MCAce

Anti-cheat: read → correlate → act

MCAce is a server-visible, connection-scoped anti-cheat signal pipeline for Fabric clients. It reads the runtime inventory the client actually loaded, reports it through the authenticated MCAce channel, correlates it with server signals, and applies a signed policy to the current connection.

What is collected

• Loaded ModList: Fabric Loader's FabricLoader.getAllMods() graph, with Mod ID, version, bounded origin data, and an installed-file SHA-256 when it can be matched without exposing absolute paths.
• Resource and shader packs: the currently selected resource packs, optional shader pack, and bounded texture-probe observations for supported ZIP/PNG inputs.
• Session context: nonce/sequence, authenticated player/session binding, proxy/backend context, and independent server-side behavior signals.

What happens when a suspicious item is found

1. The client report starts as CLIENT_REPORTED / LOW; a Mod ID or pack name is not treated as proof by itself.
2. The proxy and Paper/Folia path verifies the frame and correlates it with the same session and independent server evidence.
3. An administrator-signed policy chooses the outcome. In the released production path the authority ceiling is MONITOR: a clean baseline and a correlated risk are recorded for review, with no automatic kick/ban. The signed lab fixture separately proves the policy state SERVER_CONFIRMED / QUARANTINE; that fixture result is current-connection scoped and is not wired into the released Production Authority executor.

The same path covers suspicious client Mods, Xray-style resource packs, and bounded texture observations. Exact inventory rejection rules can also be enabled for an exact Mod ID or selected pack identifier. See inventory admission and the detection contract.

Real runtime screenshots

These are repository-captured Minecraft/Fabric windows, not generated mockups. They document the actual client surface used during the runtime and consent smokes. A screenshot is visual provenance only; the machine-readable JSON, server logs, and hashes remain the authoritative anti-cheat evidence.

Real client window	Real enabled session	Real consent screen

The consent capture is a historical GUI witness from the repository evidence set; it is not being used to close the current Federation V5 release gate.

Protocol illustrations (not test evidence)

The following diagrams explain the read → correlate → act path. They are controlled documentation illustrations, not third-party cheat screenshots, real server screenshots, or a Tencent ACE/kernel-coverage claim:

The tracked executable fixture covers all three supported versions (1.21.11, 26.1.2, 26.2), reports the client ModList, correlates an independent server signal, produces the signed-lab SERVER_CONFIRMED / QUARANTINE state, and keeps the clean control at OBSERVE with zero false positives. The released server authority remains MONITOR/NONE. The evidence is explicitly marked as an MCAce-owned loopback fixture; it is not evidence that a third-party cheat was executed in a public server or that a screenshot alone can prove Xray. See the classification record and live correlation record.

Development: Velocity administrators can inspect server-received inventory counts with /mcaceobservation inventory <uuid> (mcace.admin.audit). It reports loaded Mod and selected resource/shader pack counts with receipt freshness, without printing paths or file contents. It does not independently verify client claims. See inventory operations.

Development: Velocity now has an opt-in administrator-defined inventory rejection path for exact loaded Mod IDs and selected resource-pack identifiers. It defaults off and is independent of signed-disposition MONITOR mode. This is not a cheating verdict, content-based Xray detection, or a guaranteed pre-entry barrier. Real Paper 1.21.11/Velocity controls passed twice for a reported Mod identifier and once for a reported selected-pack identifier, including accepted authentication, disabled-rule admission and enabled-rule remote disconnection. These use a raw protocol peer, not genuine Fabric collection or a loaded cheat/Xray pack. Both controls also passed once on Paper 26.1.2/JDK 25. On 26.2 the Mod control passed; the selected-pack control passed a rerun after a baseline timeout. That intermittent timeout remains unresolved. Genuine GUI acceptance and Bungee parity remain pending. See the test evidence and limits. Read the configuration, evidence semantics and limitations before enabling it.

Development update (2026-09-08): Velocity and BungeeCord now expose /mcaceobservation freshness <uuid> [seconds] to mcace.admin.audit administrators. The optional diagnostic window defaults to three refresh intervals (currently 900 seconds; range 1–3600). Results are FRESH, STALE, CLOCK_ANOMALY, or UNAVAILABLE; they describe server-received client telemetry, not cheat-free proof or action execution. This read-only query does not change admission or configure enforcement. See the architecture reassessment and implementation status.

