Respawn’s weekend update addresses code:leaf error and cheaters

Respawn Entertainment checked in with the Apex Legends community yesterday regarding two of the game’s most frustrating issues: the code:leaf error and cheaters.

Respawn’s community manager JayFresh discussed some updates on the state of the game in a Reddit post.

JayFresh provided some much-needed context on the code:leaf error, which has been plaguing Apex since its inception. “This means the backend created a match, our servers successfully talked to one another, we sent users there, and the players never got an answer from that new server,” JayFresh said.

Essentially, when players are sent to a server to begin a match and the server doesn’t answer back, players are disconnected from the game. The code:leaf error appears to affect every single player in that match server, not just some players.

Although fans likely appreciate the explanation of the error, Respawn still doesn’t have a solution for it. The development team is investigating possible situations that could be causing the error, while working with data teams and Multiplay, the platform that hosts Apex’s servers.

JayFresh also provided some insight into what Respawn has been doing to combat cheating:

• Using machine learning to create behavior models that detect and auto-ban cheaters.
• Requiring TFA in certain regions on high-risk accounts.
• Improving detection that identifies and bans new spam accounts before they’re used.
• Ongoing work to adapt to new cheats.
• Matchmaking that matches detected cheaters and spammers together.
• Investigating how people party up for matches. Even if you aren’t specifically using a cheat, partying up with cheaters is still cheating.
• Increasing resources whether that be people or tech.

Improving the detection of behavior models and spam accounts will help ban cheaters immediately. Respawn’s development team is also requiring Two-Factor Authentication in certain regions when creating a new account.

The most interesting approach to battling hackers is by grouping cheaters and spammers in the same match. This might delay a cheater from making a new account while quarantining them all to one match.

Respawn’s support page allows you to report and provide video proof of any cheater you encounter. Players who feel that they were wrongly banned can appeal it here.

But for the fans who complain about the infuriating issues in Apex, Respawn is listening.