Almost everyone who registers on FACEIT for the first time eventually runs into the same question: how to get the FACEIT Anti-Cheat set up properly and actually make it into a match without errors or blocks. The short answer: download the client from the official faceit.com/en/anti-cheat page, install it as administrator, and make sure TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot are enabled in your BIOS first. Sounds straightforward, but there are plenty of gotchas – especially for anyone who hasn't touched their motherboard settings in years.
FACEIT Anti-Cheat operates at the kernel level. It loads before the game launches and checks everything: from driver integrity to hardware security settings. As of November 25, 2025, FACEIT made TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot mandatory for all players without exception – confirmed in the platform's official blog. If you haven't set them up, you simply won't get into a match.
What Is FACEIT Anti-Cheat and Why Is It So Demanding?
FACEIT AC is a kernel-level anti-cheat. That means it operates deeper than standard applications and catches things a regular antivirus would miss. That's why simply installing FACEIT Anti-Cheat isn't enough – the system needs to be ready at a hardware level, otherwise FACEIT will refuse to connect you to a server.
Since April 2025, the platform has been rolling out two additional requirements: IOMMU and VBS. These act as a hardware-level firewall for RAM and block DMA cheats that were previously able to bypass standard protections. As of August 2025, IOMMU and VBS became mandatory for all players above 3,000 Elo. The rollout for remaining players is continuing in waves.
What Are the System Requirements for FACEIT Anti-Cheat?
Before downloading anything, it's worth checking whether your system meets the minimum requirements. This helps avoid the frustrating situation where the installation goes fine but FACEIT still throws an error when you try to join a match. The table below is taken from FACEIT's official documentation:
One thing worth noting about Windows: FACEIT Anti-Cheat will not run on Windows 10 without updates. FACEIT only supports build 22H2 (19045) and above – older builds aren't supported. If you're running a pirated or modified copy of Windows, FACEIT officially refuses support and there's no way around it. The upcoming deadline is also worth knowing: Windows 11 will be the only option from October 14, 2026, when FACEIT drops Windows 10 support entirely.
How to Check If Your System Is Ready Before Installing
Before installing, it's worth spending three minutes checking your current system state – this saves you from having to dig through settings after FACEIT throws an error. All three checks use built-in Windows tools, no BIOS access required.
These steps will tell you whether anything needs adjusting before installing FACEIT Anti-Cheat, or whether your system is already good to go:
Check TPM: Win → tpm.msc → Enter. Status should read 'The TPM is ready for use', Specification Version: 2.0.
Check Secure Boot and BIOS mode: Win → msinfo32 → Enter. Look for: BIOS Mode – UEFI, Secure Boot State – On.
Check via Windows Security: Win → Windows Security → Device Security → Security Processor – the section should be active with no warnings.
If all three check out, you're clear to download the client. If any one of them shows an error or an unexpected value, sort out the BIOS first. Otherwise FACEIT AC will install fine but fail when you try to join a match, and you'll end up back in BIOS settings anyway.
How to Download and Install FACEIT Anti-Cheat on Windows
Checks done – now for the install itself. The process is identical on Windows 10 and Windows 11, there's no meaningful difference. The key rule: only download the client from faceit.com – nowhere else. Before installing, make sure any previous version of the AC client has been fully removed via 'Apps & Features' in Windows.
Installation steps:
Go to faceit.com/en/anti-cheat.
Click the client download button.
Run the downloaded file as administrator (right-click → 'Run as administrator').
Follow the on-screen prompts through the installation.
Restart your PC – FACEIT AC will activate automatically after the reboot.
After the reboot, the FACEIT icon will appear in your system tray. Before your first match, the client may prompt for an additional update – that's normal, just let it finish. If the platform still shows an error after installation, the issue is almost always BIOS settings, not the client itself.
How to Enable Secure Boot in BIOS for FACEIT Anti-Cheat
This is where most players start getting nervous: the BIOS. There's nothing to worry about as long as you know what you're doing and why. Enabling Secure Boot for FACEIT is less a technical challenge and more a matter of patience and attention to detail. One warning before you start, though.
