New to this and would like some help

[SZLights]

Hi i'm new to this and i have a few questions that i'd like to be answered

-Once i get a launcher and downloaded my games do i need anything else?

-If i want to play online, do i need to download anything?(because i read somewhere that you can only play on cracked servers, and i dont really know what those are)

-What does a VAC dumper/Checker do and do i need it?

-Does VAC secured servers mean i cant play on it if mine is a cracked version?

-And what are the chances of me getting banned if i play on any server through the launcher/ what can i do to prevent myself from getting banned?

Sorry, these questions don't really make sense but i would really appreciate it if they were answered.

 

[Binary]

1. If the launcher works correctly, you do not need anything else.

2. You can only play on cracked servers. Cracked servers aren't normally servers, it basically removes the steam authentification so that cracked versions can join the online game. Cracked servers could be hard to find in some countries compared to normal servers. It's highly unlikely that you can join a normal online server without a legitimate copy.

3.If I'm not wrong, it checks whether the VAC authentication servers are either online or offline. You might be able to join normal legit servers when the authentication servers are offline, normally when they do maintenence on the specific servers.

4.You are correct, you cannot play on any VAC secured servers when have a cracked version or a offline launcher.

5.Well, no point in banning you unless you are cheating on purpose in games, such as having aimbots & wallhacks on(to annoy other players).


I hope the statements above answers your question.

 

[SZLights]

Thanks that cleared a lot up for me
Oh yea and I was wondering, how could i tell if its a cracked server on the servers list?

 

[psuchris]

if you're allowed to join and it doesn't say "YOU DON"T OWN THIS GAME." lol
there's no way to tell unless the name of the server is like No Steam server or Cracked server or something