DMA setup for Marvel Rivals: NetEase anti-cheat and Kernel DMA Protection
Marvel Rivals asks players to enable Kernel DMA Protection, the Windows feature built to stop external PCIe devices from reading memory. Learn what that means for a build.
Short answer
Marvel Rivals runs NetEase's own anti-cheat, which starts with the game and cannot be turned off on its own. The game's official guide asks players to turn on Kernel DMA Protection, the Windows feature built to stop outside PCIe devices reading memory.
On this page9
- How NetEase's anti-cheat works in Marvel Rivals
- What does Marvel Rivals require on the game PC?
- Why these two requirements conflict
- Which layers does a Marvel Rivals build need?
- The right order to start a session
- Marvel Rivals checklist before each match
- Common Marvel Rivals problems and fixes
- Marvel Rivals setup questions
- What we won't publish and can't confirm
How NetEase's anti-cheat works in Marvel Rivals
Marvel Rivals uses NetEase's own anti-cheat, usually written NEAC, rather than a licensed third-party product. It starts with the game client and cannot be shut down on its own. Around that client layer, NetEase publishes a broader enforcement programme that includes abnormal-behaviour detection, historical data review and manual verification. The programme also includes published ban waves, rank compensation for players who reported a cheater, and explicit warnings of action against input faster than a plausible human hand could produce. A small number of hardware-level bans have been reported alongside the account bans.
What does Marvel Rivals require on the game PC?
The first two rows matter most for a DMA build, and they come from the game's own published guide on enabling DMA protection, not from a forum.
| Item | Where it comes from | What it means for a DMA build |
|---|---|---|
| Kernel DMA Protection | An official Marvel Rivals guide instructs players to check it in msinfo32 and enable it if it is off | This is the Windows feature whose stated purpose is preventing unauthorised memory access by external peripheral devices. Read that sentence twice |
| IOMMU — Intel VT-d or AMD IOMMU | The same guide walks through enabling it in BIOS, per vendor | Kernel DMA Protection depends on it. It is also the setting a reader's initialisation guidance asks you to look at for the opposite reason |
| Memory Integrity | Community reporting of the client's own warning text describes it being requested alongside DMA protection before login | A Windows core-isolation feature on the game PC, checked at the client rather than at boot |
| Client-bound anti-cheat | ReportedNetEase states the anti-cheat launches with the client and cannot be disabled separately | The usual reason for a second machine: the anti-cheat lives where the game lives |
| Behavioural detection | NetEase's own announcements describe behaviour models and action against superhuman input rates | The input layer is modelled explicitly. Machine-shaped movement is the signal, not the device |
FACEIT publishes a nearly identical IOMMU and Kernel DMA Protection requirement for its own anti-cheat, which shows this is a pattern across the market rather than one publisher's unusual choice.
Warning
Why these two requirements conflict
When a memory map cannot be built, the reader initialisation guidance in this knowledge base asks you to look at the game PC's virtualisation settings. Marvel Rivals asks players to enable IOMMU and Kernel DMA Protection on that same machine, so the two requests pull in opposite directions. We do not publish a way around a security feature. Whether a build for this title works right now is a live question, so take it to the status board and to support before you spend money. It is not a settings problem you can solve by reading further.
Which layers does a Marvel Rivals build need?
Marvel Rivals is a third-person game with twelve players, hero abilities and short engagements. The information layer shows positions, health and cooldown state on a second screen, and it is read-only with no input device needed. The aim layer is what people actually come for in a hero shooter. ReportedIt is also the layer NetEase says it models. A system that talks publicly about action against inhuman input rates is a system that watches how the cursor moves. A fuser is optional: it only moves the overlay onto the main monitor and does not change what is read or what is sent.
The right order to start a session
- Launch the game on its own on the game PC and reach the main menu with no reader attached
- Note whether the client shows any security or DMA-protection warning during startup
- Read today's status row for this title, and compare its date with the game's current version
- Boot the second PC and confirm the card enumerates
- Start the reader and attach it to the card
- Launch the game, let the anti-cheat start with the client, and then attach from the menu
- If a fuser is in the video path, set borderless fullscreen and match the resolution and refresh rate on both machines
Marvel Rivals checklist before each match
- The game launches to the menu on its own and shows no security warning
- You know the state of Kernel DMA Protection and Memory Integrity on the game PC, whatever that state is
- You have read today's status row for this title
- You know the client version, because this title updates frequently
- The card is in its data port, and the reader was attached before you queued
- The game PC enumerates any input device as a standard mouse
- Borderless fullscreen is set if a fuser is in the video path
Common Marvel Rivals problems and fixes
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| The client shows a security or DMA-protection warning before login | The machine failed the client's own check for the features the game's guide asks players to enable | The warning reports the state of the game PC, so do not treat it as a stack fault, and do not expect us to publish a way past it |
| Reader initialisation fails on the game PC that runs this title | The virtualisation and DMA-protection settings the title asks for are the same settings that initialisation guidance asks about | Treat it as a configuration conflict, not a hardware fault, and ask support about the current state of this title before changing anything |
| The build stops matching the game after a patch | The game updates on a frequent balance and mid-season schedule, and each client build changes what a build was written against | Check the status row against the client version and wait for a published update instead of retrying |
| Action was taken on the account with no client-side message | Detection in this game includes behaviour models, historical review and manual verification, and none of them produces an error string | There is no technical fix, because this is the title's risk profile and no architecture removes it |
Marvel Rivals setup questions
Which anti-cheat does Marvel Rivals use?
Marvel Rivals uses NetEase's in-house anti-cheat, commonly written NEAC, rather than EAC, BattlEye or Vanguard. ReportedNetEase states that it starts with the game client and cannot be disabled on its own.
Does Marvel Rivals require Kernel DMA Protection?
The game publishes an official guide that tells players to check Kernel DMA Protection in System Information and to enable IOMMU in BIOS if it is off. The client has been reported to warn when a machine fails that check. Check the game's own guide for the current wording.
What is Kernel DMA Protection actually for?
Kernel DMA Protection is a Windows security feature whose published purpose is to prevent unauthorised memory access by external peripheral devices. Of the requirements covered in this guide, it is the one most relevant to a DMA build.
Is a Marvel Rivals build viable right now?
The store sells a Marvel Rivals external cheat at /products/marvel-rivals and a DMA cheat at /products/marvel-rivals-dma. Whether either works today is a question about the current state, not about architecture, so only the live status board and support can answer it.
Does NetEase issue hardware bans?
Reporting on its enforcement waves has included a small number of hardware-level bans alongside large numbers of account bans. Treat hardware identity as part of your risk on this title, not as an afterthought.
Info
What we won't publish and can't confirm
We do not publish any way to get around a Windows security feature. Whether a build for this title works today is a live question, so read the status board, compare its date with the client version, and ask support before you buy.
Sources
The NetEase and Kernel DMA Protection details come from running the build rather than from the source list, and this client releases new versions frequently.
Read next
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- What are DMA cheats and how do they work
- BIOS settings for DMA on the game PC
- How to generate a memory map (MMAP)
- How to read the build status board
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