Velocity can optionally notify a player when inventory reporting becomes stale and when a newer valid report recovers it. In mcace.properties, set telemetry.notice.enabled=true and telemetry.notice.max-age-seconds=900, then restart the plugin/server through your normal maintenance process. Default is disabled; the age must exceed 300 seconds and be at most 3600. This sends notices only, not kicks/bans. Logs describe send-API dispatch, not confirmed client receipt. Bungee automatic notices and real-runtime delivery verification remain pending.

MCAce is a privacy-first client visibility, admission, evidence, and reversible- disposition stack for modern Minecraft networks. Its deployable surface is a Fabric client Mod, Velocity/BungeeCord proxy plugins, and one Paper/Folia backend plugin.

v0.0.1 — CORE RELEASE

The core distribution is executable and source-bound: six deployable JARs, exact three-version compatibility (1.21.11, 26.1.2, 26.2), checksum verification, and protected GitHub build CI are the release contract. GUI / Federation V5, licensed Vulcan, and Production Authority evidence remain an optional extended-certification track and do not block installation of the core release.

Official release: v0.0.1. The release is built by protected GitHub CI from commit 1007e55b7aae29bb0d761132a5fafad30e7e7351; its exact eight-file bundle, manifest, and SHA-256 values are attached to the release. Earlier rc1–rc3 builds remain historical previews.

中文 README · architecture · security model · release gates · operations · current progress ledger · 2026-09-07 update

2026-09-08 development update: bounded PNG-content observations for ZIP resource packs now travel in the signed client manifest and are exposed to server policy evaluation alongside the separately reported selected-pack state. This is low-confidence telemetry, not a confirmed cheat verdict or a default punishment rule. See the texture-probe implementation and test record and latest GUI/runtime evidence. The live16 references below are historical; current-source release-grade GUI and federation acceptance remain pending. Earlier bundles predate this change.

Release status: core contract and extended certification

The core contract is checked by scripts/core-release-readiness.ps1. The strict names below still match scripts/release-readiness.ps1; they describe optional extended certification. A controlled fixture, a historical PASS, a caller Boolean, or an unsigned report cannot promote any gate.

Readiness gate	Required release evidence	State
server_matrix_exact_source	Matrix V4 seven-root native package; exactly 12 raw process cases; process-incarnation and cleanup commitments; protected V4 release bundle and three server-JAR cross-bindings; out-of-repository RSA supervisor root, protected pin, fresh detached receipt, replay and TOCTOU validation	PASS — separately signed 12/12 execution evidence; its recorded source binding predates the final release and is not a current release-source assertion
fabric_gui_single_enablement_confirmation	One human-origin, visible, connection-bound Enable MCAce decision for the entire v0.0.1 release acceptance; signed GUI attestation and decoded PNG inside the Federation V5 evidence set	PENDING — current-source live16 rendered the prompt but created no visible screenshot or accepted event; the runner failed closed
fabric_federation_real_handoff	Federation V5 source-to-target handoff, inherited consent with no second prompt, subject/route/session binding, expiry and correlated negatives, runtime ledger, zero owned residue, and a distinct post-run supervisor receipt	PENDING — no current-source Federation V5 index/native package; the older ce4f6 package is rejected
vulcan_genuine_event	Licensed reviewed Vulcan JAR, genuine non-synthetic external provider event, exact release-artifact binding, and an externally pinned supervisor-signed Vulcan V3 receipt/index	PENDING
production_server_confirmed_authority	Authority V4 raw package with genuine Grim/Vulcan provider events, actual signed grant/observation frames, process and journal ledgers, exact V4 server JARs, approved external Ed25519 supervisor receipt, and native release index	PENDING
protected_exact_release_bundle	Protected main or v0.0.1 tag-push CI validates the exact MCACE_RELEASE_BUNDLE_V4, compatibility report, canonical artifact-source marker, final HEAD, and all eight release entries	PASS — tag-push CI run 34902565978, source 1007e55, six JARs and eight bundle entries
clean_worktree	git status --porcelain is empty for the final exact release checkout	PASS for current checkout; re-checked at release commit

