How To Interpret The MPI

[surfy]

MPI (Master Player Index) Guide

 

To understand the MPI you have to first understand the MBI (Master Ban Index) and what can be seen on a ban link.

 

Take this one for example:

http://www.pbbans.com/mbi-viewban-5866334a-vb268214.html

 

You can see the IP, location, alias and time of the ban which is very relevant when trying to determine if someone has hacked on another account. The reason I am using banned GUIDs is so innocent players are protected throughout this post.

 

You can see his full IP (note this for later use).

 

Click the MPI link next to the GUID.

http://www.pbbans.com/mpi/mpi-guid-search-e19a10f354bfade70d7a79d45866334a-41.html&showLG=yes&showAT=yes&safeview=yes

 

Although the IP on the MPI is only partial view you know the IP which was used at time of the ban from the MBI information. The MPI data however shows you his first and last seen IP's on that particular GUID so we know he was using the same IP from the 28th-30th June.

 

You will immediately notice a highlighted BFP4F GUID, which has the same IP next to it as the initial ban. Which would raise suspicion. Click on the Ban information and you see this:

http://www.pbbans.com/mbi-viewban-a8847f53-vb254221.html

 

The same IP triggered the ban but back in march before the IP was used on the BF3 GUID.

 

you could then run the ban IP on the MPI and you would get this result:

http://www.pbbans.com/mpi/mpi-ip-search-77-232-15-4.html&showLG=yes&showAT=yes&safeview=yes

 

This shows you on the left hand side when that IP was last used on that particular GUID.

 

You should by now have seen that there no overlap between the two banned GUIDs apart from the same IP having been used 3 months apart from each other (with russian IP's you can suspect a new IP has been assigned in that time). You can also see that the same IP has been used on BF3 and a BF2 GUID on the next day, very likely that the BF2 GUID is therefore the player banned for BF3.

 

 

Leaked keys will appear looking something like this:

http://www.pbbans.com/mbi-viewban-181dc23d-vb249269.html

 

The ban link shows the perpertrator of the ban is based in the UK, however you can also see some canadian IP's on the GUID. If you click the MPI link on this GUID you can also see this GUID which is banned:

http://www.pbbans.com/mbi-viewban-be81cacf-vb253473.html

 

However the ban was triggered in Canada, meaning the two are not the same player.

 

If you wanted to see more information about the Canadian banned GUID you click on the MPI link which would return this result.

 

http://www.pbbans.com/mpi/mpi-guid-search-25040e8389a296ca557bc1dabe81cacf-39.html&showLG=yes&showAT=no&safeview=yes

Two linked GUIDs and we've established the other banned one is only linked due to a leaked key, however http://www.pbbans.com/mpi/mpi-guid-search-7b514361-33.html&showLG=yes&showAT=yes&safeview=yes

 

 

is clearly his, which then reveals two more GUIDs (clean). One of them however being again a leaked GUID and so on...

 

Dynamic IP's

 

Some countries will assign a new IP almost every time a PC/Router is switched on. This makes MPI interpretation difficult and the emphasis here then is on times and dates. Just because someone has been assigned the same IP at one stage as a hacker, doesn't mean he/she is indeed the same person. Example: Person X receives IP in June 2009, cheats on it and gets caught and their GUID banned, person Z then gets assigned the same IP in April 2011. They will then be forever linked by the MPI which is when you run the IP MPI check to ascertain when the IP was last used on said GUIDs.

 

For those of you who wish to use IP tracing to further investigate location of users, you may wish to use a locater such as this:

http://www.ip-adress.com/ip_tracer/

http://www.ip2location.com/

Please be aware that these do not necessarily resolve to the right location.

 

I would not recommend searching MPI based on alias, BF2 was full of name hacks and several other games (COD series) are not name unique, therefore links to someone based purely on alias are tenuous to say the least.

 

PBGUID vs EAGUID;

In EA games ensure that you do not use the EA GUID to search our MPI with. This is not the correct one and will not return any results. It is the PB GUID which you will need to copy from Procon (BF3/BC2etc) in order to run a check on a player active in your server.

 

Alternatively, do not forget the PBBans HUBLIVE feature which with the click of a few links can lead you to current information of players on your servers and take you to MPI links from there. To find it, go to http://account.pbbans.com/server.php and select the HL button next to the IP of the server you wish to view. (right hand side).

 

In the main though the most important things to remember are, search by GUID wherever possible in the first instance, then once you establish trigger IP's you can also use those. You may have to go several different routes to get to your destination but if you are stuck feel free to ask one of us for directions ;)