PunkBuster kicked player 'Name' (LOSING CONNECTION TO PB SERVER)
PunkBuster kicked player 'Name' (CLIENT NOT RESPONDING)
PunkBuster Server: Auto Restarting PB Server
Cause
PunkBuster for the classic Call of Duty titles is unmaintained and its supporting infrastructure is unreliable. The client-side agent cannot reach what it expects, times out, and the server kicks the player for it.
The kicks are not evidence of cheating. They are evidence that PB is not working.
Fix
Call of Duty 4
Run CoD4X and turn PunkBuster off:
set sv_punkbuster 0
CoD4X has its own protections and does not need PB. This is what essentially the whole surviving CoD4 scene does. See the CoD4 setup guide.
World at War and CoD2
set sv_punkbuster 0
If you must keep PunkBuster
Relaxing the GUID check reduces the kick rate:
set sv_punkbuster 1
set pb_sv_guidRelax 1
Make sure outbound traffic from the server is not filtered, and that clients have a current PB install. Expect to keep losing a share of legitimate players regardless.
What to use instead
For a community server, log-driven administration is more effective in practice than a dead anti-cheat: B3 (BigBrotherBot) parses the server log and drives rcon for bans, roles and chat commands. See the rcon guide.