The final exact bundle is source-bound to the clean checkout through the source_commit field in release-manifest.properties; its immutable artifact source is 73feacb6443c796c95885c3118a7c50ce4204a9b. The protected tag-push build, checksum verification, and three-version compatibility contract pass. The six JAR hashes are published in the v0.0.1 release. The separately signed Matrix V4 execution completed all 12 cases (10 stable + 2 beta) with startup/login, MCAce hello/auth, backend admission, and cleanup-zero results; its detached supervisor receipt and native seven-file package are tracked under docs/evidence/server-version-process-matrix-20260915-v4-current.*. Its receipt is bound to the source recorded inside that package, so it is retained as independent execution evidence and is not used to assert current release source alignment. Readiness therefore has four optional certification gaps: current GUI consent, Federation V5, Vulcan V3, and Production Authority V4. The protected exact-release CI has passed; the release manifest's source_commit and observed_head match the published bundle.

The final documentation descendant 5880460ac856ecd61cb81b2a8c3024f0bee29c71 was rebuilt separately on Helio by job 20260906-mcace-5880460-final-doc-bundle with the same six JAR bytes and the required 1966-byte manifest control. Its compatibility -Execute/-ReportOnly checks passed, and a readiness rerun with the out-of-repository Matrix supervisor root confirmed the historical package integrity and clean_worktree=true. That rerun still fails closed on the four optional certification gaps listed above; it is not a release approval.

The previous documentation/evidence descendants were 97b9d9e5 and 07c36f6e; the authoritative current SHA is the source_commit in the latest exact-bundle manifest. Helio job 20260906-mcace-d8066f7-final-doc-bundle rebuilt the exact bundle from the then-current documentation commit while preserving artifact source 2a6274a9200f2aa195e1238eaddf43650f549a0a and all six product JAR bytes. The 1966-byte manifest and 565-byte SHA256SUMS controls matched, and compatibility -Execute/-ReportOnly plus the Matrix-bound readiness rerun passed their local checks. The four external acceptance gates remain optional certification work; the protected exact-release CI has passed for the published core bundle.

Historical Matrix/Federation packages remain useful regression material only. They are intentionally not relabeled as current evidence, and no licensed Vulcan V3 genuine-event package or Production Authority V4 raw package/receipt is retained. Protected exact-commit release CI has passed for the published core bundle.

Current executable verification snapshot (v0.0.1 / 1007e55 source)

The authoritative checkout is D:\Projects\MCAce, branch main, and the exact release HEAD is 1007e55b7aae29bb0d761132a5fafad30e7e7351. The six product JARs are byte-bound to artifact source commit 73feacb6443c796c95885c3118a7c50ce4204a9b. The protected v0.0.1 tag-push workflow passed, and the GitHub Release is published.

The audit-base live16 run launched a real Fabric 26.2 client and rendered the Enable MCAce prompt in a visible Minecraft window. The native Computer Use surface was unavailable (sky RPC not configured), and no human click was captured in the run. The runner therefore failed closed with FABRIC_FEDERATION_GUI_EXTERNAL_SCREENSHOT_NOT_CREATED_IN_VISIBLE_WINDOW and cleaned the owned processes; the exchange directory contains no screenshot, signing request, attestation, handoff, or post-run receipt. The older live15 package and any historical accepted package use a different source boundary and are rejected by the current readiness validator.

This README/ledger update is documentation-only and does not alter product JAR bytes. Any later documentation/evidence commit must repeat the exact-source bundle and protected-CI checks before release.

The tracked Fabric and Cheat-Mod/Xray packages remain diagnostic/controlled evidence: they are not third-party cheat execution and do not close the current GUI or release gates. The implementation still collects Loaded ModList, active resource-pack and optional shader-pack observations after explicit consent; the server path records them as CLIENT_REPORTED / LOW and the controlled fixtures exercise correlation and SERVER_CONFIRMED/QUARANTINE transitions. The 2026-09-07 rerun outputs are intentionally kept under ignored build/ paths and are summarized in the progress ledger; they are not promoted to tracked release evidence. See the sanitized anti-cheat validation summary and the tracked Helio executable-correlation evidence plus tracked ModList/Xray classification evidence and the complete progress ledger.

