X-ray lets a player see ores through stone. It is the most common cheat on survival servers because it is invisible in the moment — the player is just mining, and they are just very lucky.
What it actually looks like
- Tunnels that turn towards ore and stop when they reach it.
- A ratio of diamonds to stone mined that no honest player achieves.
- Mining that ignores caves and goes straight through solid rock to a vein.
- Long straight tunnels with short branches, all of which found something.
A player who found four diamonds in an hour might be cheating or might have found a good cave. One session is not evidence. A pattern across several sessions, visible in a block log, is. Banning on a hunch loses an honest player permanently and does not stop the actual cheat.
Gathering evidence that means something
- Use a block logger
It records what was mined, where and when. A rollback tool is also an evidence tool, and this is the case where that matters.
- Look at the shape, not the total
How much they found matters less than whether the tunnels behave like someone who could see. Deliberate turns towards hidden ore are the signal.
- Compare against another player
Someone honest who mines a lot gives you a baseline. «More than average» is weak; «four times the best honest miner» is not.
- Watch quietly in spectator
Following someone who does not know you are there for ten minutes settles most cases either way.
The fix that does not require catching anyone
Anti-x-ray works by hiding ores from the client until a player is close enough to have seen them legitimately. Paper includes this and it can be turned on without any plugin. It does not accuse anyone, does not produce false positives, and removes the advantage rather than punishing its use — which on most servers is a better outcome than a ban.
Obfuscating chunks takes CPU and adds a little to what gets sent to clients. On most servers it is unnoticeable; on a very busy one it is a real line in a profile. Measure before and after rather than assuming either way.
With anti-x-ray on, mine towards a known ore from a distance in survival: it should not appear until you are close.