BO3 Online Safety Guide 2026

Call of Duty: Black Ops III★ 4 · 37 ratings3.8k views78 favorites4 min readby Ripshot Blue (RipshotBlueTV)Updated Mar 26View on Steam ↗

Safety Guide

I Originally made this in a Steam Discussion Post but decided to make it a proper guide, so for the meantime this guide is just a copy paste of my post.

Step 1: Downgrade your BO3 version using steam console
While usually an update would help a game, this update only harmed it in regards to security. Activision does not actively protect against cheats & exploits for older games, Their updates are only performance related, not security.

Don't Download BO3 exe's from Other Sites
The steps below is how to get the official exe from steam before the update. Dont trust random files. Steps to Downgrade are as follows;
Originally posted by Ripshot Blue:
  1. Have Steam Opened

  2. Windows: Press "Win+R" to open the "Run" window
    (Mac & Linux open a Web Browser or File Explorer)

  3. Type "steam://open/console"
    (Mac & Linux can do this in a Web Browser or File Explorer)

  4. On Steam, Goto the "Console" Tab that should be now visable

  5. Put download_depot 311210 311211 9084453472036406216 in the Steam Console window

  6. Wait & Let it Download, Roughly 100mb

  7. Once Done, It will show a Location where it Downloaded, Goto that Folder (usually Steam/steamapps/content/app_311210/depot_311211)

  8. Copy the BlackOps3.exe (and installscript_311210.vdf if present) from that folder and paste it into your main Black Ops 3 folder, replacing the updated one.

Step 2: Download T7 Patch & Run it when Playing (or other similar patches / clients)
This may come off as an obvious one, but some of the script kiddies keep saying that it wont help, despite me being online for days completely fine. This alone is not enough though, you must also do step 3.

T7 Patch can be found here;
https://github.com/shiversoftdev/t7patch
Step 3: Never Add Randoms & Never Play Public Lobbies without T7
If you have someone in your lobby who is malicious or on your friends (even recent players list), they can easily target you. T7 Patch is great for this case if you do wish tro play with randoms as you can change the password every session, but again its easier to be a target if you are on their friends or recent players list.

It is also good practice to remove people from your friends list if you do not actually know them after you are done playing.
Important Note! Some people on these discussions are cheaters using alt accounts, Be Careful if you add people purely from bo3 lfg posts or discussions.

Always Change your T7 Password Every Session & Make it a Good Password.
Step 4: Set your Steam Privacy Settings Correctly
A common way for these cheaters to target is they use the Join Game button on your profile while playing to get the needed information. Ontop of not just adding anyone on a whim, You want the following settings set in your steam privacy settings;

Originally posted by Ripshot Blue:
  1. Game details = Friends Only or Private
  2. Friends list = Friends Only or Private
    Also disable Anything that Allow friends to join your game when possible and avoid accepting random game invites while playing.
Step 5: Reboot after every session.
During a play session BO3 maintains a temporary session ID which includes session tokens, host information, NAT mappings, and peer-to-peer routing data used for matchmaking.
Restarting the game clears this temporary session state and forces the game to establish a completely new session and network routing..

Just incase someone needs to also know this;
Never run the game as Administrator, It is Never Needed.
If your BO3 wont launch without it, You have a modified version. Clean Your PC Immediately.

Thats it, Real Simple. I have been online for days & been fine.
There are more complicated steps you can do if you really want to be safe while playing & ways to stop being targetted if you are being targetted, but to prevent these script kiddies from finding out how to update their menu's I wont be saying exactly how.

If you are a target & need help or want tips to staying online, feel free to drop a comment & ill reply however I can. Just know most these exploits is purely done through peer to peer packet manipulation, once you understand how that works, you better know how to protect yourself. ː8bitheartː

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