ACE — Anti-Cheat Expert — is Tencent's kernel-level anti-cheat, and it issues hardware-anchored bans. When ACE flags a machine, it bans a hardware fingerprint, not just the account, so the penalty persists across every account you make on that PC. If you've installed Delta Force, Arena Breakout, or other Tencent-published titles, ACE is already on your system.
ACE is less famous in the West than EAC or Vanguard, but it is one of the most widely deployed anti-cheats in the world. This guide explains what ACE reads, how its HWID bans behave, why it has drawn privacy criticism, and what its kernel driver means for the rest of your games.
Quick reference: ACE at a glance
| Property | Detail |
|---|---|
| Vendor | Tencent (Anti-Cheat Expert) |
| Type | Kernel-level (Ring 0) driver |
| Loads at boot? | No — unlike Vanguard |
| Reads | Motherboard, disk, MAC, TPM, CPU identifiers |
| Ban scope | Hardware fingerprint — persists across accounts |
What ACE reads and how its bans work
ACE runs as a kernel driver, which gives it the access needed to read firmware-bound identifiers. It collects motherboard, disk, MAC, TPM, and CPU values and combines them into a single hardware fingerprint. Once that fingerprint is banned, the block follows the machine — a new account on the same PC is caught because the underlying hardware is unchanged.
That makes an ACE ban behave like any other HWID ban: a composite of identifiers rather than a single value, which is why swapping one cheap part rarely helps. Unlike Vanguard, ACE does not load at boot, but it still reads the same firmware-anchored values that define a hardware fingerprint.
Why ACE has drawn criticism
When Delta Force launched, reviewers criticized ACE as invasive, comparing the kernel driver to spyware and noting that it installs without clearly informing the player. More pointedly, closing or even uninstalling the game reportedly doesn't stop ACE — the service can keep running in the background after the game is gone. That is exactly the kind of behavior Steam's new kernel anti-cheat disclosure label was meant to surface, and it's why a leftover kernel service is both a privacy and a security question. Our guide on kernel anti-cheat and privacy covers the broader debate.
ACE and your other games: driver conflicts
A practical wrinkle: ACE is a kernel driver, and kernel drivers don't always coexist. ACE has been reported to conflict with Easy Anti-Cheat — the system behind Fortnite, Apex Legends, Rust, and many others — in ways that can stop those games from starting at all. If a game suddenly refuses to launch after you install a Tencent title, an anti-cheat driver clash is a prime suspect. Fully removing the leftover service may be needed; see how to fully remove an anti-cheat.
What to do about an ACE ban
Be realistic. Because the ban is anchored to your hardware, a new account won't help and neither will a clean Windows install — the firmware values ACE reads are unchanged. If you believe the detection was wrong, the legitimate route is to appeal through the game's support. And be honest about software limits: tools that change Windows-level identifiers work in user mode and don't rewrite the firmware values ACE reads through the kernel, so no one can promise a guaranteed unban for a kernel anti-cheat that fingerprints your motherboard and TPM.
FAQ
Does uninstalling a Tencent game remove ACE?
Not reliably. The kernel service has been reported to keep running after the game is removed, so manual cleanup may be required.
Does an ACE ban follow me to a new account?
Yes. The ban targets your hardware fingerprint, so any new account on the same PC is flagged.
Why won't my EAC game launch after installing Delta Force?
Kernel anti-cheat drivers can conflict. ACE and Easy Anti-Cheat have been reported to clash, preventing one or both games from starting.
Is ACE spyware?
It's a kernel driver with deep access, and reviewers have raised real privacy concerns, but "spyware" is a characterization, not a confirmed function. The accurate statement is that it has the capability and runs persistently, which is why disclosure matters.
The takeaway
ACE is a serious, widely deployed kernel anti-cheat whose bans are anchored to your hardware and whose driver can linger after the game is gone. If you play Tencent titles, install it knowingly: understand that a ban will be hardware-level, watch for conflicts with EAC games, and know how to clean up the leftover service. As with every kernel anti-cheat, no honest tool promises a guaranteed unban once your firmware fingerprint is flagged.