What MCAce is — and is not

MCAce gives a server a narrow, reviewable view of a consenting Fabric client and combines it with independently produced server evidence. It is intended to make admission and current-connection actions explicit, signed, bounded, auditable, and reversible.

MCAce v0.0.1 is not a Tencent ACE-equivalent kernel anti-cheat. It has no launcher, persistent agent, kernel driver, cross-process memory scanner, debugger blocker, DMA detector, hidden capture, keylogger, camera/microphone access, or automatic permanent-ban path. It does not claim kernel/injection/DMA coverage, public-server precision or recall, or production kick/deny/ban efficacy.

Scope and privacy contract

• Exact Fabric targets: 1.21.11, 26.1.2, and 26.2.
• Velocity and BungeeCord proxy adapters; Paper and Folia backend paths.
• MCAce starts disabled. Runtime consent is connection-scoped and is not persisted across disconnects.
• Client-origin facts remain CLIENT_REPORTED / LOW; they cannot independently authorize a high-impact action.
• Absolute local paths and arbitrary classpath values are not sent in the Loaded ModList.
• DENY, where a separately authorized policy permits it, is current-connection only, reviewable, and reversible. Automatic permanent BAN is outside the product contract.
• Production Authority defaults to authority.enabled=false and accepts only MONITOR; the currently verified authority frame is not wired to a platform action executor.

Exact compatibility allowlist

The release allowlist is exact for the Minecraft patch, protocol, Fabric API, and client build ID; it is not a protocol-number threshold. The deployable JAR declares minimum runtime constraints: Fabric Loader >=0.19.3, Java >=21 for 1.21.11, and Java >=25 for 26.x. Loader and Java are therefore not equality gates. An unlisted Minecraft patch fails closed, and newer Loader/Java combinations remain outside the recorded release test matrix until separately exercised. 1.21.11 is the only verified 1.21.x patch.

Minecraft	Protocol	Minimum Java	Minimum Fabric Loader	Fabric API	Client artifact
1.21.11	774	>=21	>=0.19.3	0.141.6+1.21.11	final remapped JAR
26.1.2	775	>=25	>=0.19.3	0.155.2+26.1.2	final named JAR
26.2	776	>=25	>=0.19.3	0.157.0+26.2	final named JAR; Folia 26.2 remains the BETA lane

Run the bundle compatibility contract with:

.\scripts\version-compatibility-contract-smoke.ps1 -Execute
.\scripts\version-compatibility-contract-smoke.ps1 -ReportOnly `
  -ReportPath .\build\compatibility-contract\report.json

One visible connection enablement

The client renders a clear Enable MCAce / Decline screen before any MCAce frame is sent. Decline, close, timeout, or loss of the current connection leaves the client disabled. After acceptance, signed file observations, render evidence, and one source-selected federation handoff inherit that same connection decision; they do not open a second prompt.

For v0.0.1 release acceptance, only one representative connection produces the human GUI approval evidence. This is one confirmation for the entire release gate, not one confirmation per Minecraft target and not six approvals. Navigation inside the disclosure screen does not create another decision. UI smoke on the other two versions is optional compatibility coverage and does not create additional release approvals.

The release-grade GUI record is part of Federation V5: an independently approved GUI signer binds the visible prompt, decision window, process/session/attempt, random challenge, and fully decoded PNG. A different approved supervisor signs the immutable post-run report, binding, and runtime ledger. Neither signature adds another UI prompt.

Actual Loaded ModList

The current development implementation reads Fabric Loader's actual runtime graph through FabricLoader.getAllMods() instead of treating every JAR in mods/ as loaded.

The signed snapshot carries at most 256 canonically ordered Mod IDs and versions:

• a direct child of <gameDir>/mods contributes only its basename; MCAce matches that identity to the installed manifest's Mod ID, version, file size, and SHA-256;
• a nested JAR contributes only its parent Mod ID;
• an external, classpath, built-in, or otherwise unverifiable origin contributes no absolute path and is conservatively represented without a local path value;
• installed files and loaded Mods remain separate claims: a file can be dormant, while a nested Mod can be active without its own direct mods/ file;
• the first detected runtime graph change before any dynamic update has been accepted may pull the first attempt forward immediately; after the first acceptance, later changes coalesce behind the next full five-minute interval, and the path remains single-flight and ACK-driven.

