EAC Settings and When to Disable It
What Easy Anti-Cheat does, when you have to turn it off, and what it costs you on GameGrid: anti-cheat and every console player.
What EAC Does
Easy Anti-Cheat is 7 Days to Die's built-in anti-cheat. It blocks memory editors, trainers and code injection.
On GameGrid it is the "Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC)" setting in Settings under Basic, and it defaults to on.
It is restart-required, so when you save a change on a running server the panel restarts the server for you.
With EAC on, a player whose own client has EAC disabled cannot join.
When to Turn It Off
Before you do: turning EAC off locks every PlayStation and Xbox player out of your server, because console crossplay needs EAC on. See What It Costs You Here below.
You must turn EAC off to run most mods. Specifically:
Harmony and other DLL mods - EAC blocks the code patching they rely on.
Overhaul packs such as Darkness Falls, Undead Legacy and War of the Walkers - all of them ship DLLs.
XML-only modlets often work with EAC left on. If a modlet is all you are running, try it before turning anything off.
To turn it off: Settings > Basic > Easy Anti-Cheat, switch it off, save. On a running server the panel restarts it for you. Installing a mod does not turn EAC off for you, so do this yourself before a DLL mod goes on.
Then install the mod. Before the first install on a server, the Mods tab can ask you to confirm that console players will not be able to join while a mod is installed. A mod uploaded through the Files tab or FTP is never asked about, and has the same effect.
What It Costs You Here
Turning EAC off gives up crossplay - the game requires EAC for it, here as anywhere else. With EAC off, PlayStation and Xbox players cannot join your server at all. So a modded server is Steam PC only, and a crossplay server is vanilla. Decide which one your community wants before you generate a world. See Crossplay on GameGrid.
So turning EAC off costs you two things: every console player, and anti-cheat.
Anti-cheat still matters. With EAC off, a determined player can use trainers and item spawners and the server will not stop them. Run it on a community you know, or expect to moderate by hand.
It saves a little CPU too, which is a small bonus rather than a reason.
EAC Issues
Player kicked for an EAC violation - their client has something EAC objects to, or their game files are damaged. Have them verify their files through Steam.
Player cannot join with EAC on - EAC may not be installed on their side. Verifying game files through Steam reinstalls it.
EAC version mismatch - the client and server are on different game builds. Update the server from the Admin tab's Game Updates card; a restart does not pull a new build.
Server will not start with EAC on and mods installed - that is the conflict this article is about. Turn EAC off, or remove the mods.
EAC changes take a restart. The panel does that for you when you save the setting on a running server, but check the status badge comes back to running before you tell your players.