DMA setup for Delta Force: ACE, Secure Boot and DMA Shield
Delta Force runs Anti-Cheat Expert at kernel level and expects Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 on the game PC. What ACE's DMA Shield layer is, and what it all means for a DMA build.
Short answer
Delta Force runs kernel-level Anti-Cheat Expert (ACE), which expects Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 and includes a layer called DMA Shield. A DMA build puts a card in a game PC configured the way ACE demands, and the reader on a second PC. For Delta Force, this store sells an external cheat (/products/delta-force) and a DMA cheat with a Direct build (/products/delta-force-dma).
On this page9
- Which anti-cheat does Delta Force use?
- What does ACE require on the game PC?
- What a layer called DMA Shield tells you
- What hardware does a Delta Force build need?
- In what order should you start everything?
- Pre-match checklist for Delta Force
- Common Delta Force problems and how to fix them
- Common questions about Delta Force builds
- Is a Delta Force build working right now?
Which anti-cheat does Delta Force use?
Delta Force uses Anti-Cheat Expert, usually written ACE, which is a kernel-level anti-cheat from Tencent. The Steam store page declares it by name under the kernel-level anti-cheat disclosure. Team Jade has been explicit about why, saying that without kernel access it cannot detect cheat software or hardware cheating tools. Team Jade also publishes regular enforcement reports. ACE's kernel component is the driver you will see named in error messages, and it installs with the game rather than on demand.
What does ACE require on the game PC?
The rows below come from ACE's public brief series on its Delta Force security work and from the game's own anti-cheat tutorial. Verify the enforcement wording yourself, because third-party guides describe these as hard launch requirements while ACE's own brief announces them as a deployment.
| Item | What it is | What it means for a DMA build |
|---|---|---|
| Secure Boot | Boot-chain integrity, so nothing unsigned loads before Windows | Constrains the game PC's configuration. If you turned it off for build reasons, expect the game not to start |
| TPM 2.0 | Hardware-backed attestation and identity. ACE cites it as making hardware bans more accurate | Nothing to do with the card. Everything to do with how permanently a ban can follow the machine |
| DMA Shield | A named ACE layer described as guarding the hardware by blocking external hardware threats | Named after this hardware class. ACE's brief does not detail how it works, and nobody outside Tencent can tell you honestly |
| Kernel driver, always installed | ACE installs with the game and runs at kernel level while it is running | The familiar EAC-style situation: a kernel component on the game PC, which is what the second-PC architecture exists to answer |
Delta Force ships through Steam and through regional publisher launchers, and those builds do not always patch on the same day. A status row and your client can therefore disagree for reasons that have nothing to do with your hardware.
Warning
What a layer called DMA Shield tells you
Take the name literally: ACE has a layer whose published purpose is blocking external hardware from reading the game, deployed alongside Secure Boot and TPM enforcement. The developer of this title has also said publicly that kernel access is how it intends to counter hardware cheating tools. None of that makes a build impossible or tells you what is or is not working right now. It does mean you should check the live status board before spending money, since a current status row outweighs any seller's confidence.
What hardware does a Delta Force build need?
Delta Force has a large-scale warfare mode and an extraction mode, and the two want different things. Extraction play rewards information such as positions, loot and exits, which a read-only build on a second screen provides with no input device. Warfare play at range is where people reach for aim assistance, which needs an input device the game PC accepts as an ordinary mouse. A fuser is optional, since it only moves the overlay from a second screen onto your main monitor.
In what order should you start everything?
- Confirm the game launches on its own on the game PC, with ACE satisfied and no reader attached
- Check the status board and note which client you are on: Steam or a regional publisher build
- Boot the second PC and confirm the card enumerates
- Start the reader and attach to the card
- Launch Delta Force and let ACE complete its startup
- Attach to the game process once you are in a match or operation
- If a fuser is in the path, run borderless windowed and match resolution and refresh on both machines
Pre-match checklist for Delta Force
- The game launches cleanly on its own with ACE's requirements satisfied
- Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 are in the state the game expects on the game PC
- You checked the status board row for this title today
- You know whether your client is the Steam build or a regional publisher build
- The card is in its data port and the reader attached before the game launched
- The input device, if any, is recognised by the game PC as a standard mouse
- Borderless windowed is set if a fuser is in the video path
Common Delta Force problems and how to fix them
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| ACE will not install or the game will not launch after BIOS changes | Secure Boot or TPM is no longer in the state ACE expects | Restore the BIOS to a state where the game launches on its own, then change one setting at a time and retest |
| Game launches but exits immediately with an anti-cheat error | ACE's startup check failed — often a stale ACE install after a client update | Let the launcher finish updating, then verify the game files, and keep the reader out of it while you diagnose |
| Status board says one thing, your client behaves differently | Regional publisher builds and the Steam build can be on different versions | Check your client's build, and treat a status published against a different build as not applicable |
| Build stopped working with no game patch | ACE updates independently of the game's own patch notes | Compare the status date with the game's last build date on the board, and if the game has not moved, assume an anti-cheat-side change |
Common questions about Delta Force builds
Which anti-cheat does Delta Force use?
It uses Anti-Cheat Expert (ACE), a kernel-level anti-cheat from Tencent that the game's Steam store page declares by name. Team Jade publishes enforcement reports and a joint security brief series with ACE.
Does Delta Force require Secure Boot and TPM 2.0?
ACE has deployed both as part of its Delta Force security work, and third-party guides describe them as required for the game to launch. ACE's own brief announces the deployment without spelling out enforcement, so check the game's current tutorial yourself.
What is DMA Shield?
It is a named layer in ACE's stack, described publicly as guarding the hardware by blocking external hardware threats. ACE does not detail the mechanism, so treat any specific claim about what it does or does not catch as unverified.
Does ACE stay on my PC after uninstalling the game?
This was a complaint at launch, and Team Jade said it was addressed shortly afterwards, so the anti-cheat is removed with the game. If you care about what remains on a machine, check it yourself after an uninstall rather than trusting a forum summary.
Is a Delta Force build viable?
That is a question about current state rather than architecture, and only the live status board answers it. Knowing what the title demands of the game PC and what the stack consists of does not tell you whether a build works today.
Info
Is a Delta Force build working right now?
ACE's architecture and its published requirements are stable enough to write down, but enforcement scope, DMA Shield's behaviour and build state are not. Check the live status board, read the game's build date next to the status date, and ask before buying rather than after.
Sources
The ACE and DMA Shield details are bench work rather than a listed document, and the Steam client and regional builds do not even patch on the same day.
Read next
- DMA setup for Arena Breakout: Infinite: ACE and DMA Guard
- DMA setup for The Finals: three anti-cheats and a fourth in testing
- What are DMA cheats and how do they work
- BIOS settings for DMA on the game PC
- How to read the build status board
- DMA setup for PUBG, a game whose publisher names DMA in public
- DMA setup for Rainbow Six Siege: BattlEye, ShieldGuard and MouseTrap
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