CLIENT_CAPABILITY_LOADED_MOD_GRAPH_V1 is negotiated in the signed policy and authentication request. Default Velocity and BungeeCord policies require it, so an empty legacy request cannot silently receive verified admission. The server validates order, uniqueness, origin shape, and direct-file reconciliation, then derives loaded, loaded_origin, and origin_manifest_matched metadata for signed policy matching.

The capability is implemented in the current working tree and its focused local collector, protocol, handshake, server-validation, budget, and refresh tests have been run during this development iteration. Those tests are development evidence: the working tree is not the final release commit and no exact-commit Loaded ModList release evidence has been published yet.

Most importantly, a loaded identity is still CLIENT_REPORTED / LOW. A direct file hash binds the scan-time disk entry to the identity claim; it does not prove that the same bytes are already executing inside the JVM. Independent server evidence is still required for high-impact authority.

See Client integrity policy.

Active resource and shader packs

The same bounded signed snapshot includes runtime-selected resource-pack IDs and order, plus the active shader-pack ID when an optional loader exposes one. A selection change marks the ACK-driven scheduler dirty. The first such change before any dynamic update has been accepted may trigger an immediate attempt; after the first acceptance, later changes coalesce until the next five-minute slot. The Iris adapter is reflection-only: a missing, disabled, or failed loader produces an empty selection instead of a guessed directory entry.

For every complete parseable dynamic snapshot, the proxy returns a signed ArtifactObservationResult bound to the session, sequence, aggregate root, and SHA-256 of the complete update. The client commits its sequence/root state only after verifying an exact accepted result. A lost result retries the exact pending payload with fresh transfer identity and nonces; a valid rejection schedules a fresh scan, and a signed rate-limit result supplies a bounded retry hint. The full-update digest prevents a same-sequence/same-root retry from changing selected packs, loaded Mods, capabilities, or another non-root field.

Transport or ACK-timeout failures use 1–30 second bounded exponential backoff. They re-fragment the identical serialized update with fresh transfer IDs, nonces, and signatures; they are not a newer observation and do not reset the five-minute semantic cadence.

Dynamic reporting is optional telemetry, not continuous attestation or a freshness lease. A client that stops sending updates remains VERIFIED; the server's remembered dynamic view can become stale until a later accepted update or session cleanup.

The server derives selected=true|false and may match a reviewed exact SHA-256 or directory content root. This remains client-origin evidence and cannot self- promote to punitive authority.

Anti-cheat evidence and trust model

1. Client Mod/resource/shader observations begin as CLIENT_REPORTED / LOW.
2. Signature, nonce, sequence, expiry, replay, scope, budget, and canonical-form checks reject malformed or stale evidence.
3. Reviewed client facts may drive OBSERVE, NOTICE, WARN, or CHALLENGE under a signed policy.
4. An independent same-session server provider or durable administrator authority is required before a high-impact reversible disposition is even eligible.
5. Production Authority V4 is a separate signed Paper/Folia-to-proxy channel. It currently terminates at a content-free MONITOR log and is deliberately disconnected from LIMIT, QUARANTINE, DENY, kick, and ban execution.

When admitted by their bounded audit queues, Velocity and BungeeCord apply the same signed-policy evaluator and offer the resulting low-impact event to the same session-bound executor. A signed ACCEPTED ArtifactObservationResult acknowledges the protocol/session sequence, root, and full-update digest only; it is not an audit-queue or execution receipt. Queue saturation or scheduler- submission failure is logged and drops the downstream event without changing admission or rolling back the protocol ACK. After current-session and policy revalidation, only lower-impact NOTICE, WARN, and content-free CHALLENGE messages may execute from client-origin evidence. High-impact actions remain blocked without independent durable authority, and dynamic input never changes admission.

Grim and Vulcan adapters use exact provider IDs, versions, stable check families, thresholds, independent trust domains, and bounded correlation windows. A client claim re-signed by Paper is not server-confirmed evidence; the authority path must consume genuine Paper-local provider callbacks.

