Summary
Even with interaction attestation, the server should independently validate that game actions are plausible. Client-side checks can always be bypassed — the server must be the authority on what constitutes a valid action.
Recommendation
Server-Side Validation
- Spatial validation: If a user claims to collect an object at location X, verify that the object actually exists at X and the user's last known position makes it reachable in the elapsed time
- Temporal validation: Enforce minimum time between actions (can't collect 10 objects in 1 second)
- Sequence validation: Certain actions require prerequisites (e.g., must visit a location before collecting objects there)
- Duplicate detection: Same object can't be collected twice by the same user
- Session continuity: Actions should come from a continuous session, not sporadic API calls
Reward Throttling
- Cap points earnable per hour/day per account
- Diminishing returns after threshold (first 100 points/day at full rate, next 100 at 50%, etc.)
- This limits the economic incentive for botting even if detection fails
Honeypot Objects
- Place invisible or unreachable objects in the game world
- Any account that collects these is provably using automation
- Immediately flag the account for review
Replay Prevention
- Include a server-issued nonce in each game state update
- Require the nonce in the next action submission
- Prevents replaying captured legitimate requests
Summary
Even with interaction attestation, the server should independently validate that game actions are plausible. Client-side checks can always be bypassed — the server must be the authority on what constitutes a valid action.
Recommendation
Server-Side Validation
Reward Throttling
Honeypot Objects
Replay Prevention