How does VAC work in MW2 and MW3?

[joe]

Now I know this is trivial as I will probably never buy either of these games but I think its good to know for me and general community members.

A lot of people I have seen have VAC bans on record because of these two games, Now while a lot of these are legit becuase they were hacking a lot of people say they were just using something like, An FOV Mod or A skin.

I dont really know anything about how VAC detects cheats in these games but what if I did play it and I somehow got into a modded lobby? Would I be VAC banned? What kind of modifications are and aren't allowed? I could use some help here.

Thanks :)

[MalikQayum]

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7849-Radz-6869

Note:
Excluding the games listed above, VAC bans will only apply to the game the cheat was detected in. For example, a VAC ban in Modern Warfare 2 will not affect Modern Warfare 3.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 & 3
VAC is enabled on all multiplayer servers, public and private. Any modifications to the game other than editing config files can result in a VAC ban. Examples of such modifications include but are not limited to console enablers, VAC disablers, and server hosting mods.

[woody]

many big youtubers used FOV changers on these games when they played them, none of them were VAC banned. however skinning im not too sure about, if you get mw2/mw3 do it at your own risk.

[joe]

Thanks for explaining. (Thanks to the others in the thread too!)

[Clement]

This thread was quite old before the recent post, so we're locking it to prevent confusion.