SAND’s First Anti-Cheat Pass Tightens Security and Speeds Up Loot Respawns

The update also changes graphics presets, adds lobby error messages, and keeps Trampler capture disabled until the new protections prove effective.

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SAND's First Anti-Cheat Pass Tightens Security and Speeds Up Loot Respawns

SAND: Raiders of Sophie received its first major anti-cheat update on July 18, 2026. Hologryph and tinyBuild Games said the new protections should greatly reduce many of the cheats and hacks reported by players in recent weeks, while more work remains planned. The developers detailed the changes in the official Steam announcement.

This is the first phase of the anti-cheat effort, not the final step. The team will continue watching the game and making further adjustments. Trampler capture will return after the developers confirm that the new protections are working as intended.

The update also brings a shorter loot respawn timer, with the wait reduced from 30 minutes to 20 minutes. Fully loaded turrets now leave their ammunition on the ground when dismantled, and several interface, audio, movement, combat, and graphics issues have been addressed.

Graphics options received a specific change aimed at competitive fairness. Fog and shadow settings no longer use an “Off” option and now include a Very Low preset instead. The developers said some players had disabled those effects to gain an advantage over others. Very Low will be the default preset for players with low-end GPUs, while DLSS defaults will depend on the GPU and screen resolution.

SAND: Raiders of Sophie Anti-Cheat Improvements: Phase One Patch Notes

The changelist focuses on cheating protections first, then covers quality-of-life changes and bug fixes. The known-issues list also includes a planned fix for a multiplayer extraction softlock next week.

Major Improvements to the anti-cheat and anti-cheat systems
- These changes should severely reduce the majority of the most commonly reported cheats and hacks currently being used in-game.
- This is the first part of our improvements to the anti-cheat system. We’ll continue to monitor the situation and improve our anti-cheat system.
  - Trampler capture will be reactivated once we have confirmed the Anti-cheat improvements have had the intended effect.
Added different error messages in the lobby so it would be clearer to understand why some action can’t be performed
Added additional SFX’s to:
- Friend/Crew List menu
- Storage
- End of the expedition menu
Decreased loot respawn timers from 30 min to 20 min
Fully loaded turrets will now drop loaded ammo on the ground under you when dismantled
Fixed the issue when the nickname of the player appears as ‘Unknown’ on the invitation pop-up
Broken failure point SFX no longer plays when the Reactor was turned off
Fixed the issue when an incorrect Ammo icon would appear on the HUD
Fixed the issue that the character wasn’t able to climb some of the ladders
Fixed the issue when the compass wouldn’t work on the map
Fixed the issue when the character cannot crouch while carrying the Repair Kit and Raw Aurogen Crystal
Fixed the issue when the first level of the trampler would look black in the Trampler Editor
Graphics Settings Update
- Replaced “Off” with Very Low preset for the fog and shadows
  - Some of the players turned off fog and shadows to have an advantage against other players
  - Very Low graphical preset will be set by default for players with low-end GPUs
  - Default DLSS settings will be set based on the GPU and screen resolution

Known Issues

Character may become transparent in Spectator mode in some cases
The character cannot enter the Expedition if the Invite has been accepted at the Tutorial pop-up background
Items may be displayed inside the character’s body in some cases
Large items may float around the character
Character may become invulnerable to melee damage while interacting with turrets or the steering wheel
Bullets can pass through the character on speed-boosted trampler
- This will be fixed in the upcoming updates
Upiors positioned may be different between client and server
- On the client, it looks like Upior doesn’t receive damage, but you might see their “shimmering/blink” body near them
Shotgun might not deal damage at close range distance
Ironclads can be triggered multiple times by re-entering the trigger area
In teams of 2 or more players: players will be softlocked after grabbing the zipline until all the players will grab the zipline.
- Softlock player will not be moved into the spectator mode and camera stays on the ground.
- Player will receive loot on the extract.
- Fix will be released next week

With Trampler capture still disabled, the anti-cheat rollout will need to prove itself before one of the game’s key extraction tools returns. Share your thoughts on the update in the comments, and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram.

In an alternate 1910, scavenge the sands of Sophie in towering Tramplers. Build your highly customizable walking base. Squad up or go solo. Gather loot, weapons, precious artifacts. Clash with other players in a brutal procedurally generated desert forged by history and chaos.