A Battlefield 6 player received a permanent ban from the game’s Steam Community Hub after making a post that was meant to help other PC players. The ban, issued by a forum moderator, has sparked massive debate across the community about what should and shouldn’t be allowed when it comes to modifying game settings.
The incident has blown up on Reddit, with the post receiving over 7,300 upvotes and hundreds of comments from players who believe the ban was completely unjustified. The controversy centers around a topic that’s been frustrating PC players since launch: crossplay settings and how they differ between platforms.
The Crossplay Workaround that Led to a Permanent Ban
The banned user shared a workaround that allows PC players to disable crossplay. The method involved editing the PROFSAVE file in the game’s settings folder and adding a single line of text: “GstGameplay.CrossPlayEnable 0.” This change prevents the game from matching the player with console users.
The trick was originally shared by a competitive gamer Ottr, and quickly spread across Reddit and other gaming communities. Many PC players have been looking for ways to disable crossplay, particularly because console players can already turn it off through the in-game menu. PC players, however, don’t have this option available to them.
After posting the instructions on Steam, the player received a permanent ban from the Battlefield 6 Community Hub. The moderator who issued the ban cited “Admitting Use of Cheats / Hacks / Exploits / Piracy / Mods” as the reason. The ban message stated it was permanent and directed the player to contact Steam Support if they believed it was issued by mistake.
Why Players are Pushing Back?
The Reddit post detailing the ban has received massive support from the community, with most users arguing that the ban makes no sense. The main issue is that the PROFSAVE file isn’t some protected system file; it’s a plain text document that the game uses to store player settings. Every time you change a graphics option, audio setting, or control binding in Battlefield 6, the game automatically edits this same file.
One highly upvoted comment explained, “By their own user agreement, changing the PROFSAVE file is not cheating because it automatically changes when you change any setting in-game. So it can’t be against the EULA. Everyone has done this since BF3 and BF4, and EA can’t do shit about it.”
The moderator’s decision becomes even more questionable when you consider that console players can already disable crossplay through the settings menu. PC players are simply trying to achieve the same result using the only method available to them. The fact that one group gets an official toggle while the other has to edit a config file has been a source of frustration since launch.
What Happens Next
For now, players who use this method are doing so at their own risk. While the ban in this case seems heavy-handed and inconsistent with how config files have been treated in past Battlefield games, it’s clear that some moderators are willing to enforce strict interpretations of the rules. Whether EA will address this issue or allow the bans to stand remains to be seen.
