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To disable Stratum’s block-break protection, edit the server’s stratum.json file and change both related switches to false: Hardening.BlockBreakGuards and BlockBreakGuards.Enabled. Save the file, then restart the Vintage Story server. Changing only one switch can leave the protection active.

This setting is intended to stop unauthorized or automated block breaking. Turn it off only when you understand the trade-off, such as on a trusted private server or when legitimate fast tool breaks are causing false kicks.

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What Block Break Guard does

Stratum is a server-side protection layer for Vintage Story. Its Block Break Guard checks whether a player’s block-breaking progress looks consistent with normal gameplay. The purpose is anti-grief protection: it helps identify block breaking that may be unauthorized, automated or otherwise inconsistent with the server’s expectations.

When the guard mistakes a legitimate action for a violation, the visible symptom is often a kick while mining. Fast tools, unusual tool speeds, mods, latency or other timing differences can make a real player’s break look suspicious. The Stratum maintainer has confirmed that the block-break hardening can be disabled or tuned for these cases, rather than requiring administrators to turn off every anti-cheat feature.

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Disabling the guard removes that specific layer of anti-grief protection. It does not merely hide a warning: the server will no longer use Block Break Guard to reject or report the behavior it was designed to detect.

Before editing the server

Confirm that the problem is block breaking

Use this procedure when the kick happens during mining or another block-breaking action. Do not change movement protection just because the server has an “anticheat” setting. Stratum’s movement protection is a separate subsystem, and its configuration path is different.

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Back up the configuration

Download or copy stratum.json before changing it. Keep the original file somewhere outside the server’s live configuration directory. A backup gives you a quick way to restore the previous booleans if the change does not solve the problem or if the server fails to load the edited file.

Use the Stratum file, not the vanilla file

The relevant settings are in stratum.json, not Vintage Story’s vanilla serverconfig.json. The vanilla /serverconfig commands manage core Vintage Story settings; they do not document Stratum’s guard keys. If you are using a managed host, the file is usually available through its File Manager. On a self-managed installation, use the server data directory identified by your Stratum installation.

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Avoid concurrent edits

Make the change while no other administrator is editing the same file. If your host writes configuration only while the server is stopped, stop or pause the server according to that host’s procedure before saving. Do not overwrite a newer generated configuration with an old local copy.

Step-by-step: disable both Block Break Guard switches

  1. Open stratum.json. In a hosting panel, open the server’s File Manager and navigate to the Stratum configuration. On a self-hosted server, open the equivalent stratum.json in the server data directory.
  2. Find the Hardening object. Inside it, locate the property named BlockBreakGuards. Change its value to the JSON boolean false, without quotation marks:
    "BlockBreakGuards": false
  3. Find the separate BlockBreakGuards object. This is a top-level object separate from Hardening. Inside that object, locate Enabled and set it to false:
    "Enabled": false
  4. Preserve JSON syntax. Keep commas between properties, retain matching braces, and do not replace false with the text "false". JSON booleans are unquoted. Do not delete unrelated Stratum settings.
  5. Save the file. If the panel offers a syntax check, run it before closing the editor. If it reports an error, restore the backup or correct the punctuation before restarting.
  6. Restart the Vintage Story server. Stratum reads the setting when the server starts. A browser refresh, player reconnect or in-game configuration command does not substitute for the restart.
  7. Test with a controlled block break. After the server is back online, use a normal tool on a block that previously triggered the false kick. Check the server console and Stratum log for new violations while testing. Do not use the test as an opportunity to remove other protections.

Correct configuration shape

Your file can contain many additional properties. The important point is that both block-break switches appear in their respective locations. A configuration excerpt can look like this:

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{
  "Hardening": {
    "PreserveVanillaProtocol": true,
    "PacketMonitoring": true,
    "BlockBreakGuards": false,
    "InventoryGuards": false,
    "EntityGuards": false
  },
  "BlockBreakGuards": {
    "Enabled": false,
    "RequireServerSelection": true,
    "DropViolations": true,
    "LogViolations": false,
    "RequiredProgressRatio": 0.8,
    "GraceSeconds": 0.25,
    "MinimumTrackedBreakSeconds": 0.15,
    "PartialProgressRetentionSeconds": 8.0,
    "MaxRememberedProgressRatio": 0.95,
    "MaxRememberedPartialBreaksPerClient": 24
  }
}

This is an example of the documented structure, not a replacement for your complete file. Keep the other values that were generated for your installed Stratum release. The two values to change are the nested Hardening.BlockBreakGuards boolean and the separate object’s Enabled boolean.

If the keys are missing

Stratum configuration names are release-sensitive. If your generated stratum.json does not contain either object, do not blindly add keys copied from a different release. First check the release notes or the configuration generated by your installed Stratum version for the equivalent guard or anti-cheat setting.

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A missing key can mean that your release uses a different schema, that the feature is not present, or that the file was generated before the relevant module was enabled. Adding an unknown property may be harmless in some applications but can also be ignored or cause a configuration-load error. The safest approach is to preserve the version’s own structure and use the names it recognizes.

Why changing serverconfig.json or /serverconfig does not work

Vintage Story’s built-in serverconfig.json contains core game-server settings. The in-game /serverconfig command family addresses those vanilla options, and the exact command syntax can vary by installed Vintage Story version; use the server’s /help output for the version-specific form.

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Stratum’s block-break hardening is an add-on configuration, so its switches are in stratum.json. Editing the vanilla file will not turn off Stratum’s guard. If you change a core setting while troubleshooting, keep that change separate so you can tell which modification affected the kick.

