PvP

PvP lets you attack other signed-in players' accounts for money and XP. It's only available once you're authenticated (the Leaderboard tab and PvP panel both require sign-in).

Finding a target

• Targets are pulled from a live pool of other online players.
• The list is filtered to players within your level range: [max(10, floor(playerLevel * 0.80)), ceil(playerLevel * 1.20)] — roughly ±20% of your hacking level, with a floor of level 10 on the low end.
• Each target shows their level, whether they have firewall defenses active, and your estimated win % against them.

Win chance

ratio = playerLevel / targetLevel
base = ratio / (1 + ratio)
defense = targetFirewallLevel * 0.02
winChance = clamp(base - defense, 0.05, 0.95)

• At equal levels (ratio = 1), base win chance before defense is 50%.
• Every level of the target's "Upgrade Firewall" research (see Research) subtracts a flat 2% from your odds.
• Always clamped between 5% and 95% — there's no sure thing in either direction.

On a win

• You steal 10% of the target's money (as reported when you fetched the target list — it's a snapshot, not live at fight time).
• You gain playerLevel * 50 hacking XP.
• You're placed on a 5-minute global PvP cooldown — you can't attack anyone else (win or lose) until it expires.

On a loss

• You lose 5% of your own current money.
• That specific target is put on a 5-minute cooldown *for you personally* — you can't re-attack them until it clears, but you can still attack other targets (the loss cooldown is per-target, unlike the win cooldown which is global).

Being attacked

• If someone successfully hacks you while you're online, you may see it in real time via a live event stream.
• If you're attacked while offline, you'll find a security-alert email in your Inbox summarizing the attack(s) — see Inbox & Events.
• Your Upgrade Firewall research level is the only defense against being hacked — it directly reduces attackers' win chance against you, 2% per level, with no cap defined beyond the natural 5% floor on their side.