Grace Anticheat vs GuardAC

Grace Anticheat is a free, self-hosted anticheat for Java Minecraft servers. It targets closet cheating, ghost cheating and blatant hacking through rules-based detection and statistical analysis of player behavior. Servers can run a proxy arrangement with a Velocity plugin and Paper companion plugin, or choose a standalone Paper plugin without Velocity. The proxy setup requires Velocity 3.3.0 or later, Paper 1.19 or later and Java 21 or later; the standalone listing covers Minecraft Java 1.19.x, 1.20.x and 1.21.x. Grace can alert staff in-game and send formatted Discord webhook embeds. Configuration supports teleporting players back on hard alerts, kicking on action alerts and optional automatic bans, disabled by default. Staff commands expose engine status, evidence summaries, alert controls, violation history and configuration reloads. Grace is beta 0.1.0 and actively developed. Its API and related components are open source, while detection logic, model weights and threshold tuning are closed source.

GuardAC is a cloud anti-cheat for Minecraft servers that looks for KillAura, aim assist, and unusual combat crosshair movement. It runs server-side, so players install nothing. During fights, the plugin sends a short set of crosshair-movement numbers to the cloud rather than video. The system learns a player's usual mouse movement and can flag changes in that style during a session. Staff receive alerts with a player name and score, and can handle punishment manually or automate it. Configurable thresholds range from alert-only operation to automatic bans. Listed enforcement actions include logs, kicks, bans, broadcasts, console commands, and optional combat suppression; replay analysis is also listed. The plugin supports Paper, Spigot, Purpur, and Folia servers running Minecraft 1.16 or newer. Supported servers require Java 17 or newer; Minecraft 26.1 and 26.2 require Java 25. The service combines a server plugin with a cloud API accessed using an API key. The free plan is listed at free, and a trial key is issued after sign-up without a card.