Controlled executable fixture: verified development evidence

The latest retained exact-commit controlled fixture index is helio-2026-08-25-anticheat-live-fixture-2c89876.json, bound to source 2c898762dd770723957ea0a8279f68c6c5e5abb3 and a Helio Windows/JDK 21 run.

Result	Observed
Supported versions exercised	1.21.11, 26.1.2, 26.2
MCAce-owned executable fixture loaded	3 / 3
Independent same-session server signal	3 / 3
SERVER_CONFIRMED / QUARANTINE under signed lab policy	3 / 3
Clean-control false positives	0
Owned child-process residue	0

Canonical retained files:

• report
• JUnit XML
• run log

Fixture boundary

• The executable JAR is MCAce-owned test code, not a third-party cheat.
• It is loaded in an isolated child JVM/loopback integration harness, not an actual Fabric GUI client and not a public server.
• No third-party code or third-party network access occurs.
• The server derives its Simulation signal independently from movement deltas in the same fixture session.
• QUARANTINE is selected by a signed laboratory policy, not by Production Authority V4 and not by a live platform kick/deny/ban executor.
• The result does not prove kernel, injection, debugger, DMA, public-server precision/recall, or Tencent ACE-level coverage.
• The evidence is exact for commit 2c89876…; it does not cover the later dirty working-tree Loaded ModList, Authority, Federation, or release-gate changes.

The metadata-only fixture remains separately documented in helio-2026-08-25-anticheat-sync-current.json. It executes no third-party JAR or pack and remains historical correlation evidence, not current release evidence.

Historical real-server witness

The repository retains a real Leaf 1.21.11 loopback server/GrimAC witness:

• initial real-server record
• Helio rerun
• historical feature-candidate rerun

Those dated records contain genuine Grim callbacks, three SERVER_CONFIRMED behavior events, and successful interception/upload responses. They are bound to older source/artifact identities, run in MONITOR/NONE, and assert no automatic kick or ban. They are valuable historical server evidence but do not satisfy the current Matrix V4, Vulcan V3, Authority V4, Federation V5, or protected-release gates.

The still older client detection record explicitly records real_server_connection=false, real_server_detection_event=false, and real_server_enforcement_exercised=false; it proves client discovery/resource loading only.

Matrix V4

Matrix V4 is the first Matrix schema structurally capable of satisfying server_matrix_exact_source. It covers exactly:

• three Minecraft versions;
• Paper and Folia;
• Velocity and BungeeCord;
• 3 × 2 × 2 = 12 real process cases.

The retained Matrix V4 evidence index is a historical release-eligible package for artifact source 92a49b9…. It remains useful for provenance but is not bound to the current 2a6274a source/artifact pair.

The corrected artifact-commit A run is recorded in the published server-version-process-matrix-20260907-2a6274a.json and its native package directory server-version-process-matrix-20260907-2a6274a. It ran all 12 real cases (10 STABLE + 2 BETA) against the frozen Paper/Folia trees and Velocity/Bungee proxies; every case passed startup/login/MCAce hello/auth/backend-admission checks and cleanup returned zero remaining owned processes. The A worktree exchanged a fresh request with the out-of-repository supervisor, verified the production receipt, and the local publisher created the release-eligible current Matrix V4 index. The receipt is test_fixture=false, uses trust-root SHA-256 05be3d1ce14b03ab66db85045377f52afa91f03d662a4d70c26468a93bcde223, and has SHA-256 878ee99995f46fc63d02ea568dee1f16e11c504546f1bad49732fb912c8e53ad.

The producer freezes all raw reports, report/binding/raw-manifest bytes, ordered raw root, case and process-incarnation identities, invocation and cleanup facts, the exact V4 bundle, all six release JARs, and the three Matrix server JARs. An independent out-of-repository RSA supervisor must return a fresh detached receipt under a protected trust-root pin before commit.json is written last. Publisher and readiness then revalidate signature, expiry, replay, no-follow identity, stable rereads, bundle hashes, and JAR cross-bindings.

The retained bef44e3… 12/12 Helio V1 index and its report, binding, and commit marker remain credible historical execution diagnostics: 12/12, 10 STABLE + 2 BETA, cleanup zero. They are legacy V1 and cannot close the Matrix V4 release gate. V2/V3 are likewise non-release.

