Free Dark and Darker HWID Spoofer
Free permanent HWID spoofer for Dark and Darker. Bypass Ironmace's Ironshield kernel driver + Season 9 Secure Boot/TPM 2.0 enforcement by rewriting your IDs once, then delete the tool.
Free diagnostic
Is It Really a Dark and Darker HWID Ban?
A Dark and Darker hardware ban surfaces in two stages: a 3-day "AbnormalDetection" / "suspicious activities" temporary ban, escalating to permanent after Ironmace internal review with no per-account explanation. The Tavern (`taverncomm_1_1`) and TavernWorker (`tavernworker_1_1`) Windows services are Ironshield's host-side processes, and they persist on the rig after Dark and Darker is uninstalled — community threads document the Tavern service still running 4+ months after uninstall.
Can you still log into your game account?
Hardware Coverage
What Dark and Darker Tracks — and What TraceX Rewrites
Dark and Darker's anti-cheat silently reads dozens of hardware identifiers from your PC while it's running — long before you reach a match. Learn how Dark and Darker's anti-cheat works and why it's difficult to bypass without a spoofer. Below is a sample of the identifiers being tracked.
| Hardware Identifier | Dark and Darker Tracks | TraceX Rewrites |
|---|---|---|
| CPU Serial (CPUID) | Yes | Yes |
| Motherboard Serial | Yes | Yes |
| GPU Device LUID | Yes | Yes |
| HDD / SSD Serial | Yes | Yes |
| NIC MAC Address | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Machine GUID | Yes | Yes |
Reality Check
Dark and Darker Appeals Almost Never Work
And when they're denied — which is almost always for HWID bans — your hardware stays permanently blacklisted. No second chances.
“The Software requires the use of an anti-cheat software ('Anti-Cheat'). The Anti-Cheat must be running in order for the game to be played.”
Ironmace Games — Dark and Darker EULA Section 5.3 (Anti-Cheat)
Why You Need This
Do You Really Need an HWID Spoofer for Dark and Darker?
You ran a Goblin Caves clear with your Fighter, banked enough gold for a +5 Falchion, queued the Crypts on Inferno difficulty for the Adventure Tier reward — and the launcher fails the Ironshield handshake before the Lobbyist character select even loads. You bought Dark and Darker on a fresh Steam account, made a new Ironmace login, even cleared the Tavern services from `services.msc` — same 3-day "AbnormalDetection" kick, then a permanent ban once Ironmace's internal review fires. The Cleric heals, the Wizard fireball, the Ranger longbow, the Barbarian rage — none of it returns until the Ironshield fingerprint on the rig gets rewritten.
Dark and Darker has a uniquely turbulent enforcement history. Ironmace shipped Open Beta in August 2023 (after the Nexon DMCA delisting in March 2023), went to full launch in April 2024, and re-listed on Steam in August 2024. Throughout, the anti-cheat has been Ironshield — Ironmace's in-house kernel-level driver, processes named `Tavern.exe` and `TavernWorker`, services `taverncomm_1_1` and `tavernworker_1_1`. The EULA Section 5.3 makes Ironshield mandatory verbatim: "The Software requires the use of an anti-cheat software ('Anti-Cheat'). The Anti-Cheat must be running in order for the game to be played." Ironmace community manager Graysun confirmed to PCGamesN (August 2023): "Tavern keeper has always been kernel level."
The enforcement runs on a two-stage cadence. A first-pass detection issues a 3-day "AbnormalDetection" / "suspicious activities" temporary ban, with no per-account explanation. After Ironmace's internal review, the ban escalates to permanent — again with no specific evidence shared. Documented permanent-ban triggers include modified game clients, FModel datamining tools, DLL injectors, and Vanguard cross-conflicts where Vanguard's kernel scope intersects with Ironshield's kernel reads. The Tavern services persist in Windows after Dark and Darker is uninstalled — one r/DarkAndDarker thread documents the Tavern service still running 4 months after uninstall. Manual cleanup requires `sc delete taverncomm_1_1` plus deleting the driver files from `C:\Windows\System32\drivers\`.
The enforcement is escalating into 2026. Season 9 (April 2026) made Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, and HVCI mandatory for High-Roller and Arena modes — Ironmace's verbatim announcement reads: "In Season 9, you must enable Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, and HVCI to play High-Roller and Arena modes. Casual modes can still be played without these requirements." That extends Ironshield's reach down to the firmware boot chain alongside its existing kernel driver. The path back into the Crypts, Inferno Crypts, Goblin Caves, Ice Cavern, or Howling Crypts isn't a fresh Ironmace account, a VPN, or a new SSD — Ironshield reads a constellation of hardware identifiers across the rig, and swapping one component leaves the rest matching the banlist. TraceX rewrites those identifiers permanently in one run, then deletes itself.
Verified
Dark and Darker's EULA Section 5.3 makes Ironshield mandatory verbatim: "The Software requires the use of an anti-cheat software ('Anti-Cheat'). The Anti-Cheat must be running in order for the game to be played." Ironmace community manager Graysun confirmed to PCGamesN (August 2023): "Tavern keeper has always been kernel level." Season 9 (April 2026) extended the enforcement chain down to firmware: Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, and HVCI all became mandatory for High-Roller and Arena modes. The Tavern Windows services persist on the rig after Dark and Darker uninstall — community threads document them still running 4+ months later. (Sources: Steam EULA mirror; PCGamesN Aug 2023; Ironmace Season 9 announcement.)
Why TraceX
Built for Dark and Darker Players
You shouldn't need to replace your PC to play Dark and Darkeragain. That's why TraceX exists.
