are visiting them from, for promotional or security purposes. Referer is a popular tool to combat cross-site request forgery, but such security mechanisms are weakened by the ease of disabling or forging a referer. The referer is widely used for statistical purposes.

Essentially, any link you follow to Runescape's website, or any website Jagex owns, will give an HTTP Referer containing the URL of the webpage you clicked the link on to Jagex. So, if you're on Powerbot.org, for example, on any page, and you click a link that directs you to Runescape's website, Jagex will have record that your IP... which is linked to all of your RS accounts... was redirected to their site directly from whatever page on Powerbot.org you were on. The same concept applies to any website that has anything to do with RS cheating (or any website at all, really).

So what does this mean for Sythe users?
Well, essentially, if you ever follow any links to Runescape's site, or any part of their site, or any website owned by Jagex (this includes the old rsbot.org site that has been repossessed), from a site such as Sythe (which Jagex is well aware is notoriously known for RS cheating), Jagex can identify what specific URL you were on that directed you to their site. So, if you click a link to RS while on a Sythe section dedicated to Runescape cheating, Jagex has the power and ability to link your IP to your RS accounts, and they will know that you were visiting or participating in a website known for containing cheating information. Jagex could use this information to ban you outright, or they could use this information to flag your IP and any accounts associated with it, and watch you even closer for rule-breaking.


So how do I prevent this from happening?

It's actually quite easy, and it is different for every browser, so if you disable this HTTP Referer feature in one browser, it will not protect you if you use a different one.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Type about:config in the address bar and press Enter.

2. Find the entry that says Network.http.sendRefererHeader and double-click on it.

3. Set the entry to one of the following:

0 &#8211; Disable referrer. <--- This is what you want to set it as
1 &#8211; Send the Referer header when clicking on a link, and set document.referrer for the following page.
2 &#8211; Send the Referer header when clicking on a link or loading an image.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome does not allow you to disable this through any of their own features. In order to disable your HTTP Referer in Chrome, I recommend an extension such as this one: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/external-noreferrer/lobgjaciknombeehlellklmbakbphhll

Apple Safari

Use a different browser. Safari currently does not have any working plugins or extensions that can successfully do this. If anyone is aware of one that works, comment or send me a PM and I will test it on my iMac to confirm.

Opera

You can disable the HTTP Referer so that the browser is not sending it with your HTTP requests. In Opera, go to opera:config#UserPrefs|EnableReferrer, then uncheck the box, and finally save.

Internet Explorer

Use a different browser. Internet Explorer in itself is outdated, bulky, resource intensive, and lacks many features that come standard with most other browsers. And on top of that Microsoft has stated there is no way to disable HTTP Referer on Internet Explorer, nor do they intend to add such a feature.


Congratulations, assuming you've followed everything in this guide properly, you should now be safe from threats related to HTTP Referer headers while clicking links to Runescape (or any other site, for that matter). If anyone has any difficulties, or any questions in general, feel free to ask! If your question is common or the answer could be useful to future readers of this guide, I may add an FAQ section with your question! Hope you guys found this useful!

FAQ

Q: How can I avoid being tracked without doing any of the above, or using a browser that does not support disabling this feature?

A: There is a very easy solution:

1. Right click the link and copy the URL
2. Open a new tab and paste the URL into your address bar
3. Press enter to navigate to this URL

Why does this work? Simply because the referer only works if you click the link or right click -> go to URL. Simply copying the URL and then pasting it into your address bar will not tell the new site where you are coming from.

Q: If I type a URL into my address bar while on a cheating site, will the website I'm navigating to know the last site I was on?

A: No. The only time the HTTP Referer will give information to the intended URL destination would be if it's through navigating there via clicking a link, even right clicking into a new tab.


Credit to Auxilium on Robotz In Disguise for the initial information which allowed me to create the rest of this guide through my own research

 

Thanks I didn't know about this but it seems plausible as when I MM'd an account sale, afterwards apparently Jagex knew that the account had been purchased and locked it or something to that effect. That may have been the direct result of this as I believe they clicked the link from the sticky in RS2 General.

 

[godofwarpublic]

thanks for the information, but the way I see it. Jagex cant just upright ban you for visiting a website even if it has to do with cheating. They would need hard evidence that you actually committed an offense, like botting or RWT.

 

[video]

I'll edit the sticky so it's not a clickable link. But yes, like godofwarpublic said, they can't just ban you because you viewed sythe. For all they know, you don't even have a sythe account, you just viewed the page as a guest

 

[GoldImporters]

Thank you, had no idea this even existed.

 

[Just selling accs]

wow. didnt know this existed..

 

[mage3158]

I'll edit the sticky so it's not a clickable link. But yes, like godofwarpublic said, they can't just ban you because you viewed sythe. For all they know, you don't even have a sythe account, you just viewed the page as a guest

This, and I'm sure (meaning 100% positive) it happens enough that it wouldn't even be used to track the IP's activity in game.

 

[Im_going_far]

Wow fantastically organized and a really nice read, thanks for sharing.

 

[Trent!]

thanks for the information, but the way I see it. Jagex cant just upright ban you for visiting a website even if it has to do with cheating. They would need hard evidence that you actually committed an offense, like botting or RWT.

I'll edit the sticky so it's not a clickable link. But yes, like godofwarpublic said, they can't just ban you because you viewed sythe. For all they know, you don't even have a sythe account, you just viewed the page as a guest

While yes, it is unlikely, but actually, according to their ToS they can ban you for something like this. They have the right to ban any account for any reason. Now, that doesn't mean something like this only happens rarely, but unfortunately it does mean it is possible.

A thought I just had goes as follows: Jagex could perhaps not use this as a 1st line of defence. They look for rule-breakers, and once they have someone they want to target, they could look into the database for any HTTP referers and if they find some that match the offense they are suspicious of, it could give them more evidence that could push them to the ban.

Now, like I said above, it is very rare that something like this would happen, however it can't hurt to be extra safe.

 

[Swamp Toad]

never knew about this thanks for the info

 

[Strongpker1337]

Interesting post, im gonna go and read more about this.

 

[sonic_fanrs]

HQ Tutorial, but this certainly isn't a problem, and it isn't something you will get banned for.

 

[Trent!]

HQ Tutorial, but this certainly isn't a problem, and it isn't something you will get banned for.

Well, kind of. It is possible to be banned for this, or for it to be counted as part of more evidence towards being banned, but, like I said above, it is very unlikely.

Imo, it's better to be safe than sorry.

 

[misty]

I think it's more that if your IP keeps getting flagged coming from sites like powerbot and sythe and such, they would be more likely to monitor your account more closely, look for those RWTrades, specifically watch for botting activity. Yes it's just scepticism, but no doubt we'd all rather avoid it if we had the choice.

So thanks for the guide mate, appreciate the heads up on the issue

 

[Gonzo Joe]

Absolutely fantastic guide.

Thanks.

 

[Trent!]

Can I give dis a huge bamp?

 

[I_DONT_BOT]

Brilliant guide, luckily I always type it into the bar myself for security reasons