Do you need to restart?

Yes. Save stratum.json and restart the server. The documented procedure states that the change takes effect after restart. If your host has separate “save,” “reload,” and “restart” controls, use the full server restart unless the Stratum release documentation explicitly confirms a live configuration reload for these keys.

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Allow the server to finish starting before testing. If the process stops during startup, restore the backup and compare the edited file with the configuration schema generated by your release. A syntax error, an accidental missing comma or an unsupported key can prevent the configuration from loading.

Disable, tune or leave the guard enabled?

Turning off both switches is not the only response to false kicks. Choose the narrowest change that solves the actual problem.

Option Scope Safety impact Compatibility use Operational effort Reversibility
Leave Block Break Guard enabled Only normal Stratum checks are changed: none Retains the anti-grief protection Best when kicks are not reproducible or are caused by another subsystem No configuration edit Not applicable
Tune the block-break values Block-break guard remains in place Retains more protection than disabling it, but changes detection behavior Useful when a fast tool or mod produces repeatable false positives and your release documents adjustable thresholds Edit the documented values, save, restart and test Restore the previous values from your backup
Disable both block-break switches Only Block Break Guard is disabled Removes protection against the behavior this guard detects Useful for a trusted server when legitimate mining is consistently rejected and tuning is insufficient Two boolean edits plus a restart Set both booleans back to their previous values
Disable broader anti-cheat or movement protection Wider than block breaking Removes protections unrelated to mining as well Appropriate only when diagnostics identify a movement or general anti-cheat problem Separate configuration path and restart requirements Restore the prior broader settings

The Stratum maintainer has specifically said that the block-break guard can be disabled and that some values can be adjusted when it remains problematic. That makes a targeted block-break change preferable to disabling unrelated movement or general anti-cheat systems when mining is the only symptom.

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Do not confuse Block Break Guard with movement protection

Stratum also exposes movement protection under an anti-cheat section. The documented movement path is Anticheat -> Movement -> Enabled. That setting governs movement checks, not the block-breaking keys described in this guide.

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If players are kicked while walking, flying, riding or otherwise moving, investigate the movement subsystem separately. If the kick occurs while a block is being mined, start with the two Block Break Guard switches. Disabling movement protection will not correctly address a block-break false positive and would widen the security change unnecessarily.

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Troubleshooting after the edit

The server still kicks the player while mining

  • Confirm that both values are actually false: the property inside Hardening and Enabled inside the separate BlockBreakGuards object.
  • Check that you edited the live server’s stratum.json, not a download, template or backup copy.
  • Verify that the server was fully restarted after saving. A player reconnect alone does not reload the file.
  • Read the console or log entry that accompanies the kick. It may identify movement protection, another Stratum guard or a different server-side mod rather than Block Break Guard.
  • Check for a second configuration file used by your host’s active instance. Multi-instance hosts can place each server’s data in a separate directory.

The server fails to start after saving

  1. Stop attempting repeated edits while the process is failing.
  2. Restore the backed-up stratum.json so the server can start with the known-good configuration.
  3. Compare the edited file with the generated configuration for your Stratum release. Look for a missing comma, unmatched brace, duplicate property or unsupported key.
  4. Reapply only the two boolean changes once the file is valid, then restart and watch the startup log.

The objects do not exist in the file

Do not assume that an absent object should be created manually. Consult the Stratum release notes or the generated schema for your installed release. Configuration names and nesting can change between releases, and an equivalent option may have a different label.

Only one of the two values was changed

Restore the file to a known state and set both documented switches consistently. Leaving the hardening flag and the object’s enabled flag out of agreement can produce confusing results because one part of the configuration may still advertise or initialize the guard.

Fast tools or mods are the trigger

Record which tool, block type, mod set and server version reproduce the kick. If your Stratum release documents tunable block-break values, try a narrow adjustment while retaining the guard, restart and test. If tuning does not resolve the false positive on a trusted server, disabling the two block-break switches is the targeted fallback. Keep movement and unrelated guards enabled unless their own diagnostics identify them as the cause.

How to re-enable the protection

Re-enabling is the reverse of the procedure. In stratum.json, set Hardening.BlockBreakGuards to true and set BlockBreakGuards.Enabled to true, preserving the other values. Save the valid JSON and restart the server. If you changed threshold values while troubleshooting, restore the original values from your backup rather than guessing at replacements.

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Security and administration considerations

A disabled guard should be treated as a deliberate policy decision, not a harmless performance tweak. Players who can connect to the server may gain more freedom to break blocks in ways the protection would otherwise flag. On a public or shared server, review permissions, logging and moderation coverage before disabling it.

For a private test world, a development server or a small group of trusted players, removing only the block-break check may be an acceptable diagnostic step. Keep a record of the prior values and the reason for the change so another administrator can understand why the protection is off. Revisit the setting after updating Stratum, Vintage Story or any tool-speed and movement-related mods, because an update may address the false-kick condition.

Quick checklist

  • The kick occurs during block breaking, not movement.
  • You backed up the live stratum.json.
  • Hardening.BlockBreakGuards is the JSON boolean false.
  • BlockBreakGuards.Enabled is the JSON boolean false.
  • The file remains valid JSON and unrelated settings are unchanged.
  • You saved the live file and completed a server restart.
  • You tested the original mining action and checked the logs.
  • You understand that Block Break Guard’s anti-grief protection is no longer active.

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