Run TraceX once before launching Dark and Darker. No daemon, no startup entry, no background service. When you're done, delete the binary.
Your new hardware identifiers don't reset on reboot or reinstall. Ironshield reads them as permanent — exactly like a fresh build.
Every hardware identifier Ironshield reads — CPU, board, drives, GPU, NIC, Machine GUID — rewritten in a single pass.
TraceX runs before Dark and Darker launches — not during. No FPS drops, no stutter, no driver hooks left running while you play.
TraceX updates ahead of Dark and Darker detection cycles. New versions ship before changes land in the game.
When you load Dark and Darker, Ironshield fingerprints what looks like a fresh system. Your real hardware is never exposed.
Setup Guide
How to Bypass a Dark and Darker HWID Ban
Getting around a Dark and Darker HWID ban used to take hours — reinstalling Windows, flashing BIOS, wiping drivers, re-downloading everything, and praying it worked. One wrong step meant starting over and burning another account. With TraceX, a single click does more than all of that combined.
Free download
Get the free Dark and Darker HWID spoofer.
Submit your email and receive your free TraceX HWID Spoofer license in a few minutes. Run it once on your PC to permanently rewrite the identifiers Ironshield fingerprints, then delete the binary and reinstall Dark and Darker.
Detection Analysis
How Dark and Darker Scans Your Hardware
Dark and Darker tracks dozens of unique identifiers from your PC and creates a unique hardware profile. It also leaves behind registry traces even after uninstalling — designed to detect you on return. TraceX takes care of everything.
When you launch Dark and Darker, your real hardware IDs are scanned and matched against ban records. Every new account on a flagged PC is blocked.
Dark and Darker sees a completely new machine with no ban history. New account, clean hardware — access granted.
Ban Reference
Dark and Darker Ban Details
FAQ
Dark and Darker HWID Ban — Frequently Asked Questions
What is Ironshield and how does it differ from EAC or BattlEye?
Ironshield is Ironmace's in-house kernel-level anti-cheat — Dark and Darker explicitly does NOT use EAC, BattlEye, or Vanguard. Process names are `Tavern.exe` and `TavernWorker`; services are `taverncomm_1_1` and `tavernworker_1_1`. Ironmace community manager Graysun confirmed to PCGamesN (August 2023): "Tavern keeper has always been kernel level." The EULA Section 5.3 makes the anti-cheat mandatory: "must be running in order for the game to be played."
What does the 3-day "AbnormalDetection" ban mean?
It's Ironshield's first-pass temporary ban issued automatically on suspicious-activity detection. The screen labels the violation "AbnormalDetection" or cites "suspicious activities" with no per-account explanation. After Ironmace's internal review, the ban escalates to permanent if the flag is upheld. The 3-day window is when affected players try (often unsuccessfully) to appeal before the perma-ban lands.
Will reinstalling Dark and Darker or Windows lift my ban?
No. Ironshield reads hardware identifiers at every launch, and the Tavern services persist on the rig after Dark and Darker uninstall — r/DarkAndDarker threads document the Tavern service still running 4 months after uninstall. Wiping Windows touches files but not the firmware-level identifiers (motherboard, drives, NIC, BIOS) that Ironshield reads. Manual cleanup requires `sc delete taverncomm_1_1` plus deleting the driver files from `C:\Windows\System32\drivers\` — and even then, the next launch re-installs them.
What changed in Season 9 (April 2026)?
Ironmace announced verbatim: "In Season 9, you must enable Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, and HVCI to play High-Roller and Arena modes. Casual modes can still be played without these requirements." That extends Ironshield's enforcement down to the firmware boot chain — Secure Boot validates the boot loader, TPM 2.0 supplies a hardware-rooted endorsement key, and HVCI (Hypervisor-Protected Code Integrity) hardens the kernel. The combined stack closes off boot-time injection paths cheats had been using through the Ironshield-only era.
Does Vanguard (Valorant's anti-cheat) conflict with Ironshield?
Yes — community threads document permanent bans where Vanguard's kernel scope intersected with Ironshield's kernel reads. Both are kernel-level Windows drivers, and certain configurations of Vanguard's anti-tamper layer have been flagged by Ironshield as suspicious kernel activity. The standard mitigation is to disable Vanguard at boot before launching Dark and Darker (Vanguard loads at boot, so this requires changing its startup config in Riot Client settings).
Can I appeal a Dark and Darker ban?
Ironmace accepts appeals through the support flow, but published success rates are low. Documented permanent-ban triggers include modified game clients, FModel datamining tools, DLL injectors, and Vanguard cross-conflicts. The 3-day AbnormalDetection window is when affected players try (often unsuccessfully) to appeal before the perma-ban lands; after escalation, no per-account evidence is published.
Does the Tavern service persist after I uninstall Dark and Darker?
Yes — r/DarkAndDarker threads document `taverncomm_1_1` and `tavernworker_1_1` services still running 4+ months after uninstall. Manual cleanup requires `sc delete taverncomm_1_1` and `sc delete tavernworker_1_1`, plus deleting the driver files from `C:\Windows\System32\drivers\`. Without manual removal, the kernel driver remains active even when Dark and Darker is gone.
Was Dark and Darker really delisted from Steam?
Yes — in March 2023, Nexon filed a DMCA takedown alleging the game used Nexon-owned source code from a former Ironmace prototype. Steam delisted Dark and Darker. Ironmace pushed forward via the standalone BlackSmith launcher, went to full launch in April 2024, and ultimately re-listed on Steam in August 2024 after legal proceedings concluded. The game's enforcement architecture (Ironshield kernel driver) has been continuous throughout.