Full external-supervisor workflow: Server Version Matrix Evidence V4.

Federation V5

Federation V5 reuses the single connection-level enablement decision for one source-selected, pinned target. A handoff adds no authority and no second prompt. Release evidence must bind the source disconnect, direct target connect, signed assertion and AUTH hash, exact subject/route/session, expiry, two correlated negative cases, all critical process incarnations, zero residue, decoded GUI PNG, runtime-ledger raw hash/head/seal/count, immutable report/binding bytes, and the exact Fabric/Paper/source-proxy/target-proxy V4 JARs.

The GUI signer and post-run supervisor must be independently approved and use different out-of-repository roots/private keys. Fixture, equal-key, self-approved, missing-receipt, stale, replayed, or tampered packages fail closed. The linked Federation V5 package is retained as a historical witness for an older source/artifact boundary; the current validator rejects it. The current-source live16 run rendered the prompt but did not produce a visible screenshot, accepted consent, or source-to-target handoff, so the GUI and Federation gates remain pending.

See Federation.

Vulcan V3

The repository does not download or redistribute licensed Vulcan. Historical structural/V2 diagnostics may verify API shape and artifact identity, but they do not prove a genuine non-synthetic event and cannot satisfy release readiness.

The v0.0.1 gate requires a reviewed licensed Vulcan JAR, isolated current-source Paper enablement, one genuine externally triggered provider event, exact release artifact binding, and an externally pinned supervisor-signed Vulcan V3 receipt and index. None is retained yet; this gate is PENDING.

Production Authority V4

The Paper/Folia-to-proxy signed authority path is implemented in the current development working tree and remains opt-in, fail-closed, and MONITOR-only:

1. Velocity/Bungee issues a short-lived Ed25519 grant for an exact authenticated physical login/backend.
2. Paper/Folia verifies that grant, correlates exact-profile independent provider callbacks, and journals a durable issuance record before exposing one signed observation frame.
3. The selected proxy verifies carrier, session, backend, key, grant, profile, sequence, and expiry, then records a content-free MONITOR event.

The verified observation is deliberately not wired into the disposition queue or platform action executor. It cannot currently kick, limit, quarantine, deny, or ban a player.

Release-grade Authority V4 additionally requires the actual signed protobuf grant/observation frames, genuine Grim/Vulcan events, provider/Paper/proxy/process and journal ledgers, exact artifact bytes, a 14-document canonical raw package, ten packaged artifacts, approved external Ed25519 supervisor descriptor/pin and fresh detached receipt, plus exact protected V4 server JARs. The producer emits release_eligible=false; only the native publisher may create a release-eligible V4 index after complete raw revalidation. No genuine external capture/index is retained, so this gate is PENDING.

See Server-confirmed authority and Production authority provisioning.

Build and developer verification

Root modules use JDK 21; isolated modern clients use JDK 25. Keep dependency verification strict:

$env:JAVA_HOME = '<JDK 21 home>'
.\gradlew.bat clean build localVerificationBundle `
  "-PmcaceProductVersion=0.0.1" `
  "-PmcaceSourceCommit=$(git rev-parse HEAD)" `
  "-PmcaceModernJavaHome=<JDK 25 home>" `
  --offline --dependency-verification=strict --rerun-tasks `
  --no-build-cache --no-configuration-cache --no-daemon `
  --no-parallel --max-workers=1 --console=plain

Focused Matrix V4 regressions, which do not replace an external receipt:

pwsh -NoProfile -File .\scripts\test-server-version-process-matrix.ps1
pwsh -NoProfile -File .\scripts\test-publish-server-version-matrix-evidence.ps1
pwsh -NoProfile -File .\scripts\test-release-readiness.ps1

Do not use a bare Matrix -Execute command as release evidence. A real Matrix V4 run requires an exact artifact source, existing V4 bundle, external trust root, protected pin, supervisor exchange directory, detached receipt, publication, and readiness revalidation. Follow SERVER_VERSION_MATRIX_EVIDENCE_V4.md.

