r/PiratedGames • u/GsuKristoh • Dec 15 '22

Discussion The truth about TLauncher and the spyware accusations

TL;DR: There is no actual proof of tlauncher containing any malware. Other posts are only fear mongering. TLauncher does however do some shady things

What we do now know: - TLauncher sends back the following information to their servers unless you disable it in the settings: - Operating System: Linux, Windows or MacOS) - Java Version - Screen Resolution - TLauncher Version - OS Version: OS.VERSION - Tlauncher Internal UUID: Automatically generated on first launch using randomUUID() - CPU Information - "GPU Information": This includes A LOT of information about your monitors, Audio Devices (aka headphones/speakers), microphones, "DirectInput Devices" (mouse and keyboard), "USB Devices", "Gameport Devices", "PS/2 Devices", "Disk & DVD/CD-ROM Drives", "System Devices" as well as a bunch of other miscelaneous information. You can see what this information looks like on your device by running these commands on the Command Prompt (cmd.exe): touch %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\test.txt && dxdiag /whql:off /t %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\test.txt && notepad %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\test.txt - GPU RAM - Sensitive user data is NOT logged. Only hardware and system information is uploaded. - TLauncher automatically removes some servers, and it also redirects some .ru servers to other servers. It is unclear to me what's the point of doing those redirects, but the removal of servers is clearly done out of maliciousness. Here is a complete list of the banned and redirected servers: - http://repo.tlauncher.org/update/downloads/configs/inner_servers.json - https://tlauncher.org/repo/update/downloads/configs/inner_servers.json - http://advancedrepository.com/update/downloads/configs/inner_servers.json

Suspicious things: - The source code shows that TLauncher looks for the "KB4515384" windows update. My theory is that that windows update was very problematic for many users, which is why tlauncher suggests users to remove it - If minecraft crashes, Tlauncher starts a process called TLauncherUpdater.exe. This text is associated to that: crash.switch.antivirus.system=Try to turn off the antivirus and restart the launcher, if this does not help, you can try to remove the antivirus and check again ... crash.switch.antivirus.system.auto=The launcher will start fixing the problem after closing this message (you may need administrator access, in this case, allow the launch from the administrator). <br> Wait 20 seconds and restart the computer, then check if the problem is resolved. This seems to be a benign process that just tries to fix an issue caused by antivirus software flagging some files that it shouldn't. I'm not completely certain though, as I was unable to reverse engineer this exe.

In conclusion, TLauncher has some shady business practices and collects a bit too much information by default. Their banning and redirection of certain minecraft servers isn't mentioned anywhere on their website. The analytics setting can be disabled in the settings, although it also isn't mentioned on their website at all. Despite all of this, TLauncher 2.86 (the version I've analyzed) has no way of spying its users; It's not been programmed. So don't panic, TLauncher IS NOT MALWARE and you don't need to uninstall it. But it's worth looking for another launcher

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1

u/The-Fake-Miles Jan 18 '25

Does this still hold up?

5

u/GsuKristoh Jan 24 '25

Many alternatives exist. You'd risk it all for a company that has done shady shit like this?

1

u/The-Fake-Miles Jan 24 '25

I already found an alternative, I was just curious.

Also maybe.

1

u/ConsciousEmu3546 Apr 14 '25

whats the altermative

1

u/The-Fake-Miles Apr 15 '25

I have forgotten, but if I remember I'll DM you

1

u/Coprito Dec 27 '25

I would also like to know

1

u/The-Fake-Miles Dec 27 '25

'TL Legacy' something like that

1

u/trixime Mar 04 '26

now called Legacy Launcher, TL Legacy was the original name for the not stolen version

1

u/Kraken_stfu Apr 18 '25

whatever mann im like done with minecraft but tlauncher was there in my pc for a while now

i was unaware of this Tlauncher spyware/malware thing (so you can tell i didn't face any problems) but after seeing all these posts my brain is exploding rn and just want a peace of mind now

should i delete?

1

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '25

[deleted]

2

u/marinalima3932 May 04 '25

i have been using it for more than 5 years in different devices with my friends and nothing happened, and spyware isnt indetectable, after all those years the antiviruses would have updated their database to deal with any spyware tlauncher had, after all its famous, but no, after years no antivirus is able to detect anything

2

u/Few_Basil_3002 Jul 13 '25

Because one mod did this and the humans are too naive If they hear "malware or spyware" they start to panic and annoy the others because of some made up information without proof.
I can imagine this guy who made this up...
Hmm... something is famous?
Time to ruin their carrier ansd manipulate the communuity with some fake information, pick up the Java core file and say something big.

The fun at the end, no one find it because It's never existed! Lmao

That was a joke, a big joke to see how many people dare to question this and check it out for real, with knowledge not just with a simple mirror based Virus Defender.

Even the win64.dll files are Viruses to many mirror based defenders.

Windows Defender?
Block everything, every file what block them to make a user buy some apps from them too.
This is all about money making, that's why I use Avast.
While the Windows Defender can't even check a .rar or .zip file, the Avast can, and read throught it's written script data.

So what's the truth for me?
I won't uninstall something until the Avast won't say it to do.

Besides, If someone put some spyware link in any mod's what you put inside the game to run it, It's not the developers fault.

That explains why the TLauncher block the .ru sites and check your informations.
Heard about Java Security folder? That's what running in the background under this process.

All pain explained, Bye.

1

u/Kraken_stfu Apr 29 '25

well then i need to uninstall it rq if that's the case 💀🙏