If msinfo32 shows BIOS Mode as Legacy rather than UEFI, you'll need to convert your drive from MBR to GPT first. This is a critical step: a mistake during conversion can leave your system unbootable. If you have any doubts at all, get someone who knows what they're doing to handle it. FACEIT explicitly flags this risk in their official documentation.
The general process for enabling Secure Boot in BIOS is the same across most motherboards:
While your PC is booting, press the BIOS entry key – usually DEL, sometimes F2, F10, or ESC.
Navigate to Security → Secure Boot.
Confirm that UEFI boot mode is selected.
Set Secure Boot to Enabled.
Press F10 → confirm → reboot.
After rebooting, open msinfo32 again and confirm that Secure Boot State now shows On. If it worked, your system is ready and you can head back to the client installation. If Secure Boot is still showing Off, the issue is likely your disk mode or BIOS version.
Enabling Secure Boot on MSI Boards – A Special Case
MSI motherboard owners have their own specific situation. Getting FACEIT Anti-Cheat running on an MSI board is a documented separate issue: on certain MSI boards, Secure Boot can show as Enabled in both BIOS and Windows while not actually functioning. The standard procedure won't fix it.
The official FACEIT Support solution covers exactly how to address this through BIOS on MSI boards. Before making any changes, be aware: if the required menu options aren't present in your BIOS, your firmware is outdated and needs to be updated first. Don't look for workarounds – the BIOS update is not optional here.
Steps for MSI boards:
Restart your PC and press DEL on boot.
Navigate to: Settings → Security → Secure Boot.
Set Secure Boot Mode to Custom.
Set Secure Boot Preset to Maximum Security.
Press F10 → confirm to save.
If 'Secure Boot Preset' or 'Image Execution Policy' isn't in the menu, your BIOS needs updating. To find your board model: Win → msinfo32 → BaseBoard Product – note it down, then go to the official MSI website and download the latest firmware. After updating, run through all the steps again. According to FACEIT's Known Issues documentation, a firmware update resolves the problem in the vast majority of MSI cases.
What to Do If FACEIT Anti-Cheat Still Won't Launch
Sometimes it happens: everything is configured, you've rebooted, and FACEIT is still throwing errors. Before going back through the setup again, identify the specific error first. Every error message has a targeted fix, and FACEIT has a dedicated support section for them precisely because they come up so regularly.
Here are the most common issues and their fixes. Every one of these is well-documented and has a known solution:
'TPM not ready' – most common on AMD systems. Update your BIOS: AMD has released firmware with fTPM fixes for most boards.
'Legacy BIOS Mode' – switch to UEFI mode and confirm your drive is partitioned as GPT, not MBR.
'Missing Windows security updates' – go to Settings → Windows Update and install everything available. FACEIT only works with up-to-date builds.
FACEIT won't launch after overclocking – temporarily close MSI Afterburner, Intel XTU, and similar tools. The anti-cheat can flag them as potentially dangerous processes.
Secure Boot shows On but FACEIT still complains – check the mode: it needs to be in User Mode, not Setup Mode. Fix: in BIOS, find Key Management → Install Default Secure Boot Keys.
If none of the above helped, the right move is to contact FACEIT's official support at support.faceit.com. When reaching out, include screenshots of the error and a system log. The support team is familiar with hardware-specific issues and often resolves things far faster than hunting for non-standard fixes on forums.
Ready to Play Fair – Launch FACEIT
Three mandatory conditions to run FACEIT Anti-Cheat without errors: Secure Boot enabled, TPM 2.0 active, and a supported Windows build. Everything else is hardware-specific and can be resolved through official guides or platform support.
Keep the deadlines in mind: TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot have been mandatory since November 25, 2025. Running FACEIT Anti-Cheat on Windows 10 is still possible, but only until October 14, 2026 – after that, the platform will require Windows 11 exclusively. Better to sort everything out ahead of time than to discover the problem ten minutes before an important match.
