GMToolbox - Uncrashable Prop Protection + Exploit Detector

Stromicabout the crash method in the video using the Precision Tool, I ran the basic installation config of gProtect against the basic of GMToolbox. Now I don't know if by default with gProtect, the necessary features to stop this crash are disabled or not, but I do know that this method works on any server running gProtect along with the unrestricted precision tool.

I've also had a chat with someone who apparently has more methods to crash a server running gProtect, they tried the methods with GMToolbox to no result. I don't know of their methods and how they work, so they're not really explicitely mentioned anywhere to my knowledge.

You're right about the out of bounds detections, I did indeed notice it wasn't every tick, I forgot that I had mentioned it here so never updated my comment.

Sure, it's not intensive to loop over all entities in the map every 120 seconds, but if you combine that with all the other addons, it really does add up. I myself wanted to implement this feature in the exact same way you did, but I ended up using a different method.

The automatic prop restrictions isn't meant to be better than other prop protections, I am aware that gProtect does this too. It's just to make sure people know it's a thing. And technically, with GMTooblox, you could allow all props to be spawned, and there still wouldn't be a crash exploit. Doing so would allow players to briefly cause lag, so it's definitely not recommended.

MathsCalculator I tried to replicate the crash method shown in the video, but I wasn't able to reproduce it unless I disabled anti-collide and a few other features in gProtect. It's possible I'm missing something, but this makes me think the test setup in the video may not reflect typical usage. If you can share more details or the exact method used, that would be great.

The claim that gProtect is "rather intensive" on the server is not accurate, it has a lot of features and some that can be considered intensive but they are not unoptimized and will certainly not be a factor that takes a server from having good to bad performance. I feel like that term should only be applied when what a function does ends up having an effect on performance.

It is interesting that you bring up automatic prop restrictions, which is a feature that gProtect has had for years as a selling point for being better than the alternatives.

Another thing is your claim "Also on a sidenote, gProtect is rather intensive on the server. For example the way it does out of bounds detections, it loops over all entities in the map every tick, which is very bad for performance." - this isn’t accurate, by default it happens every 120 seconds which is far less than your every tick claim.

But for the sake of it I decided to run a benchmark to provide additional clarity, the time it takes to run this function if you had 1 million entities would be a total of: 0.21090699999968 seconds which again by default happens every 120 seconds.

Tom.bat I guess it looks like it could be the original tool that was being used in the video, got confused about it but turns out that I had an older version on my dev server so apologies about that.

But then that tool is a great replacement that should do what the feature GMToolbox does then, but it doesn't require any additional code.

XainoxygProtect doesn't actually provide full protection against crashes. I myself know a method using the Precision tool to crash any server with gProtect, unless they specifically modified the tool. I know someone within the gmod community who has other methods he didn't disclose, and verified that they didn't work with GMToolbox.

Technically, you don't even need prop restrictions with GMT, large and complex models are automatically blocked, and GMT could handle them anyway. On my dev server and the latest version of GMToolbox, even with superadmin privileges, people aren't able to cause a physics crash.

GMToolbox also allows for very specific configurations. You can, for example, have Vip rank have faster stacker/duplicator, or allow them to use more models or larger prop limits etc.

Also on a sidenote, gProtect is rather intensive on the server. For example the way it does out of bounds detections, it loops over all entities in the map x amount of time, which is sub optimal for performance.

Now about FPP, that doesn't offer any crash protections at all, you might as well add a crash command for any client to use.

Hey maths, i would like to knows, what could make me go to your addons if i already have gprotect & eprotect or even FPP ?

Can you explains what's better / lesser in each category ?

(Other than price ...)

The "BSM Edition" of the Precision tool that you're referring to is dramatically different to the one used in the video, see screenshots below:

Tool used in video:

Precision Tool (BSM Edition!):

The Steam Workshop description of the version you mention also states these changes clearly:

Please check your facts before spreading misinformation, thanks.

Stromic hey, I appreciate you reaching out to me for your valid concerns. I don't mean to imply that gProtect causes crashes, I mean that gProtect won't prevent crashes with tools such as the Precision tool. You'd have to modify the tool yourself, or grab a version that strips it down to the pure basics.

As for the BSM edition, I don't know whether or not the demo was using that version or the official one, but the version does not really matter anyway. If I did end up using BSM, that means that both BSM and the Official Precision tool are supported. And the end result is the same, Official Precision tool can cause a server crash even with gProtect installed, but it can't with GMToolbox.

I agree that one shouldn't resolve issues in every addon in existance, but with these 3 tools that basically every server has installed, I figured it'd be very beneficial. I've noticed plenty of servers using gProtect thinking they were safe, but also running the default Precision Tool.

Here is a video of me using the Official Precision tool along with gProtect, performing the same server crash as in the demo:

https://youtu.be/za2LWxBF_Vw

If you still have concerns, please reach out to me on Discord (MathsCalculator)

I didn't intend to comment on your addon, but I would appreciate it if you could avoid referring to gProtect - especially in a way that suggests it causes server crashes.

The statement "With gProtect, you can easily crash a server with the Precision tool" isn't accurate. Almost every big server is using gProtect to protect their server against physics based attacks, if that statement was true then we would see constant crashes.

Additionally, the Precision Tool used in your demo isn't the official one but a modified version. Here are some statistics for comparison:

1. Official Precision Tool: in 486 981 collections
2. Easy Precision [newer alternative from 2023]: in 5 960 collections
3. Precision Tool (BSM Edition!) [used in the demo]: in 618 collections

Given that the version used in your example is far from widely adopted, I don't think that it is a good solution to strip features from it with another addon - instead target the attack vector itself or remove them. There are already free alternatives that only keeps the features players want, such as:

https://github.com/TheXYZNetwork/lite-tools

I'm all for comparisons but when they are untruthful, it just ends up causing unhappy customers. The current description gives an inaccurate impression of gProtect in an attempt to sway over customers. At first when I saw the demo I was suprised and was ready to look at patching the issue but then I discovered that it wasn't the official tool.

I would apprechiate if you can get rid of any incorrect statements or fabricated demos of a weakness in gProtect, there are plenty of tools in the workshop and resolving issues in every addon in existance is not a good solution - it just ends up bloating optimized servers.

Anyhow, GLWS.

Mika32 It is better yes. It does what all prop protections do, but more configurable, and by default it supports tools like AdvDupe2, Stacker, Duplicator and Precision. With gProtect, you can easily crash a server with the Precision tool. GMToolbox prevents that, even with superadmin privileges.

Hey, better than Gprotect ? (optimisation, features, etc)

Looking good :)) GLWS <3

It has potential, glws!

Looks awesome, GLWS!