UI smoke versus the one release approval

One selected target can be used for a developer-visible platform smoke:

$env:JAVA_HOME = '<JDK 21 or JDK 25 home for the selected target>'
.\scripts\platform-load-smoke.ps1 `
  -FabricTarget 1.21.11 -WithFabricEvidence `
  -ManualConsentTimeoutSeconds 120

The same smoke may optionally be repeated with 26.1.2 and 26.2 to inspect version-specific UI compatibility. Those optional runs are not additional release approvals and platform-only evidence cannot replace the single externally signed GUI/Federation V5 package. A timeout remains diagnostic-only.

Release artifacts

The exact distribution has eight entries: six deployable JARs, release-manifest.properties, and SHA256SUMS.

Entry	Role
mcace-client-fabric-1.21.11.jar	Fabric 1.21.11 client
mcace-client-fabric-26.1.2.jar	Fabric 26.1.2 client
mcace-client-fabric-26.2.jar	Fabric 26.2 client
mcace-server-velocity.jar	Velocity proxy plugin
mcace-server-bungeecord.jar	BungeeCord proxy plugin
mcace-server-paper.jar	Paper/Folia backend plugin
release-manifest.properties	V4 final-source, artifact-source, runtime, toolchain, and bundle identity
SHA256SUMS	authoritative six-JAR hashes

Only a clean protected-main/tag MCACE_RELEASE_BUNDLE_V4 may be published. The manifest's final source_commit, artifact_source_commit, canonical tracked artifact-source marker, and all hashes must agree with the protected CI context. Older feature bundles remain historical candidates and must not supply release notes or tag artifacts.

Historical evidence archive

These files remain useful for provenance and regression history, but none is current release evidence:

Historical witness	Exact boundary
Feature CI 5a7e423	Historical feature build/test/upload witness; not protected final-source CI
Helio bundle 63ae400	Historical feature exact-source candidate; not a protected V4 release bundle
Readiness dda766b	Historical MCACE_RELEASE_READINESS_V1; current validator is V2
Matrix bef44e3	Historical V1 12/12 process diagnostic; not Matrix V4 release evidence
Metadata fixture d835f42	Historical metadata-only correlation run; no third-party execution or enforcement
Older bundle e7f6f74	Historical feature candidate only
Repository protection snapshot	Dated branch/tag policy witness; does not replace protected release CI
Project migration record	D-drive source migration history; unrelated to release-gate completion

Architecture

flowchart LR
  C[Fabric client\n1.21.11 / 26.1.2 / 26.2]
  P[Velocity / BungeeCord]
  B[Paper / Folia]
  O[CLIENT_REPORTED / LOW\nloaded Mods + selected packs]
  S[Independent server providers]
  A[Signed MONITOR authority]
  R[Reviewable current-connection policy]

  C -->|signed handshake + bounded observations| P
  P -->|admission + backend grant| B
  C --> O
  B --> S
  S --> A
  O --> R
  A --> R

Loading

The arrows do not imply automatic punishment. Client observations stay advisory; the Production Authority V4 output currently terminates at MONITOR logging.

Repository map

Module	Responsibility
mcace-protocol	wire schemas, capability negotiation, signing, canonical encoding, replay defense
mcace-core	session, admission, policy, risk, disposition, federation, server authority primitives
mcace-client-common	loader-neutral integrity, Loaded ModList model, evidence and connection-enable primitives
mcace-client-fabric	Fabric 1.21.11 client, loaded-graph collector, consent UI
fabric-modern	JDK 25 official-namespace clients for 26.1.2 and 26.2
mcace-server-velocity	Velocity admission, policy, federation, and optional authority adapter
mcace-server-bungeecord	BungeeCord admission, policy, federation, and optional authority adapter
mcace-server-paper	Paper/Folia context, provider adapters, durable MONITOR authority path
mcace-runtime-integration	process, protocol, controlled fixture, and integration harnesses
scripts	fail-closed build, compatibility, GUI, federation, Matrix, Vulcan, Authority, publisher, and readiness gates

Documentation index

• Architecture
• Client integrity and Loaded ModList policy
• Detection and evidence boundaries
• Server Version Matrix Evidence V4
• Federation V5 design and acceptance
• Server-confirmed authority
• Production authority provisioning
• Native release evidence publishing
• Platform testing
• Operations
• Security model
• Release gates